A/HRC/42/59 threat to migrants’ rights in Italy. On 14 March 2019, the Working Group had stated that the fight against the world drug problem had to address the unjust impact on people of African descent. On 14 March 2019, the Working Group had joined several mandate holders and called upon Brazil to ensure justice for rights defender Marielle Franco, who had been killed on 14 March 2018. On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, on 21 March, the Working Group and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance had issued a joint statement urging States to act against nationalist populism and supremacist ideologies. 22. The Working Group had continued its work on advancing engagement with international and development institutions and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system to promote the human rights of people of African descent. It had also continued work on a draft set of operational guidelines on inclusion of people of African descent in the 2030 Agenda, with the aim to field test the guidelines by engaging with national authorities and partners and contribute to the development of programmes intended for people of African descent. In that connection, on 1 November 2018, the Working Group had also met with the United Nations Statistics Division, and had discussed methodological frameworks and guidelines for censuses, data collection and dissemination, and technical assistance to Member States. 23. The Chair then opened the floor for Member States. The representatives of Brazil, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) expressed satisfaction at participating in the session of the Working Group. IV. Summary of deliberations Thematic analysis 24. The Working Group devoted its twenty-fourth session, held in the form of six panel discussions, to the theme “Data for racial justice”. The session focused on negative racial stereotypes, the Working Group’s mapping exercise and the human rights situation of people of African descent globally. It also involved a comprehensive look at varied intersections of big data and racial justice (and injustice) throughout the world. 25. In the first panel, the Chair of the Working Group presented the draft thematic report on negative racial stereotypes of people of African descent. He highlighted the ongoing prevalence of racial stereotypes in everyday life, including in advertisements, on social media, in criminal justice systems and elsewhere. In politics, the deployment of racial stereotypes for political gain was becoming increasingly common and was particularly toxic. Racial bias had such a systemic impact on the enjoyment and exercise of fundamental rights that even in different countries people of African descent faced similar challenges. That suggested that a key underlying factor was white supremacy, or a construction of whiteness that relied on toxic negative stereotypes about people of African descent to preserve the value of whiteness and to afford less opportunity and fewer rights to people of African descent. He provided several indicative examples of racist statements by politicians, cultural practices involving the use of blackface, caricatures and media advertisements that all perpetuated racial stereotypes of people of African descent. Negative racial stereotypes and the cumulative impact of racially motivated discrimination were defining factors for many people of African descent worldwide and posed structural and systemic impediments to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. 26. The Vice-Chair of the Working Group presented the status of the Working Group’s efforts 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 objective of the report was to 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. It could also serve as a baseline to measure progress in the realization of the human rights of people of African descent in accordance with international human rights 6