A/HRC/42/59 I. Introduction 1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its twenty-third session from 3 to 7 December 2018 and its twenty-fourth session from 25 to 29 March 2019 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28, 27/25 and 36/23, in which the Council requested the Working Group to submit an annual report on all activities relating to its mandate. The report focuses mainly on the deliberations at the twenty-fourth session of the Working Group. 2. Representatives of Member States, international organizations, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and invited panellists participated in the twenty-fourth session (see annex). II. Organization of the twenty-fourth session A. Opening of the session 3. In her opening statement, the Director of Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and the Right to Development Division of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed appreciation for the timeliness of the discussion on the theme “Data for racial justice” as a way to amplify the importance of data in informing policy and measures to address inequality and discrimination. A human rightsbased approach to data and statistics – one that detected multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination towards a particular group based on disaggregated data – could inform decisions for better lives. The challenges facing data collection for marginalized groups, such as people of African descent, were even greater when those groups were legally invisible, either because their existence was unrecognized or because, in some countries, collecting data about them was criminalized by the State. 4. The Director encouraged the Working Group to continue to reach out to financial and development institutions regarding the inclusion of people of African descent, noting its work in developing operational guidelines on the inclusion of people of African descent in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which would be a useful tool and raise awareness about the importance of data for the development of groups such as people of African descent. She reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the Coordinator of the International Decade for People of African Descent, to advancing the rights of people of African descent. B. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 5. Ahmed Reid was elected Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group. Dominique Day was elected Vice-Chair. 6. Michal Balcerzak, the outgoing Chair-Rapporteur, welcomed Ms. Day as a new member of the Working Group and thanked the other members for their contributions. He acknowledged both the achievements of the Working Group, as reflected in the implementation by States of the Working Group’s recommendations on the issue of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent, and the need to continue efforts to encourage more States to implement the Working Group’s recommendations. 7. Accepting his new role as Chair-Rapporteur, Mr. Reid thanked the other experts for his election and the participants for their support. 8. Representatives of Member States and civil society expressed their appreciation to Mr. Balcerzak for his work during his tenure as Chair-Rapporteur and congratulated Mr. Reid on his election. 3