GENEVA, Switzerland, January 15, 2016/APO (African Press Organization)/ —
The United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent will carry out a fact-finding visit to the United States from 19 to 29 January 2016, at the invitation of the Government. The Group’s delegation will travel to Washington DC, Baltimore, Jackson (Mississippi), Chicago and New York City.
“We will gather first-hand information about the current human rights situation of African-Americans, and follow up on the recommendations to fight racism we made during our last visit to the country in 2010,” said human rights expert Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, who currently heads the expert panel.
The delegation, which also includes human rights experts Sabelo Gumedze and Ricardo A. Sunga III, will address current concerns, and assess progress made in combatting racial discrimination, Afrophobia, xenophobia, and protecting and promoting the human rights of African- Americans.
The experts will also promote the International Decade for People of African Descent*, which runs from 2015 to 2024 and aims both to highlight the contribution of people of African descent to societies and strengthen national, regional and international cooperation to ensure the human rights of people of African descent are respected, promoted and fulfilled.
During its eleven-day visit, the experts will meet with Government officials at Federal, state and local levels, representatives of civil society organizations, as well as academics, practitioners and individual African-Americans. Following its visit, the Working Group will present a report containing its findings and recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2016.
A press conference to share the delegation’s preliminary findings will be held on Friday 29 January at 12:00 noon in the UN Information Center in Washington DC (1775 K ST NW, Suite 400, Washington DC 20006). Access to the press conference is strictly limited to journalists. RSVPs are required to access the building.
(*) The International Decade of People of African Descent: http://www.un.org/en/events/africandescentdecade/
