A/HRC/24/52 required in understanding the concept and what needed to be done to put it into action for a holistic approach beneficial to people of African descent. She indicated the possibility of the need for a global forum for people of African descent to further the discussion in that matter. 32. Ms. Najcevska presented a paper on “Recognition through data collection: Mapping Inequalities”. She highlighted the importance of data collection in depicting racial discrimination and further noted that data collection and analysis could be an essential tool for assessing whether rights under the international and national laws were being infringed and taking corrective action. She also added that the statistical presentation of disaggregated data could be used as an appropriate tool, especially in dealing with structural discrimination. 33. She also mentioned the challenges due to the lack of insufficient statistical data on people of African descent and their resulting invisibility. Similarly, according to her, the lack of a regional or international protection regime designed specifically for people of African descent highlighted the necessity of further developing the international legal framework. She then detailed the need to develop ethnic and racial categories to meet the needs of the national anti-discrimination scheme and enable measuring. Prohibition of data collection on the basis of race in some countries served to inhibit the tracking of racism and anti-Semitism and also made monitoring the progress of anti-discrimination programmes, legislation and other initiatives difficult. She concluded by stating that solid disaggregated data on people of African descent was sine qua non in the recognition of the specific indirect and structural discrimination those persons were facing, but cautioned that, while data disaggregated by race and ethnicity might make racism and racial discrimination more visible, it could also be misused and misinterpreted and could lead to racial profiling or feed stereotypes and prejudices. 34. Carlos Viáfara, a professor of Economics at the University del Valle in Cali, Colombia, delivered a presentation entitled: “Colombia a case study: A social pyramid of pigmentocracy”. He stated that, while the subject of his presentation was a case study of a specific country, it was generally relevant to and reflective of the situation of people of African descent in other parts of the world. The presentation was based on comprehensive research undertaken by The Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA), a joint project led by Princeton University and the University del Valle and other organizations, in relation to ethnic-racial issues concerning people of African descent, their construction of self-identity and other identity markers. The Project analysed the ethnic and racial inequalities in the educational attainment and income status of the household average in Colombia and other countries in the region. According to the comprehensive survey undertaken by PERLA, unlike existing models (which provided clear and distinctive categories of racial identities), in the Colombian case, ethnic and racial identities were very porous and understood in context of fusion, of the “dark” to “clear”. The PERLA survey utilized colour palettes instead of self-identity categories, to analyse how the external appearances through colour intensity of the skin affected access to valued resources at the societal level. One of the major findings of the survey was that the Afro-Colombian population, in particular people with darker skin tones, had a lower status in terms of socioeconomic achievement. This was not only attributable to historical factors but also to the presence of institutions that had reinforced discrimination, resulting in a continuing inequality trap in the long run. 35. He concluded by offering a number of recommendations, such as the need for countries to follow the experience of Brazil, Ecuador and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in their 2015 population and housing census and ask people of African descent to identify themselves on the basis of an ethnic or racial category. He also emphasized the need to introduce the ethnic/racial variable into household and quality-of-life surveys, forms, administrative registers and statistical processes in general, in order to measure discrimination and formulate, implement and monitor appropriate public policies. He also 9