A/HRC/42/59 obligations, the 2030 Agenda and the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015–2024). Ms. Day shared highlights of the submissions received from several Member States and civil society, providing examples of data and statistics on the composition of the population, data reflecting the human rights situation of people of African descent and information on measures to address disparities they faced. The Working Group intended to continue to call for more submissions from Member States, civil society and all stakeholders to enhance the proposed report. 27. During the interactive discussion, in response to a question from Working Group member Ricardo A. Sunga III, Mr. Reid elaborated further on the importance of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in framing legislation to combat racial stereotypes. He also emphasized the importance of reviewing curricula and education to include the history of colonization and past atrocities, and the contribution of people of African descent in society, along with the establishment of memorial sites to address racial discrimination. Responding to a question on the linkage between racial stereotypes and law enforcement, Mr. Reid gave the example of the Stanford Open Policing Project, which had studied over 100 million traffic stops from 2011 to 2017 and had concluded that stereotypes and racial profiling were at the heart of policing. A representative of civil society asked about the next steps, to which Mr. Reid responded that the draft report would be published as the Working Group report to the General Assembly in 2019. Regarding Ms. Day’s presentation, Mr. Sunga asked her to evaluate the different methods of data collection. Mr. Reid asked about the challenges in undertaking the mapping exercise. Working Group member Sabelo Gumedze asked about the different sources of data received and how to reconcile data from different sources. In response, Ms. Day said that data and information received so far did not conflict and fairly corresponded with each other. While the Working Group was still accepting submissions, Ms. Day outlined the different varieties of information received so far, including statistical data, narratives, policy documents and research. Currently the Working Group was trying to distil the information received. A representative from civil society advised including policy recommendations in the report based on the analysis of data received. 28. The second panel focused on people of African descent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mr. Reid gave a presentation on the historical structural barriers flowing from colonialism that continued to plague Caribbean countries today. Examining the adverse socioeconomic impact on various former colonies, a comparison of the human development index of former colonial States in the West with former colonized States in the Caribbean showed that former colonial States ranked at the top, while former colonies ranked at the bottom. That gap could be attributed to colonial exploitation. During the colonial period the Caribbean region had been a resource powerhouse, yet the wealth generated through African enslaved labour had not been invested in Caribbean countries but used to fuel European industrialization. 29. German Freire, a social development specialist at the World Bank Group and the main author of the World Bank report Afro-Descendants in Latin America: Toward a Framework of Inclusion (2018) presented the report. He highlighted the human rights challenges faced by people of African descent, including the fact that they made up 25 per cent of the population in Latin America yet constituted 50 per cent of those living in poverty. Attempting to understand why people of African descent were today suffering from lack of inclusion, he recognized three contributing factors: the localities in which people of African descent were living; their participation in the job markets; and their access to education. Between 2005 and 2015, Latin America had seen a reduction in poverty regionally, yet people of African descent had not been equally impacted. People of African descent in Latin America were 2.5 times more likely to be living in chronic poverty than other Latin Americans. Another concern was systemic racism ingrained in the educational systems of various Latin American countries, which resulted in people of African descent being marginalized. That marginalization then translated into reduced participation and eventual withdrawal from education, thereby significantly impacting the chances of such persons to obtain better paying jobs. 7