A/HRC/54/71 (j) Calls for recognition and reparations, including recognition and redress for historical injustices, including slavery and colonialism, and for ongoing systemic racism, including calls for acknowledgment and reparative justice. 27. In addition, the existence of ongoing racial biases and racial stereotyping is reflected throughout society, including in advertisements, social media, political rhetoric and decisionmaking in health care, education and employment, often perpetuating racial discrimination and contributing to the social marginalization of people of African descent. 35 28. The Working Group has organized public sessions 36 to explore various themes and has published over 20 thematic reports37 dealing with issues impeding the full realization of the human rights of people of African descent. Thematic sessions and reports 38 have addressed, inter alia, access to employment, education, health care and housing; the administration of justice; access to information technology; structural discrimination; the situation of children of African descent; recognition through education, cultural rights and data collection; access to justice, development and economic emancipation; systemic racism, racial disparities and racial injustice; negative racial stereotyping of people of African descent and the perpetuation of racially biased decision-making; how the climate crisis affects people of African descent; the importance of mainstreaming the situation of people of African descent in plans for achieving the Millennium Development Goals; reparations; the empowerment of women of African descent; and the role of political parties in the integration of people of African descent into political life and decision-making processes. 29. The Working Group was the first body to advocate for and give visibility to the call for reparations for people of African descent at the United Nations. Since 2003, it has disseminated relevant analyses and data, devoted at least one segment of all its annual public sessions to reparations and made recommendations about reparatory justice in its country visits and other interventions. The Working Group has also looked at various proposals for reparations at the local, regional and national levels and formally endorsed the 10-point plan of the Caribbean Community. On 16 February 2021, the Working Group sent an open letter to the United States Congress regarding H.R. 40, a long-standing reparations bill, emphasizing the important role of the bill in understanding, acknowledging, addressing and ultimately dismantling systemic racism and promoting racial equity. The Working Group has urged States to actively pursue reparatory justice for people of African descent and has encouraged initiatives to address recognition, justice and development for people of African descent.39 30. The Working Group has played a key role in United Nations initiatives focused on people of African descent and human rights. These have included the International Year for People of African Descent, proclaimed by the General Assembly for 2011 in its resolution 64/169, in recognition of the need to strengthen national actions and regional and international cooperation to ensure that people of African descent fully enjoy economic, cultural, social, civil and political rights. The Working Group actively supported the initiative with research, analyses and consultations. These activities directly fed the planning of and preparation for the International Decade for People of African Descent. 31. In this regard, and pursuant to General Assembly resolution 66/144, the Working Group submitted a draft programme of action in support of the International Decade for People of African Descent, proposing the theme of “Recognition, Justice, Development”.40 The document became the basis for deliberations at the intergovernmental level, culminating in General Assembly resolution 68/237, in which the Assembly proclaimed the International 35 36 37 38 39 40 8 See A/76/302. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-african-descent/sessions. A/69/318, A/70/309, A/71/297, A/72/319, A/73/228, A/74/274, A/75/275, A/76/302, A/77/232, A/HRC/4/39, A/HRC/7/36, A/HRC/10/66, A/HRC/14/18, A/HRC/18/45, A/HRC/21/60, A/HRC/24/52, A/HRC/27/68, A/HRC/30/56, A/HRC/33/61, A/HRC/36/60, A/HRC/39/69, A/HRC/42/59, A/HRC/45/44, A/HRC/48/78, A/HRC/51/54, E/CN.4/2003/21, E/CN.4/2004/21, E/CN.4/2005/21 and E/CN.4/2006/19. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-african-descent/annual-reports. A/HRC/33/61, paras. 50–72. A/HRC/21/60/Add.2. GE.23-15301