A/HRC/36/60 I. Introduction 1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its nineteenth session from 28 November to 2 December 2016 and its twentieth session from 3 to 7 April 2017 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The present report is submitted in accordance with Human Rights Council resolutions 9/14, 18/28 and 27/25, 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 twentieth session of the Working Group. 2. Representatives of Member States, the Holy See, international organizations, regional organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and invited panellists participated in the twentieth session (see annex). II. Organization of the twentieth session A. Opening of the session 3. Mona Rishmawi, Chief of the Rule of Law, Equality and Non-Discrimination Branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in her opening statement expressed appreciation for the Working Group’s work. She stated that the Sustainable Development Goals offered clear opportunities to close the gaps for the most marginalized and those facing racial discrimination, and that prioritizing people of African descent in development processes could have tremendous benefits for addressing disparities and racial injustice. She welcomed the timeliness of the discussions to influence new Sustainable Development Goals-based policies and development plans that were being formulated. 4. Ms. Rishmawi reaffirmed the commitment of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the Coordinator of the International Decade, to advancing the rights of people of African descent. B. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 5. Sabelo Gumedze was elected Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group. 6. Ricardo Sunga, the outgoing Chair-Rapporteur, thanked the other members of the Working Group and the other participants for their support, adding that the Working Group would continue to strive to strengthen the mandate that had been entrusted to it. 7. Accepting his new role as Chair-Rapporteur, Mr. Gumedze thanked the other experts for his election and the participants for their support. 8. The representatives of Botswana, Brazil, Colombia and South Africa and of the European Union expressed their appreciation to Mr. Sunga for his work during his tenure as Chair-Rapporteur and congratulated Mr. Gumedze on his election. C. Organization of work 9. The Working Group adopted the agenda (A/HRC/WG.14/20/1) and programme of work. III. Update and briefings on activities undertaken by the Working Group in the past year 10. Mr. Gumedze reminded participants that the Working Group had submitted its annual report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-third session (A/HRC/33/61 and 3