A/HRC/54/71 Data for intersectional racial justice 37. The lack of statistical data disaggregated by race drives both invisibility and hypervisibility for people of African descent, including negative racial stereotypes disconnected from truth and the denial of the history and contributions of people of African descent to their nations’ development. The Working Group has emphasized the need for comprehensive data collection that specifically includes information on people of African descent. Collecting disaggregated data would allow for a better understanding of the scope and nature of racial disparities affecting communities and enable the development of targeted policies and interventions to address disparities. The failure to collect such data constitutes a fundamental barrier to recognizing and addressing ongoing and serious racial discrimination and injustice in education, health, employment, housing, detention, the administration of justice and more. 38. In 2018, the Working Group started mapping the human rights situation of people of African descent to establish a baseline against which to measure progress. Such data can help to identify patterns of discrimination and inform evidence-based policies aimed at achieving racial justice and equality.44 39. The Working Group has noted that States may fail to achieve their human rights targets in the absence of racially disaggregated data to illustrate areas of ongoing concern, show trajectories of improvement over time and allow racial disparities to drive efforts at remediation and redress. Data can help to identify patterns of discrimination, inform evidence-based policies and measure progress towards achieving racial justice and equality. 45 The Working Group has urged States, to collect, compile, analyse, disseminate and publish, with explicit consent, reliable and disaggregated statistical data at the national and local levels based on self-identification and in accordance with provisions on human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as data protection regulations and privacy guarantees. 40. The Working Group has called for data transparency, with information made publicly available, to ensure accountability and promote trust between communities and institutions. It recognizes the intersectionality of identities and encourages data collection that captures the unique experiences of individuals who belong to multiple marginalized groups, including people of African descent. 41. The Working Group has discussed the ethics and governance of artificial intelligence and of bias in technological advances, such as facial recognition, and software used in the criminal justice sector in certain countries.46 It has raised concerns that little effort has been made to ensure that the racial biases reflected throughout societies have not been embedded in algorithms, coding and data-driven commercial and military products, such as facialrecognition software, autonomous weapons systems and signature strike targeting programmes. Legacy mindsets remain embedded in decision-making, often because of the failure of the decision makers to confront their own biases. Making these views apparent could mitigate their impact, particularly the biases reflected in algorithms, which lack reflective capacity and effective independent oversight. 42. Racial biases and stereotypes are reflected throughout society, including in advertisements, social media, political rhetoric and decision-making in health care, education and employment. The persistence and ubiquitousness of such biases and stereotypes perpetuate racial discrimination in many areas, including artificial intelligence, and contribute to the social marginalization of people of African descent. 47 43. The Working Group has urged States and stakeholders to recognize the importance of qualitative data. Anecdotal, narrative and individual data, in addition to witness testimonies, are vital for accurately interpreting the existing quantitative data so that systemic racism and individual bias do not result in the misinterpretation or mischaracterization of data trends and their import. 44 45 46 47 10 See https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/wg-african-descent/24th-session-working-group. See A/HRC/42/59. Ibid. See A/76/302 and A/HRC/42/59. GE.23-15301