A/70/309 I. Introduction 1. By paragraph 8 of its resolution 69/162, the General Assembly requested the Human Rights Council, through the Chair of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, to submit a report on the work of the Working Group to the Assembly. By paragraph 4 of its resolution 27/25, the Council requested the Working Group to submit an annual report to the Council on all activities relating to its mandate, as well as to the Assembly in the context of the International Decade for People of African Descent. The present report is submitted in response to those requests and covers the period from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2015. 2. The Working Group comprises five independent experts who serve in their personal capacity. In 2014, the Human Rights Council appointed three new members. The current members are Mireille Fanon Mendes-France (Chair), Verene Shepherd, Sabelo Gumedze, Michal Balcerzak and Ricardo A. Sunga III. II. Activities of the Working Group A. 1. Annual meetings Fifteenth session (17-21 November 2014) 3. The fifteenth session was a closed session in which the Working Group considered internal matters, including future work, country visits and communications, and held consultations with various stakeholders, including Governments, civil society and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The Working Group took a number of decisions during the session, including to undertake follow-up visits five years after a country visit. It also decided to prepare a thematic study on racial stereotyping and to explore ways to increase collaboration with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 2. Sixteenth session (30 March-2 April 2015) 4. The sixteenth session was focused on development and people of African descent. The theme was selected to be in line with the theme of the International Decade for People of African Descent: “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”. The Working Group discussed how policies, actions and programmes of development were affected by structural and internalized racism, racial discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia and related intolerance towards people of African descent. It was underlined that measures to eliminate poverty and all forms of discrimination must be mutually reinforcing. The Working Group urged States to establish programmes, based on the participation of people of African descent and Africans, aimed at improving their economic and social conditions. It also reiterated its recommendation that special attention be devoted to the needs of people of African descent, including through the preparation of specific programmes of action, in cooperation with civil society, for the implementation of the programme of activities for the Decade. A full account of the session and the recommendations made by the Working Group on the theme is contained in its report to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session ( A/HRC/30/56). 15-13565 3/9