A/HRC/26/55 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 68/237, entitled “Proclamation of the International Decade for People of African Descent”. In resolution 68/237, 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 for People of African Descent, with a draft programme developed by the Intergovernmental Working Group on the Effective Implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as its basis, to be finalized and adopted during the sixty-eighth session of the Assembly and not later than 30 June 2014. 2. The Human Rights Council, in its resolution 25/33, entitled “International Decade for People of African Descent”, requested the Intergovernmental Working Group to dedicate its programme of work at its twelfth session to the purposes of elaborating a draft programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent. 3. In the present report, the Intergovernmental Working Group identifies objectives and concrete activities to be conducted at the national, regional and international levels during the International Decade for People of African Descent. The report is based on the contributions received by the Intergovernmental Working Group from Member States and other stakeholders during its twelfth session. It draws on the contributions submitted by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, the Secretary-General and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 4. The Intergovernmental Working Group takes note with appreciation of the work undertaken by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the Secretary-General in their respective reports on the International Decade for People of African descent. The content of the draft programme of activities is firmly anchored in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference,1 the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action2 and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, among other important human rights instruments. II. Draft programme of activities A. Background 5. The International Decade for People of African Descent to be observed from 2015 to 2024, constitutes an auspicious period of history when the United Nations, Member States, civil society and all other relevant actors will join together with people of African descent and take effective measures for the implementation of the programme of activities in the spirit of recognition, justice and development. The programme of activities recognizes that the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action is a comprehensive United Nations framework and a solid foundation for combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia 1 2 See A/CONF.211/8, chap.1. General Assembly resolution 66/3. 3