COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION HOLDS DAY OF DISCUSSION ON DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination held a daylong thematic discussion focusing on racial discrimination against people of African descent. The Committee held discussions with distinguished panellists on people of African descent and the international human rights mechanisms: challenges and achievements; history and effects of the transatlantic slave trade on people of African descent; current socioeconomic situations and issues of social inclusion relating to people of African descent; women of African descent and people of African descent of more recent migration from Africa.
In opening remarks, Anwar Kemal, Chair of the Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination, said the main purpose of holding this thematic discussion was to carry forward the mission that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination embarked upon 40 years ago when the most glaring form of racial discrimination prevailed in South Africa. Throughout history, people of African descent had borne a disproportionate impact of racial discrimination through greater joblessness, physical insecurity, inadequate housing and healthcare, lower life-expectancy, and many other disadvantages. Mr. Kemal invited panellists, Experts and all participants to take a moment of to reflect on the African philosophical ethic of Ubuntu which represented personhood, humanity and humanness and described group solidarity which was crucial for the advancement of society.
Also in opening remarks, Navi Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, recalled that since 1959 the United Nations had designated International Years to draw attention to major issues and encourage international action to address concerns of particular importance to the world. Ms. Pillay said this particular International Year, the International Year for People of African Descent, offered Member States, civil society and all other stakeholders an opportunity to strengthen national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to their full enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Ms. Pillay stated that the International Year specifically aimed at recognising the role of people of African descent in global development and the construction of the societies they were part of. It also aimed at achieving justice for current and past acts that had created or perpetuated discriminations and developing strategies that ensured equality and the elimination of discrimination against people of African descent who continued to suffer discrimination. Ms. Pillay expressed hope that today’s discussions, participation and insights would contribute to the development of additional steps and initiatives to further the objectives of the international Year and called upon Member States as well as civil society to participate fully and constructively in order that solutions that would impact people of African descent all over the world could be found.
In additional comments speakers said many questions regarding people of African descent and racial profiling, the justice system, hate speech, racial discrimination and violence had been discussed and the Committee had recommended mechanisms for proper implementation and calls for follow-up. It was stressed that the future development of human rights mechanisms should entail specific measures designed and directed to address the specific inequities that people of African descent experienced, as well as special tools that would enable an effective fight against the unique structural discrimination faced by persons of African descent. The speakers also stressed the need for a better working cooperation between the United Nations bodies, civil society and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in order to achieve the expected results
Other speakers raised questions regarding the structural discrimination that still existed today in housing, health and education; how to define descent in a conceptual framework; how to establish a language paradigm to enhance the mechanisms to fight racial discrimination; and the need to move from the abstract and focus on the actual realities so as to come up with a practical and action-oriented mechanism. A speaker noted there was a challenge in defining people of African descent also as a matter of identity and asked what was happening in other parts of the world with regards to internal discrimination such as black skin versus light skin.
In concluding remarks, Fatimata-Binta Victoria Dah, the Committee Expert who served as Rapporteur for the thematic discussion on discrimination against people of African descent, said that there seemed to be unanimity on the need to make a general recommendation on the specific issue of combating discrimination against people of African descent.
Panellists during today’s discussion included: Mirjana Najcevska of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Gay McDougall, the Independent Expert on minority issues; Ali Moussa Iye, of UNESCO; Carlos Quesada of Global Rights Latin America; Fabiana del Popolo of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean; Verena Shepherd of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Suzanne Mbiye Diku of the Black European Women’s Council; Moya Teklu of the African Canadian Legal Clinic; and Alice Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The next public meeting of the Committee will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 March when it will review the combined thirteenth through seventeenth periodic reports of Rwanda (CERD/C/RWA/13-17).
Opening Statements
In an opening statement, ANWAR KEMAL, Chairman of Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, said the main purpose of holding this thematic discussion as part of the United Nations International Year on People of African descent was to carry forward to new heights the mission that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination embarked upon 40 years ago when the most glaring form of racial discrimination prevailed in South Africa. Mr. Kemal said that South Africa managed an orderly transition from such an ignoble past and this was testimony to the emptiness of the supposed distinctions on which the apartheid regime was premised. Throughout history, people of African descent had borne a disproportionate impact of racial discrimination through greater joblessness, physical insecurity, inadequate housing and healthcare, lower life-expectancy, and many other disadvantages. Mr. Kemal said colonial rule in Africa also brought with it significant racial oppression and racial segregation, yet the people of African descent had contributed meaningfully to the development of all societies in which they had lived.
Mr. Kemal invited panellists, Experts and all participants to take a moment to reflect on the African philosophical ethic of Ubuntu which represented personhood, humanity and humanness and described group solidarity which was crucial for the advancement of society. Mr. Kemal said if all people were treated with Ubuntu there would be no room for racial discrimination or other forms of prejudices.
Ms. NAVI PILLAY, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed happiness that the discussion had attracted different experts from different international human rights mechanisms in the United Nations system. Ms. Pillay recalled that since 1959 the United Nations had designated International Years to draw attention to major issues and encourage international action to address concerns of particular importance to the world. Ms. Pillay said this particular International Year offered Member States, civil society and all other stakeholders an opportunity to strengthen national actions and regional and international cooperation for the benefit of people of African descent in relation to their full enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. It would also provide a platform to bolster their participation and integration in all aspects of society, and promote greater understanding and respect for their diverse heritage and culture. Ms. Pillay stated that the International Year specifically aimed at recognising the role of people of African descent in global development and the construction of the societies they were part of. It also aimed at achieving justice for current and past acts that had created or perpetuated discriminations and developing strategies that ensured equality and the elimination of discrimination against people of African descent who continued to suffer discrimination.
The High Commissioner said it was incumbent upon all Member States to follow the recommendations of the Durban Conference and also to ensure respect for the provisions of the various human rights treaties in order to make tangible progress in the fight against racial discrimination. Ms. Pillay said such action was imperative in the face of persisting aspects of the transatlantic slave trade’s abhorrent legacy which continued to affect the lives of people of African descent. Ms. Pillay expressed hope that today’s discussions, participation and insights would contribute to the development of additional steps and initiatives to further the objectives of the International Year and called upon Member States as well as civil society to participate fully and constructively in order that solutions that would impact people of African descent all over the world could be found.
Panel Discussion on People of African descent and international human rights mechanisms: achievements and challenges
PASTOR ELIAS MURILLO MARTINEZ, Committee Expert, in beginning the panel discussion, raised a number of questions on issues pertaining to and including; the links between the people of African descent and their diasporas; what role they played in the economic, social and cultural life of the societies in which they lived; their level of integration in those societies; the difference between people of African descent and victims of racial discrimination in the diaspora; and what actions ought to be taken to eliminate racial discrimination against African descendants in Europe. Mr. Murillo also expressed the need to address other questions such as why certain States accepted the existence of racial discrimination and if there was a relationship between racial discrimination and poverty. The aim of the discussion was to improve the understanding of racial discrimination and they would explore themes such as history, the effects of the transatlantic slave trade and contemporary migration.
PATRICK THORNBERRY, Committee Expert, said the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was the first United Nations Convention to be adopted and implemented. The Convention was crafted to combat the most glaring form of racial discrimination which was apartheid in South Africa. He recalled that a lot of recommendations had been arrived at to ensure the full participation of people of African descent at the Durban Conference in 2001 in the economic, social, and political spheres. Mr. Thornberry said the prominence of discrimination against people of African descent was covered on all five articles of the Durban Declaration and over the years, groups described as Afro-descendents had received greater attention and the emphasis on discrimination had sharpened.
Mr. Thornberry said the Committee had discussed many questions regarding people of African descent and racial profiling, the justice system, hate speech, racial discrimination and violence and it had recommended mechanisms for proper implementation and calls for follow-up. The question of collective land ownership had also been an issue of attention for the Committee as well as the issue of gender discrimination. Mr. Thornberry underlined that there was also evidence of positive change in the recognition of the contribution of persons of African descent. Mr. Thornberry suggested that General Recommendation number 27 concerning the Roma could inspire a general recommendation about the people of African descent which, according to him, should be made to have an anticipatory function. At the end of its session Mr. Thornberry said the committee would have to reflect upon raising awareness rather than just interpreting structural discrimination.
MIRJANA NAJCESVSKA, Chair of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, said that racism was alive and it was very difficult to remain neutral about it. Ms. Najcesvska said human rights mechanisms had been developed to combat racism on national and international levels, but she wondered whether these mechanisms could cope with the unique racism and challenges which existed against people of African descent. There was growing interest among people of African descent to use international law and international mechanisms to advance racial equality and their rights. Ms. Najcesvska underlined that beside the visible positive impact of specific and broader human rights mechanisms on the situation of people of African descent such as the Durban Declaration, there was also the need to take into account the development of new instruments. She stressed that the future development of human rights mechanisms should entail measures designed and directed to address the specific inequity traps that people of African descent were captured in, as well as special tools that would enable an effective fight against the unique structural discrimination faced by persons of African descent.
GAY MCDOUGALL, Independent Expert on minority issues, recalled that no other document apart from the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action presented a more comprehensive set of issues to be discussed and developed to help combat the discrimination faced by people of African descent. Ms. McDougall recalled that the minority mandate had significantly advanced the United Nations understanding of discrimination and issues suffered by people of African descent, especially in the countries she had visited such as French Guyana and the Dominican Republic where discrimination against dark skin people was most glaring. She asked that the recommendations from all three forums be entered into the recommendations of this particular session.
The problem of invisibility and data collection had been addressed, but she said people of African descent were extremely diverse as they came from various backgrounds with diverse reasons for migration. In Europe there were between 7 and 9 million people of African descent. She stressed the need to bear in mind the diverse nature of the needs of African descended communities and adopt a correspondingly diverse approach to developing strategies to solve their problems. There should be more research carried out on minorities in order to improve on the quality of the data. Ms. McDougall expressed the need for a balance between national and international legislation and a comprehensive application of the laws put in place. Ms. McDougall also underlined that there was always a disparity between the reality and the implementation of the adopted laws. Ms. McDougall said public implementation was atrocious. She stressed that implementation of these laws had to go hand in hand with the surveys that had been conducted so that both would serve as information to the other in order to help shape future policy. Ms. McDougall regretted the fact that these measures were institutionalised in a bureaucratic way which simply did not destroy the stereotypes that already existed. She said in the countries she had visited, the governments did not seem to see the discrimination and the ineffectiveness of the mechanisms put in place to combat it. The numbers had to show the inclusiveness of the measures otherwise the States parties would not notice the people of African descent and their plight.
Discussion on the history and the effect of the transatlantic slave trade on people of African descent
ALI MOUSSA IYE, Intercultural Dialogue Section, Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, said this International Year supported UNESCO’s work on education and cultural development. Mr. Iye said the people of African descent were victims of stigmatisation based on physical appearance and principles that determined skin colour. Black people, as they were referred to, sought recognition from the white community and this had serious negative consequences which prevented the proper development of their society. Mr. Iye said that there was a causal link between racial discrimination and the realities of slavery; studying what happened during the slave trade would enhance the understanding of racial discrimination. Mr. Iye said the consequences of the slave trade on people of African descent included the impact this practice had on the continent, which was aggravated by colonialism which plunged the continent into an abyss and prevented recovery; catastrophic consequences on those who were transported to other continents; the abolition of the slave trade which did not compensate the victims of this practice.
Mr. Iye said the theories of subjecting slaves to service had unfortunately continued and the use of racist imagery and arrogance were recurrent ills in white societies. The suppressed feelings of guilt could also explain the fears held by European authorities vis-à-vis people of African descent. Through its programme “the slave route”, UNESCO strove to uphold the history of people of African descent as this was vital to fighting racial discrimination in order to ensure a fairer society. Mr. Iye underlined that there ought to be better cooperation between United Nations bodies, civil society and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in order to achieve the expected results.
Interactive Dialogue
An Expert from the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural rights said there was a woeful lack of implementation and said the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural rights looked at the most marginal and disadvantaged children and concentrated on health, housing, education and cultural needs. He said the Committee needed strong signals from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s general recommendations in order to enhance its work. He underlined the multiple and systemic forms of hidden discrimination and said specific measures should be identified and maybe best practices should be used to approach the fight. He also said data collection was a vital aspect of the effort to combat racial discrimination.
A representative of the government of Guatemala raised concerns about the structural discrimination that still existed today against people of African descent, including the right to housing, health and education. There was a need to enhance intercultural dialogue between the people of African descent and the rest of the communities in Guatemala.
A representative of Brazil said more and more Brazilians recognised themselves as people of African descent. He stressed that the mistakes of the past should help guide current and future policy to guarantee the rights of all to housing, education, food and cultural heritage. Only after overcoming social inequality would Brazil triumph over the many social ills plaguing the country. Measures such as affirmative action and gender equality had been implemented and the close follow-up would help the country surge forward.
An Expert said the European society was a complex one in which the people of African descent were described as black Europeans and wondered why a proper identification approach should be adopted in order to unpick the issues being discussed on the basis of minorities as well as that of gender discrimination.
Another Expert said that when a State weakened or stopped its efforts to combat racial discrimination, racist attitudes and xenophobic thought resurfaced so it was important not to relent. An Expert asked what kind of communication approach or tools needed to be employed in order to get the State, its people and also civil society to adopt a language which did not incite or insinuate racist and or hate speech.
A Committee Expert expressed the wish that the three indicators emphasised in the recommendations ought to include identification of people of African descent exposed to discrimination, lack of reporting of incidents of discrimination, and high rates of incarceration for African descendents.
Another Expert asked panellists to explore how the topic should be approached in subsequent discussions in the fields of education, employment and housing; how should “descent” be defined in the conceptual framework?
Another Expert said the conscious aspect of racism should not be tackled with the aim of deconstructing certain social precepts such as the current Euro centrism. The Expert explained that laws in Europe were designed for an individual view and as such people of African descent were not recognised as a particular group.
An Expert said it would not help a great deal to examine the matter by considering every individual with an African DNA.
A representative of the non-governmental organizations Human Rights Advocate said intentional and de facto discrimination had continued in certain countries such as in the United States of America where former felons were not allowed certain basic civil rights. He asked the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to specify measures it planned to take to ensure equal political rights for all.
A representative of a Dutch non-governmental organization said while the civil society in the Netherlands was active in the process of combating racism, the Dutch Government had remained lukewarm regarding the commemoration of the Durban Declaration and the International Year for people of African descent. The speaker on the Committee to take action and issue a statement to States that refused to implement the Durban Declaration.
A speaker asked the Committee to explain how it could assert and approve regional mechanisms to combat discrimination against people of African descent.
Discussion on current socioeconomic situations and issues of social inclusion relating to people of African descent
CARLOS QUESADA, Regional Director Latin America, Global Rights, said generally speaking they had found the conference held in Latin America was very important because echoes from participants said they came in as Latin Americans and left like people of African descents. The evaluation also pointed to the fact that there had been marked progress in the implementation of programmes to fight racial discrimination given that several institutions had been set up in several countries such as Mexico and Guatemala. He regretted that not much real progress had been realised in large countries such as Colombia as there was still a huge absence of common services. Mr. Quesada said there was a perverse relationship between poverty and racial discrimination given that people were poor because they were poor. Poverty maps corresponded to regions largely inhabited by people of African descent as seen in the favelas in Brazil. A survey had been carried out in Latin American countries, but the results had not helped shape national policy because the survey aimed only at finding out how many people of African descent there were. Mr. Quesada said there was a need for an inclusive educational policy which included people of African descent. Another key issue had been collective rights such as in Guatemala and Brazil, but this needed to take into consideration the opinion and participation of the communities concerned. There were fifteen different versions or ways in which affirmative action was understood in Latin American countries. Mr. Quesada recommended that instead of styling all the efforts in a piece-meal way the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination should take a look at some of the evaluations arrived at in order to improve on the mechanisms. He said there was also a need for structural change where a measure such as ethno education ought to be applied on a broad platform so that all the various communities get to better understand the issues surrounding the people of African descent. Finally, Mr. Quesada said it was also incumbent to improve on the regional collaboration between United Nations organs and all other stakeholders involved.
Through a live video contribution, FABIANA DEL POPOLO, Population Expert, Population Division, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that a population study in Latin America revealed a common denominator, which was poverty, affecting nearly every country in the region. There were regional organisations which represented diverse interests and beyond that there was a single motive to move forward and defend the interests and rights of people of African descent. The discrimination clauses were included in nearly all international human rights instruments and within the framework of the Durban Declaration. The fight against racial discrimination was part of the regular programme of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Eight countries in Latin America had raised the issue of discrimination against people of African descent and included Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, EL Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, but so far only Brazil undertook the dissemination of information on a regular basis on people of African descent. There were greater efforts made to consolidate the process of taking censuses which paid particular attention to identifying people of African descent. Referring to health and reproductive rights, Ms. del Popolo said there were disparities in child mortality rates between children of people of African descent and those of white parents. Local studies in Brazil showed that children of African descent had a very low level of post natal nutrition and studies in Brazil, Costa Rica and Ecuador showed that young girls of African descent were more likely to get pregnant between the ages of 15 and 17. Ms. del Popolo said the challenges to improving the quality of the data on people of African descent had to be instituted as part of a national statistics programme. People of African descent also demanded collective rights so comprehensive instruments should be developed in order to cover these rights. Gaps in the implementation of rights for these groups needed to be closed so that analysis would reflect the appropriate context. It would be necessary to establish a language paradigm to enhance the mechanisms to fight racial discrimination against the people of African descent.
Discussion on women of African descent
VERENA SHEPHERD, Expert, Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, said any discussion on this topic had to begin with the period of enslavement for it was the structure of societies built around slavery that entrenched race and gender oppression and propelled Caribbean women towards developing a revolutionary spirit. Ms. Shepherd said what outraged Caribbean women to revolt started with 15th century Spain where European nations proceeded to impose structural discontinuities upon indigenous American societies. Given the exploitative, cruel and racist nature of slave society resistance was inevitable and today the fight for rights, dignity and racial respect had largely been won by women in the Caribbean. Ms. Shepherd underlined that worrying challenges such as the failure of societies to accept differences in culture in an egalitarian way instead of hierarchically had led to ethnic tensions and racial discrimination against black people including women.
SUZANNE MBIYE DIKU, Member of the Board, Black European Women’s Council, said that the Board’s 2010 to 2015 strategic objectives included developing and strengthening strategic alliances towards influencing the political agenda of issues affecting black women in Europe. Some of these problems included, among others, the fight against negative image and perceptions in the public and the media, lack of equal access to rights and to resources, racial profiling and psychosocial related stress. Ms. Diku said women of African descent were faced with other discrimination in the political arena given that the regulation of their stay in Europe depended entirely on that of their husbands.
People of African descent of more recent migration from Africa
MOYA TEKLU, Advice Council, African Canadian Legal Clinic, said the issues faced by Africans in Canada were diverse and hoped that the Canadian model could be used as a model for what to do and what to avoid in other nations. Ms. Teklu said anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination as evidenced in unemployment, underemployment and wage disparities faced by Canadian immigrants of African descent remained the norm. More so, many skilled immigrants could not get jobs in their chosen field despite the fact that they were coming to Canada with higher qualifications than ever before. Statistics showed that nearly one in five immigrants experienced a state of chronic low income, more than twice the rate of Canadian-born individuals. New comers were forced into unclean, unsafe and inadequate housing conditions upon arrival in Canada. Ms. Teklu recommended that employment equity programmes be designed and implemented with mandated targets at all levels of employment as a valid means of addressing the pronounced marginalisation of people of African descent. There was a need to set social assistance and or the minimum wage in accordance with modern economic realities so that new immigrants could provide for their basic needs.
ALICE EDWARDS, Senior legal adviser in the department of international protection at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said the issue of refugees and discrimination was on the rise as evidenced by media reports regarding people from North Africa who were dying trying to reach Europe. Ms. Edwards underlined that one of the main objectives of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was combating racial discrimination. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was interested in this field because people fleeing persecution were in effect fleeing the very forms of discrimination which were combated by the agency. More restrictive asylum policies in Europe had made it more difficult for refugees to gain access to the job market as they were seen more as detractors rather than as contributors. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had taken various steps to combat racial discrimination and related intolerance and had issued a strategy document in 2009 which served as a guide distributed all around the world to State Members.
Ms. Edwards said that in 2010, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees convened a working session with non-governmental organizations in order to explore ways of implementing measures to protect refugees and asylum seekers against racism, discrimination and other forms of prejudice.
Interactive dialogue
Regarding the issue of black women and revolutionary movements, panellists said the regional network of women of African descent was the main organisation that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean dealt with and all of them sought gender equality as well as basic rights for children, among other things. The Network of African descent-Brazilian women was also one of the strong organisations leading the revolutionary movement by women.
A participant asked the representatives from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean to say how effectively and easily it was to obtain structural and disaggregated data without spreading a feeling of exclusion. What should be focussed on in order to move from just asking countries to prevention of discrimination against people of African descent to actual implementation of the survey?
Following up on the questions, Ms. del Popolo said there had been problems in the beginning accepting that certain questions needed to be asked in order to help obtain disaggregated data because some authorities posited that this could actually enhance discrimination based on ethnic origin or identity. Ms. del Popolo said indigenous populations had consolidated themselves and it was clear how to deal with them during the data gathering process. It was decided that questions dealing with indigenous persons be separated from those dealing with people of African descent given that the indigenous people wanted to be identified simply as peoples without any reference to cultural heritage. Mr. Quesada said the major issue was that the survey agents needed to be trained on the questions to be asked.
A Committee Expert said the idea of framing human rights claims was an ongoing issue and said that human rights entrepreneurship could help enhance knowledge about issues of discrimination in general. He said this required a discipline of intellectual consensus that would address the issue. He said the Committee needed to move from the abstract and focus on the actual realities so as to come up with a practical and action-oriented mechanism. Structural or institutional discrimination was very relevant and needed to be properly defined in a way that it would fit into the Convention.
Another Committee Expert said it would be important to issue a practical recommendation specifically for people of African descent to States which could help enforce the fight against racial discrimination.
Referring to the video “The Slave Route”, an Expert said there was no doubt that slavery had borne very negative repercussions for people of African descent. The Expert said it might be important to explore the idea exposed by the African Commission to engage the African Diaspora in African development efforts in order to reverse the brain-drain phenomenon into one of brain-gain.
Another Committee Expert said there was a challenge in defining people of African descent also as a matter of identity and asked what was happening in other parts of the world with regards to internal discrimination such as black skin versus light skin. Mr. Quesada followed up on the question stressing that it was a particularly difficult issue to deal with especially in Latin America and stressed that it needed deep reflection.
Concluding Comments
In concluding comments, FATIMATA-BINTA VICTORIA DAH, Committee Expert who served as Rapporteur on the thematic discussion on Racial Discrimination against People of African Descent, said this debate was based on a United Nations General Assembly resolution of 2010. The purpose of the debate was to identify some solutions for the discrimination faced by people of African descent. Ms. Dah said pertinent questions had been raised by States parties, non-governmental organizations and the panellists. The effects of the trafficking of persons for slavery were still very present and negatively affected people of African descent.
Ms. Dah said the general conclusions could include such issues as: defining African descent; defining discrimination; mapping the locations of people of African descent; and cultural and social specificities that needed to be taken into consideration? Ms. Dah said there was a need to gradually improve the quality of censuses as well as look for other sources of data. It was also underscored that there was a need to recognise the need of collective action. Remedies would have to take into account the possibility of implementing the recommendations and mechanisms arrived at. Ms. Dah highlighted the need to carefully identify the various groups of the population to target and the appropriate manner in dealing with them. Ms. Dah noted that there seemed to be unanimity on the need to make a general recommendation on this specific issue; the road might be long but it was possible to arrive at effective solutions.
For use of the information media; not an official record
CRD11/018E