A/HRC/33/61
report also discussed the prevalence of racist speech in social media and mainstream media
and the disparate impact of racism on people of African descent in the labour, employment
and housing sectors. The report contained recommendations for the adoption of a European
Union framework for national strategies or policy objectives to combat Afrophobia and
promote the inclusion of people of African descent, as well as for the collection of
disaggregated equality data, with comparable data sets across Europe, in accordance with
data protection standards.
29.
Sara Mokuria, co-founder of Mothers against Police Brutality, United States,
delivered a videotaped message on the excessive use of force by police officers in that
country against people of African descent. She outlined a number of policy
recommendations made by her organization, including, among others, conducting drug tests
on police officers when they shot and killed, appointing special prosecutors for all shooting
cases involving police officers, instituting federal oversight over the officer training
curriculum concerning the use of deadly force and giving all family members full access to
compensation for crime victims.
30.
During the interactive session, Mr. Balcerzak asked Ms. Nwabuzo about the extent
of the ongoing immigration crisis and its influence on people of African descent in Europe.
He suggested including more information on people of African descent in Central and
Eastern Europe. Ms. Nwabuzo replied that the political discourse was indeed creating an
environment where racist speech was taking place with impunity, along with a focus on
integration over anti-discrimination.
31.
The fourth panel focused on the topic “Development: financial/developmental
institutions and programmes for people of African descent”. Mr. Balcerzak elaborated on
practical steps the Working Group itself was planning to undertake to promote and support
programmes and projects targeted at people of African descent in various areas related to
development. Referring to the Working Group’s mandate, which aimed at “contributing to
the development programmes intended for people of African descent undertaken by
international financial and development institutions, operational programmes and
specialized agencies of the United Nations”, he linked it to the programme of activities of
the International Decade, which prioritized programmes and projects specifically tailored
for people of African descent. He proposed studying the agendas of the international
financial and development institutions with a view to identifying relevant programmes and
issues; considering ways to be actively involved in the consultation process of development
programmes intended for people of African descent, at both the planning and
implementation stages; encouraging relevant development and financial institutions to take
more interest in the Working Group’s activities, including by participating in its public
sessions; regularly reporting on its contribution to the development programmes; and
considering ways to involve other relevant actors in the process of consulting on and
contributing to the development programmes.
32.
Veronica Womack, Chief Diversity Officer and Professor of Political Science and
Public Administration at Georgia College & State University, United States, presented a
paper on “Strategies for asset building and wealth creation for people of African descent
within the Black Belt region of the American South”. She gave an overview of
socioeconomic conditions in the Black Belt region and the people of African descent living
there, and of how the historical and present-day lack of asset building and wealth creation
by people of African descent in the region had negatively affected their socioeconomic
development. Examples of that included a disproportionate reliance on low-skill, low-wage
jobs, high unemployment rates, low educational attainment, racial and class-based
segregation of education and housing, geographical isolation from major transportation
infrastructure, limited access to health care, substandard housing, reliance on non-elected,
unrepresentative special district bodies in decisions about local economic development, and
9