A/HRC/33/61 development of national action plans and laws to promote knowledge of Africa, as well as recognition and appreciation of the identity, culture and history of people of African descent. He recommended the mandatory teaching of history that was culturally relevant and responsive to the experiences of people of African descent and cited the need for an Afrocentric pedagogy to ensure that future generations upheld the rights of people of African descent. 22. Alexandra Haas Paciuc, National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination, Mexico, delivered her message through a videotaped statement. She provided an overview of efforts made by the National Council to combat the racial discrimination faced by people of African descent in Mexico. She pointed out that, according to the 2015 census, 1.4 million people, or 1.2 per cent of the total population of the country, identified themselves as Afro-Mexicans. She outlined major aspects of Mexico’s national plan of action for equality and non-discrimination for the period 2014–2018, which included 21 action items related to people of African descent, such as the establishment of a working group to monitor national compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The National Council also supported parliamentary processes for constitutional reforms, including through studies on the situation of AfroMexicans in the country. She pointed out the need to harmonize federal and state laws with respect to international human rights obligations, particularly in areas such as the right to food, education and access to justice, among others. A comprehensive agenda was necessary to promote the cultural traditions and historical contributions of Afro-Mexicans. 23. Pedro Mouratian, former head of the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism, Argentina, also delivered a video message. He presented observations on addressing the situation of people of African descent from an Argentinian as well as a Latin American regional perspective. He said that it was essential to understand the root causes of the vulnerabilities faced by people of African descent, including the lack of information about communities of such people in the region, as well as the lack of information people of African descent themselves had in exercising their rights. In that regard they faced challenges in accessing health care, housing and work, to name a few examples. There was a need to develop indicators with measurable targets. The 2010 Argentinian census had helped in that regard as it had allowed people to indicate the ethnic group with which they identified. Sensitization campaigns were needed to revitalize the sense of identity of people of African descent, as the prevailing structural discrimination rendered them invisible. Their history and culture needed to be acknowledged, and he gave the example of how the Institute in collaboration with publishers had reviewed school textbooks to ensure that all text deemed to contain racist and xenophobic elements was removed. 24. During the interactive session, the representative of South Africa requested information from Mr. Reid on challenges in documenting and teaching history in its current context in the Caribbean region. Mr. Reid said that, while Caribbean historians had made progress in revisiting history to reflect the history of people of African descent, the repatriation of documents to the Caribbean region continued to present challenges. The representative of Ecuador shared that country’s work to develop national policies and plans of action aimed at the most vulnerable groups in society, including people of African descent, and including the adoption of a national policy to implement the International Decade. The representative of Mexico described an initiative in that country involving the inclusion of the historical contributions of Afro-Mexicans in a chapter of history texts used in primary schools. The representative of South Africa described the work of the African Union on the issue, including the declaration of the African diaspora as its sixth region. 25. The third panel discussion focused on the topic “Justice: institutional racial bias and law enforcement”. Mr. Sunga, in a paper entitled “Reflections on reparatory justice”, 7