A/HRC/16/45/Add.1 victims of various forms of racial discrimination …, a complex cultural problem with its roots in the history of Colombia and Latin America, which has engendered a scenario in which the indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities have been traditionally subject to marginalization, poverty and vulnerability to violence”. The Government notes that its recognition of these problems has promoted meaningful affirmative action programmes to reduce inequality in the provision of public services and to close social gaps experienced by Afro-Colombians and other historically vulnerable populations. 17. The 2005 census introduced ethnic categories in an effort to provide statistical information required to inform public policies and affirmative action programmes to combat discrimination against Afro-Colombians. However, there is still very little official socio-economic data disaggregated by race or ethnicity to reveal inequalities experienced by Afro-Colombians. Even the human rights statistics of the Presidential Programme for Human Rights and international humanitarian law differentiate between homicides against indigenous people, trade unionists or politicians, but do not have a category for AfroColombian victims8. When considered together with the gross statistical undercount of Afro-Colombians, it seems probable that Government policies are ill-informed about the extent of the problems facing Afro-Colombian communities. 18. Afro-Colombian representatives highlight pervasive structural discrimination, including access to quality education, employment and participation in economic life, housing, effective political participation and access to justice. The estimated illiteracy index within the Afro-Colombian population is 30 per cent, compared with the national average of 16 per cent9. Nearly 10 per cent of Afro-Colombian children from 6 to 10 years of age do not access primary education, with the percentage believed to be far higher in some regions10. 19. Afro-Colombians are grossly underrepresented in public sector employment, rarely represented at senior levels and face discriminatory barriers in private sector employment. Due to discrimination and poor educational achievements the employment opportunities of Afro-Colombians are largely limited to the informal sector in such areas as itinerant trading. Most rural communities rely on subsistence farming and, in some areas, on smallscale mining. Afro-Colombian women noted their overrepresentation as domestic workers and unskilled staff, often the only employment available to them. 20. In 1999, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its concluding observations (CERD/C/304/Add.76), described “de facto racial segregation in urban centres” and discrimination which results in Afro-Colombians being consigned to the poorest neighbourhoods and low quality housing. The independent expert’s consultations revealed that this situation continues in 2010. Discrimination in access to public places reportedly persists, despite at least one high-profile prosecution of a nightclub for denying entry to young Afro-Colombians11. The Government asserts that such incidents are not prevalent throughout the country. Afro-Colombians report that the media perpetuates negative racial stereotypes and images of Afro-Colombian people, trivializes their problems and gives little attention to their contributions to society. 8 9 10 11 6 See www.derechoshumanos.gov.co/observatorio_de_DDHH/default.asp World Bank, Colombia 2006-2010: Una ventana de oportunidad – Notas de políticas presentadas por el Banco Mundial, Colombia, April 2007, p. 149. César Rodríguez Garavito, Tatiana Alfonso Sierra, Isabel Cavelier Adarve, Racial Discrimination and Human Rights in Colombia: A report on the Situation of the Rights of Afro-Colombians, Observatory on racial discrimination, 1st ed., December 2008, p. 43. Decision T-1090 of 2005 of the Constitutional Court.