A/HRC/57/70 Commissioner of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights; and Head of AU CIDO. The Chair of the Working Group had a virtual meeting with the UN Deputy SecretaryGeneral Amina Mohammed on 8 December 2023. Finally, the Working Group co-organized and co-hosted with Professor John-Mark Iyi of the University of the Western Cape and Professor Mesenbet Assefa of Addis Ababa University, a Colloquium on Migration, in a hybrid format, anchored from the Ras Mekonnen Hall at Addis Ababa University, with the School of Law, Addis Ababa University; the Faculty of Law, University of the Western Cape; the African Centre for Transnational and Criminal Justice; and the Africa Reparations Hub of the University of the Free State, South Africa. The colloquium saw presentations from several universities, and the AU Senior Migration Advisor, the outcomes of which are the basis for the Working Group’s ongoing research on migration issues affecting people of African descent. B. Thirty-fourth session 7. The Working Group held its thirty-fourth session at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland from 22 to 26 April 2024. The session included meetings with UN entities working on common areas of focus, and segments on the elaboration of the Working Group’s strategic engagement, advocacy and partnership at regional levels. The Working Group met with the World Health Organisation and the International Labour Organisation and held an informal consultation with Australia. The Working Group reviewed draft regional strategies following the determination of focal points at its thirty-third session and agreed on defined approaches for implementation. The Working Group also reviewed the draft outline for the present report, as well as the concept note and workplan for the thirty fifth session on reparatory justice and people of African descent. The Working Group reviewed methodologies and lessons learned from the last three country visits, as well as its working methods with a view to finalizing agreed changes at its thirty sixth session. III. Activities of the Working Group (July 2023–July 2024) 8. In July 2023, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent conducted virtual consultations with civil society organizations and national human rights institutions, as well as with former mandate holders of the Working Group. These consultations informed the preparation of its report entitled “Facilitating the journey from rhetoric to reality”, 1 which focused on the 20 years of work since its establishment and the status of implementation of the Working Group’s country and thematic recommendations, achievements and recommendations for future. The mandate also received information to its call for inputs for the report from States. 9. In September 2023, during the fifty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council, the Chair of the Working Group presented two reports on the mandate’s country visits to Australia in December 2022,2 and to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in January 2023. 3 The Chair also presented the annual reports on “Economic empowerment of people of African descent”, 4 summarizing the conclusions and recommendations of the mandate’s thirty-second session on the same theme, as well as on the aforementioned report “Facilitating the journey from rhetoric to reality”. 10. On 30 October 2023, at the seventy-eighth session of the General Assembly, the Chair of the Working Group presented a consolidated report on the mandate’s activities, including on its 2023 thematic focus on the economic empowerment of people of African descent. The Chair of the Working Group also participated in an interactive dialogue. 1 2 3 4 See A/HRC/54/71. See A/HRC/54/67/Add.2, visit to Australia from 12 to 20 December 2022. See A/HRC/54/67/Add.1, visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from 18 to 27 January 2023, report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. See A/HRC/54/67. 3