A/76/302 interruptions in service delivery during the pandemic created obstacles to human rights and community safety. 6 In 2020, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organization of American States called for reform and voter reregistration after private consultants in Guyana leveraged racial stereotypes and tropes to create a multi-issue anti-Black consensus in the election cycle, similar to the influence of Cambridge Analytica in Trinidad and Tobago a few years prior. 7 However, failures to address the disparate impact to people of African descent as a group persisted, even when States were on notice of the foreseeable impact of policymaking decisions that ignored or denied the pervasive impact of race. 29. This occurred in varied contexts. In Spain, people of African descent experienced the highest levels of discrimination in areas of access to adequate housing and education based on their physical features, a reality that continued or worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. 8 Civil society in Colombia reported that existing socioeconomic conditions and lesser access to health infrastructure in communities of people of African descent exacerbated COVID-19 concerns and abuses of law enforcement authority. In addition to a 25 per cent higher fatality rate for COVID-19, one third of Afro-Colombians experience serious barriers to the enjoyment of their human rights, a figure 50 per cent higher than the population at large. A national strike that began in April 2021, triggered by a tax proposal, is cited as a direct result of these ongoing, and disregarded, concerns. The city of Cali, an epicentre, has the second largest population of people of African descent in Latin America and has experienced the most police violence since the strike began and the most police homicides of people of African descent. 9 Many thousands of claims of violence, including fatalities, forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions, have been reported in Colombia since the strike began. 10 In Cali, 36 per cent of the victims of police-related fatalities and 62 per cent of those fatalities were people of African descent. Another civil society organization in Colombia recorded the forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and murders of over 82 women of African descent. 11 30. In the Indian Ocean territories, people of African descent navigated a lack of personal protective equipment initially and challenges with vaccinations more recently. In addition, competing health crises, including dengue, competed with COVID-19 throughout this period, shutting down dengue prophylactic services previously undertaken by public officials and leaving residents at risk on multiple fronts. Health workers with inadequate and expired equipment described operating with a “sword of Damocles” over their heads at all times. In addition, artists whose income relied on international projects and programmes experienced drastic income loss. 31. Respect for dignity and humanity was also compromised throughout the pandemic. The greater reliance on online forums increased familiar abuses and harassment. In the United Kingdom, reports of an increase in online abuse during the pandemic were enhanced for Black women and non-binary persons. 12 Others reported __________________ 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 10/22 For additional information on the challenges faced by migrants of African descent, see https://g2red.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Mapping-of-challenges-in-lawful-residence.pdf. The Great Hack (2019). For additional information, see www.infomigrants.net/en/post/29866/report-discriminationworsens-in-spain. For additional information, see the 2021 report of Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES), available at https://codhes.wordpress.com/2021/07/01/presentamos manual-de-autoproteccion-para-lideres-y-lideresas-sociales/. Temblores ONG, communiqué of 16 June 2021. Available at www.temblores.org/comunicados. See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Racism/WGEAPD/urgency-of-now/csos/ILEX-Accionjuridica.pdf. Glitch UK and End Violence Against Women Coalition, “The ripple effect: COVID-19 and the epidemic of online abuse”, September 2020. Available at https://glitchcharity.co.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2021/04/Glitch-The-Ripple-Effect-Report-COVID-19-online-abuse.pdf. 21-11641