A/HRC/26/55 Annex I Letter dated 16 May 2014 from the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council The General Assembly, in its resolution 68/237 of 23 December 2013, requested the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action to develop a draft programme for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent, to be finalized and adopted during the sixty-eighth session of the Assembly and not later than 30 June 2014. In its resolution 25/33 of 28 March 2014, the Human Rights Council emphasized the need to urgently heed the instruction of the General Assembly, and in this regard requested the Intergovernmental Working Group to dedicate its programme of work at its twelfth session to the for purposes of elaborating a programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent and to present its final report in this regard to the Council at its twenty-sixth session for adoption and transmission to the General Assembly. The Intergovernmental Working Group held its twelfth session from 7 to 17 April 2014. Further consultations were also held from 29 April to 2 May 2014 and on 8 and 9 May 2014. The report of the Intergovernmental Working Group (A/HRC/26/55) contains a draft programme of activities for the International Decade for People of African Descent. The draft programme identifies objectives and concrete activities to be conducted at the national, regional and international levels. As requested by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/33, the draft programme draws from the already developed and existing draft programme of action for the Decade for People of African Descent (A/HRC/21/60/Add.2) as already elaborated by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and discussed in the report of the Secretary-General on how to make the International Decade for People of African Descent effective (A/67/879). Written contributions were received from some Member States and regional groups. The Working Group took also into account the contributions previously received from the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Some non-governmental organizations also attended the session. While the Intergovernmental Working Group has made significant progress, the draft programme still contains some paragraphs (contained inside square brackets) on which consensus was not reached. On these particular paragraphs and issues, further consultations will be needed during the session of the General Assembly, as provided for in Assembly resolution 68/237, in which the Assembly requested the President of the Assembly, through the facilitator, to continue consultations with States members of the Assembly and other stakeholders, with a view to elaborating a programme for the implementation of the International Decade, with a draft programme developed by the Intergovernmental Working Group as its basis, to be finalized and adopted during the sixtyeighth session of the Assembly and not later than 30 June 2014. While there is a clear need for broader and deeper consultations, I would strongly recommend that such consultations focus on the bracketed paragraphs, as reflected in the report of the Intergovernmental Working Group. Taking into account General Assembly resolution 68/237 and that the programme needs to be adopted by the Assembly not later than 30 June 2014, it is important that the 13