A/HRC/21/60 I. Introduction 1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its eleventh session from 30 April to 4 May 2012 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. It was attended by members Monorama Biswas, Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, Mirjana Najcevska, Maya Sahli and Verene Shepherd. 2. The participants in the session of the Working Group of Experts included representatives of Member States, the Holy See, international organizations, regional organizations, non-governmental organizations and invited panellists (see annex II). II. Organization of the session A. Opening of the session 3. The outgoing Chairperson-Rapporteur, Mirjana Najcevska, opened the eleventh session and introduced the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for opening remarks. 4. In her statement, the High Commissioner welcomed the focus of the eleventh session on the draft Programme of Action for the Decade for People of African Descent and stressed that the session was the perfect occasion to consider achievements realized during the International Year for People of African Descent with a view to setting priorities for future action. She also noted that several States have recognized the rights of people of African descent in their national constitutions and domestic legislation and highlighted the invaluable role that civil society organisations played in the process. She added that regrettably, despite these advances at all levels, there was still a long way to go before the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedoms of people of African descent was achieved. She observed that racism and racial discrimination, both direct and indirect, de facto and de jure continued to manifest themselves in inequality and disadvantage and people of African descent, both descendants of Africans who were displaced to the Americas during the infamous transatlantic slave trade and more recent migrants who have journeyed to the Americas, Europe, Asia and within Africa itself, make up some of the poorest and most marginalized groups. She pointed out that studies and findings by international and national bodies demonstrate that people of African descent still had limited access to quality education and health services, housing and social security; they also experienced discrimination in access to justice. They had a low level of political participation, both in terms of voting and in occupying political positions and faced new and emerging challenges, such as displacement, due to threats of armed conflict or largescale industrial development projects. 5. The High Commissioner noted that the intersectionality between race, socioeconomic status, gender, age and nationality meant that women and girls, children and young people, persons with disabilities and migrants of African descent experienced multiple forms of discrimination and face particular challenges to realizing their rights. She drew particular attention to the plight of young men of African descent, noting that racial profiling, linked to high rates of police violence, arrests and imprisonment and lack of access to justice could have fatal consequences. She added that despite the positive contributions people of African descent have made to the development of their countries, they remained invisible and undervalued, and pointed out the lack of disaggregated data on people of African descent. The High Commissioner stated that the proposal for an International Decade was therefore timely and important and it would be an opportunity to 3