At its 88th plenary meeting, on 18 March 2016, the General Assembly, recalling its resolution 70/140 of 17 December 2015 in which it requested the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Human Rights Council to continue convening annual commemorative meetings of the Assembly and the Council during the commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, with the appropriate focus and themes, and to hold a debate on the state of racial discrimination worldwide, with the participation of the Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and in that context encouraged the participation of eminent personalities active in the struggle against racial discrimination, Member States and civil society organizations in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Assembly and the Council, decided, without setting a precedent, to invite Mr. Ahmed Reid, member of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent of the Human Rights Council, to make a statement at the commemorative meeting.
