A/HRC/30/56 III. Update and briefings on activities undertaken by the Working Group in the past year 7. Under item 5 of the agenda, Ms. Fanon Mendès-France informed participants that on 3 November 2014 she had attended a meeting of the Third Committee of the General Assembly in New York and presented the activities of the Working Group, including an overview of discussions and conclusions from its annual meetings, findings from country fact-finding visits, action taken under the communication procedure and work relating to the International Decade for People of African Descent. An interactive dialogue at the end of her presentation had received broad support from members of the Committee for the work of the Working Group. 8. Ms. Fanon Mendès-France also briefed the participants of the sixteenth session on the fifteenth session of the Working Group, which was an internal meeting at which members had reviewed the Working Group’s methods of work, prepared its upcoming session, communications and country visits and held meetings with various stakeholders and OHCHR units. The Working Group had agreed that it was important to identify its role in relation to the International Decade for People of African Descent and to communicate with the High Commissioner to seek clarity on the issue, including its participation in the Forum for People of African Descent. It had also decided to undertake follow-up visits five years after its previous visit to a country. It further decided to undertake a thematic study on racial stereotyping. Finally it decided to explore ways to increase collaboration with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 9. The Chair-Rapporteur briefed participants on the country visits of the Working Group to the Netherlands (26 June–4 July 2014) and Sweden (1–5 December 2014). At the end of the visits, the Working Group had released press statements, which were available on the OHCHR website.1 The Chair thanked the Governments of the Netherlands and Sweden for their invitation and assistance before, during and after the visits. The Chair also thanked the representatives of NGOs and the people of African descent with whom the Working Group had met during the visits and informed participants that reports of the missions would be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its thirtieth session and made publicly available on the website. 10. Ms. Shepherd informed participants that, on behalf of the Working Group, she had presented two reports to the Human Rights Council during its twenty-seventh session: the report on the country visit to Brazil from 4 to 14 December 2013, and the report on the fourteenth session of the Working Group. She mentioned that the report on the fourteenth session of the Working Group had generated much discussion in relation to access to justice for people of African descent. At the invitation of the President of the General Assembly, Ms. Shepherd had delivered the keynote address on the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination at the United Nations in New York on 20 March 2015. The theme for the commemorative event was “Learning from historical tragedies to combat racial discrimination today”. On the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on 25 March 2015, Ms. Shepherd had participated in the unveiling of the memorial entitled the “Ark of Return” at the United Nations in New York. 11. The Chair had participated in the sixth session of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Human Rights Council on the Elaboration of Complementary Standards to the International 1 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14840&LangID=E and www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15388&LangID=E. 3