Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent

A/HRC/RES/9/14View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, published in 2008.

What other versions does this mandate have?

6 versions · 2008–2023

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/54/26

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2023	A/HRC/RES/54/26	Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	1,128	75%Compare
2020	A/HRC/RES/45/24	Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	1,026	73%Compare
2017	A/HRC/RES/36/23	Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	787	70%Compare
2014	A/HRC/RES/27/25	Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	586	69%Compare
2011	A/HRC/RES/18/28	Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent	502	25%Compare

What’s in this document?

19 operative paragraphs

Welcomes and acknowledges the importance and significance of the work of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent in examining the current situation and conditions and the extent of racism against Africans and people of African descent;

Urges consideration of the recommendations of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action follow-up mechanisms contained in General Assembly and Council resolutions;

Recommends that States take measures to ensure adequate representation of people of African descent in the judiciary and other areas of the justice system, without prejudice to the principle of meritocracy, and calls upon States to identify factors that have resulted in the disproportionate number of arrests, sentencing and incarceration of Africans and people of African descent, particularly young men, and to take immediate and appropriate measures to eliminate those factors and to adopt crime-prevention strategies and programmes that include alternatives to incarceration;

Emphasizes the need to establish methods by which disaggregated information may be collected effectively on health, education, access to housing, employment, treatment in the criminal justice system, political participation and representation, with regard to, inter alia, Africans and people of African descent, and that such information provide the basis for the creation and monitoring of policies and practices that address any discrimination found;

Also emphasizes the importance of collecting disaggregated information and urges the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide support to the States that request it for the collection of such information;

Underscores the importance that States and international and regional organizations ensure that existing mechanisms for complaints for discrimination are accessible to Africans and people of African descent;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to compile a series of best practices in areas such as access to housing, education, health, employment and institutional and legal frameworks pertaining to Africans and people of African descent;

Decides to extend the mandate of the Working Group on People of African Descent for three years with the following mandate, to meet for two sessions of five working days each in closed and public meetings:

To study the problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent living in the diaspora and, to that end, gather all relevant information from Governments, non-governmental organizations and other relevant sources, including through the holding of public meetings with them;

To propose measures to ensure full and effective access to the justice system by people of African descent;

To submit recommendations on the design, implementation and enforcement of effective measures to eliminate racial profiling of people of African descent;

To make proposals on the elimination of racial discrimination against Africans and people of African descent in all parts of the world;

To address all the issues concerning the well-being of Africans and people of African descent contained in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

To elaborate short-, medium- and long-term proposals for the elimination of racial discrimination against people of African descent, bearing in mind the need for close collaboration with international and development institutions and the specialized agencies of the United Nations system to promote the human rights of people of African descent through, inter alia, the following activities:

Improving the human rights situation of people of African descent by devoting special attention to their needs through, inter alia, the preparation of specific programmes of action;

Designing special projects, in collaboration with people of African descent, to support their initiatives at the community level and to facilitate the exchange of information and technical know-how between these populations and experts in these areas;

Liaising with financial and developmental institutional and operational programmes and specialized agencies of the United Nations, with a view to contribute to the development programmes intended for people of

African descent by allocating additional investments to health systems, education, housing, electricity, drinking water and environmental control measures and promoting equal opportunities in employment, as well as other affirmative or positive measures and strategies within the human rights framework;

Requests the Working Group to submit reports on progress in the elaboration of its mandate to the Council;

Urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to take measures within the framework of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, including by highlighting the plight of victims and initiating consultations with various international sporting and other organizations, enabling them to contribute to the struggle against racism and racial discrimination;

Requests States, non-governmental organizations, relevant human rights treaty bodies, special procedures and other mechanisms of the commissions, national institutions, international, financial and development institutions, and specialized agencies, programmes and funds of the United Nations to collaborate with the Working Group by providing it with the necessary information and, where possible, reports in order to enable the Working Group to carry out its mandate;

Stresses the need to ensure adequate financial and human resources, including through the regular budget of the United Nations, for the Office of the High Commissioner to carry out its responsibilities efficiently in the implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action;

Recalls the establishment of a voluntary fund to provide additional resources for, inter alia, the participation of people of African descent, representatives of developing countries, especially the least developed countries, non-governmental organizations and experts, in the open-ended sessions of the Working Group, and invites States to contribute to that fund.

Mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent

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