A/HRC/40/30 Government in developing a national action plan for 2018–2020 to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (see CERD/C/TJK/CO/9-11). The national action plan, developed through consultations with civil society, establishes the duty of the State to monitor the country situation and to adopt the measures necessary to ensure that ethnic minorities are represented in the civil service and in law enforcement agencies, to provide quality education to representatives of ethnic minorities and to amend existing laws. In addition, provisions concerning the right to equality and the prohibition of discrimination against minorities are included in the draft national human rights strategy that is being prepared with support from the Regional Office. The national strategy will cover issues related to the participation of minorities in the economic, social and cultural life of society, and their right to be educated in both the State and minority languages. 17. The OHCHR Regional Office for Europe supported the goals of the International Decade for People of African Descent by raising awareness about the increase in racial hatred and violence against people of African descent in Europe. It also encouraged European Union institutions to acknowledge people of African descent as victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and supported measures to close gaps in European Union anti-discrimination legislation. 18. During the period under review, the OHCHR Regional Office for Central America continued to promote equality and discourage discrimination, as part of its strategy to address the racial profiling of people of African descent. The Regional Office analysed the data-collection and evaluation methods used to identify racial profiling in a number of countries. The findings, methodological issues and lessons learned from other countries and experiences were summarized to contribute to the preliminary analysis of samples of data collection and evaluation methods used in public institutions in Panama. A methodological proposal and a road map for the preparation of a report on racial profiling in the law enforcement agencies in Panama will be developed in 2019 by OHCHR. 19. In March 2018, in a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a number of United Nations and regional human rights experts urged States, civil society organizations and activists to step up their efforts to stem the alarming rise in racism and xenophobia worldwide. They highlighted that racial, ethnic and religious bigotry was fuelling human rights violations, including extreme violence against minorities and against refugees, migrants, and stateless and internally displaced persons, including people of African descent. They said that urgent global attention must be paid to the structural economic, political and legal conditions that were stoking racism and xenophobia among populations that perceived minorities and non-nationals as threats. Putting an end to the forced displacement and cultural extinction of racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities that resulted from extraction and construction projects driven by both governments and multinational corporations, was just as urgent as addressing the resurgence of neo-Nazism.8 20. The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, noted in her report (A/HRC/38/52) that the resurgent xenophobic and racist rhetoric and policies rooted in ethno-nationalism not only harmed non-citizens of any given nation, but also made citizens who were members of ethnic, racial or religious minorities vulnerable to discrimination and intolerance. 21. During the reporting period, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women made recommendations to several States in relation to non-discrimination guarantees to protect minority groups. For example, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination addressed the need to take steps to facilitate access by minorities to justice.9 It also addressed the discrimination faced by persons of African descent, in particular reports of racist hate crime and hate speech, racist depictions in the media, racial profiling, residential and economic segregation and discrimination in accessing health care, 8 9 6 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22856&LangID=E. See, for example, CERD/C/KGZ/CO/8-10, para. 14.