A/HRC/42/59 C. Organization of work 9. The Working Group adopted the agenda (A/HRC/WG.14/24/1) and programme of work for its twenty-fourth session. III. Update on activities of the Working Group in the past year 10. Mr. Reid informed participants that the Working Group had submitted its annual report on its twenty-first and twenty-second sessions to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-ninth session, including reports on its country visits to Guyana and Spain (A/HRC/39/69 and Add.1 and 2), and had engaged in a constructive dialogue with Member States. The Working Group had also submitted its annual report to the General Assembly (A/73/228) at its seventy-third session and had participated in an interactive dialogue with the Third Committee on 29 October 2018. 11. At its twenty-third session, the Working Group had held a closed meeting at which members had approved their revised methods of work (A/HRC/WG.14/24/2). The Working Group had also prepared for its upcoming session, country visits and the consideration of communications, and had held meetings with various stakeholders and representatives of OHCHR. At the session, the Working Group had decided to submit to the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session a thematic report on addressing negative racial stereotypes of people of African descent. It had also issued a call for submissions to gather all available data and analysis to conduct a mapping exercise and prepare a baseline report on the human rights situation of people of African descent. The report would serve as a tool to increase visibility, identify gaps and guide the formulation of policies and actions to prevent, combat and eradicate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance faced by people of African descent. In addition, the Working Group had held meetings with the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to explore ways to increase collaboration between the two mechanisms on issues of mutual concern. 12. The Working Group had conducted country visits to Belgium (4–11 February 2019) and Argentina (11–18 March 2019). At the end of each visit, the Working Group had released media statements containing its preliminary findings and recommendations. 1 Reports on the visits would be submitted to the Human Rights Council at its forty-second session. The Working Group thanked the Governments of Belgium and Argentina for their invitations and for their assistance before, during and after the visits. The Working Group also thanked the representatives of civil society and people of African descent with whom it had met. 13. The Working Group had continued to actively promote and participate in activities to assist stakeholders in the implementation of the programme of activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent. In that connection, the Working Group had organized a side event at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 29 October 2018, entitled “Towards a declaration on the promotion and respect of the rights of people of African descent”, in which the Chair of the Working Group, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and the Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had participated. Over 50 civil society participants had attended the event, indicating a great deal of interest in the work of the anti-racism mechanisms. The panellists had emphasized why the declaration was necessary and the importance of the process leading up to the declaration on the promotion and full respect of human rights of people of African descent taking place within the International Decade. During the same week, the Chair of the Working Group had also met with the United Nations Department of Global Communications to discuss promotional work related to the International Decade and had been interviewed on United Nations Radio on the Working Group’s mandate and efforts to promote the International Decade. The Working Group had welcomed General Assembly 1 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24155&LangID=E and www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24352&LangID=E.