A/HRC/43/73 move away from Western and European models in theories of development and theories of justice and to ground it in African cultural and social paradigms. 70. In response to the question on black economic empowerment, he highlighted some of the problems and challenges faced in South Africa regarding the implementation of that policy framework, including the fact that that policy was benefitting only a small group of politically connected elites, and the massive corruption that undermined public tenders. 71. In response to the question about root causes, Ms. Lourenço recalled the ongoing debates on the historical causes of discrimination, in particular the history of colonialism and the enslavement and trafficking of Africans, and explained that many countries had benefitted from the tremendous wealth derived from enslavement and colonialism. She reaffirmed the importance of collecting data based on sound scientific methods. 72. In her presentation, Ms. Modi spoke about the pragmatic approach of many African women to countering racial discrimination in Europe. Despite all the challenges that African women and women of African descent encountered in terms of residency permits, access to education and access to work and entrepreneurship possibilities, the majority managed to find a job and a solution for their situations. She spoke about the richness of the professional experiences and backgrounds of African women and women of African descent, and noted that the problem was that those capacities were not being used to their full potential. African women and women of African descent living in Europe who could not exercise their expertise might lose those skills and, subsequently, it was very difficult to re-enter the labour market. Ms. Modi also spoke about the problems faced by children and young people of African descent in the education system, including facing diminished expectations and bias in the orientation of studies. She explained that many children of African descent were oriented towards vocational education and not towards university studies. 73. Ms. Ferro stated that the empowerment of women and girls was at the core of the work of UNFPA and underpinned their strategy. She stated that, in many countries, women of African descent were more likely to be underemployed and engaged in unstable informal jobs and were often represented among domestic workers, and they had less access to contraceptives and were more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, including rape, child marriage, sexual exploitation, abduction and trafficking. In the Latin America and the Caribbean region, national illiteracy rates and secondary school dropout rates among girls of African descent in rural areas were disproportionately high, often owing to poverty, early pregnancy, child marriage and child labour. The highest levels of maternal mortality were among women and girls of African descent – they were up to three times more likely to die during childbirth than other cohorts of women, and they often suffered institutional discrimination in the health sector. Ms. Ferro called upon States to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health for women and young people and to commit to the eradication of poverty and the guarantee of real development opportunities and increased participation in decision-making processes for women of African descent. 74. Mr. Murillo mentioned that discrimination on the basis of gender was among the most deeply entrenched forms of inequality around the world, given that it affected half of the world population. He recalled that, in Switzerland, it was only in 1971 that women got the right to vote and only in 1981 that the principle of equality between men and women was enshrined in the Constitution. Men earned 12 per cent more than women, and that percentage rose to 18.5 per cent in managerial positions. Mr. Murillo mentioned that there were 200 million people of African descent living in the Americas and 60 million of living in extreme poverty. Latin America and the Caribbean had the highest homicide rate in the world. Data showed that, in Brazil in 2013, the majority of young people murdered were of African descent and, in 2018, more than 5,000 people had died at the hands of the police. 75. Mr. Murillo said that the assassination of Rio de Janeiro City Councillor, Marielle Franco, in March 2018, had laid bare the seriousness of violence against women of African descent. He was pleased to hear from the representative of Brazil that important progress had recently been made in access to higher education for young women of African descent, through the Quota Law. Women of African descent were also disproportionately the victims of homicides in other countries, such as the United States of America, and in cities in Latin America with a high concentration of people of African descent, such as Cali, Colombia. Mr. 11