A/HRC/21/60 34. The Chairperson made a second presentation entitled: “Global situation of people of African descent”, showing figures and data on achievements of people of African descent in both Europe and throughout the Americas. She mentioned that even though there is still much work to be done people of African descent are raising their voices at different levels. However she underlined that racial discrimination against people of African descent still exists in several countries. She added that religious minorities of African descent, such as the Rastafari, also suffer multiple discrimination and that racism continues to affect them and other such victims. 35. She suggested that the agenda for the Decade should include funding to develop projects by people of African descent. She stressed that intellectual poverty also needs to be addressed, as the relationship between education and development is evident and that education in most regions is still market-driven and does not take into account the context of people of African descent in different countries. She noted that students and children of African descent often have limited options to succeed in education and for people of African descent living in areas with high rates of tourism, their main opportunities are lowpaid jobs. The Chair stated that societies must acknowledge all these problems related to the disadvantageous social situation of people of African descent and adopt measures, including positive measures, to address them. 36. Ms. Fanon Mendes-France made a presentation in which she highlighted the need for the Working Group to continue to promote dignity, making use of spaces and platforms at the national and international levels. She stressed the importance of the principle of nondiscrimination as a non-derogable right enshrined in international human rights law including in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). She argued that the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination should be utilized in the process of the Decade. She gave several examples of the continued existence of racial discrimination, particularly in the context of the worldwide economic crisis, migration, the rise in extreme right wing political parties and the war on terror. She highlighted the issue of access to justice and the discrimination that people of African descent continued to face within justice systems, reiterating how in particular many prisoners of African descent are denied their rights due to discrimination. 37. Ms. Fanon Mendes-France reaffirmed the importance of the suggested themes for the Decade and discussed the significance of the three terms. Recognition, she noted, related to the recognition of history and of past crimes, current inequalities and the role of the diaspora in global development; justice related both to remedies for past injustice for the individuals and nations that were victims of slavery and colonisation and the issue of contemporary discrimination in access to justice; and development was discussed in the framework of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development (1986) which placed human beings at the centre of development as active participants and beneficiaries and stressed that all human beings had the right to development, and that States had the right and duty to formulate appropriate national development policies that aim at the constant improvement of the welfare of the entire population. She stressed that justice, including reparations, must take into account the responsibilities and experiences of different States and that justice cannot be and should not be influenced by discriminatory practices. States must promote measures to fight against racism and encourage development for people of African descent. She concluded that the Decade should also be an opportunity to understand the global value of “creolization”, or the meeting of cultures. 38. Ms. Najcevska recalled the International Year of People of African Descent and mentioned that the Decade would contribute to the realization of the work that still has to be done. Justice and development were highlighted as crucial aspects of this struggle as was the necessity to follow the Durban process to support the Decade. 9