A/HRC/42/59 resolution 73/262, in which the Assembly decided to establish a permanent forum on people of African descent. 14. The Chair of the Working Group said he had held two meetings with civil society organizations, on 30 and 31 October 2018 in New York. The first meeting had been with 20 representatives of the World Council of Churches from the United States of America and Canada and the second had been organized by the United States Human Rights Network. 15. He had also participated in a side event organized by the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, entitled “Ascendant nationalist populist ideologies and strategies: a sobering threat to racial equality”, which had been held in New York on 31 October 2018. 16. On 10 December 2018, the Working Group had visited the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in Vienna to discuss the results of the European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, Being Black in the EU, and how to enhance synergies and collaboration for future work. On 12 February 2019, the Working Group had met in Brussels with officials from the Anti-racism and Diversity Intergroup of the European Parliament and the Directorate-General of Justice and Consumers of the European Commission to discuss activities and issues of common concern. On the same date in Brussels, the Working Group had also met with the European Network against Racism and the European Network of People of African Descent to discuss the human rights situation of people of African descent and developments at the European level. 17. The Chair said that, on 27 February 2019, he had participated in a panel discussion in Geneva on people of African descent and the 2030 Agenda. The event had been organized by Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Brazil and OHCHR. Other panellists had included the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Vice President of Costa Rica and senior officials from the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization. 18. He had also taken part in a one-day consultation on the modalities, format and substantive and procedural aspects of the permanent forum on people of African descent, held in Geneva on 10 May 2019, and had expressed the Working Group’s openness to support the permanent forum. 19. On behalf of the Working Group, the Chair expressed appreciation to all of the Governments that had cooperated with the mandate and had invited the Working Group to undertake country visits. He noted that the Working Group had requested invitations to visit other countries and emphasized the importance of confirming dates and allowing visits to be planned and to proceed on schedule. 20. During the reporting period, and in accordance with its mandate, the Working Group had sent 10 communications regarding allegations of human rights violations to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Japan, the Netherlands, Italy and other actors. The communications sent and replies received had been included in the joint communications reports of special procedures mandate holders submitted to the Council (A/HRC/42/65, A/HRC/41/56 and A/HRC/40/79). The Working Group urged States to address human rights violations faced by people of African descent seriously and to take effective measures to end impunity and structural racism. On 1 April, the Working Group together with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance had also written to the International Law Commission with comments on the draft articles on crimes against humanity that were currently under deliberation by the International Law Commission.2 21. The Working Group had issued several media statements during the reporting period. On 12 November 2018, it had expressed concerns about racial bias in the Netherlands child welfare system. On 21 November 2018, it had joined several special procedure mandate holders in a statement expressing concerns over legal changes and the 2 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Racism/WGEAPD/CommentsDraftArticlesCrimes AgainstHumanity.pdf. 5