A/HRC/45/44/Add.2 34. In Peru, State institutions do not reflect the diversity of its population. Afro-Peruvians have minimal representation in public and private institutions. Furthermore, international organizations are not always a paradigm of inclusiveness; for example, the United Nations country team has no people of African descent in its leadership. 35. Many discriminatory marketing practices and advertisements originate from international public relations entities or external sources.12 Racial disparities and a lack of representation – even resulting from race-neutral policies in Peruvian or international organizations – license and perpetuate racial discrimination. 36. To their credit, several public officials at the national, regional and local levels have demonstrated insight into the complex task of dismantling systemic racism against people of African descent. Members of the judiciary and the ministries and directorates responsible for culture and education have demonstrated a clear and nuanced understanding of this persistent reality. Some ministries and directorates, including those responsible for housing, construction and sanitation, and education, reported existing or future innovative projects to target the needs of Afro-Peruvians and the barriers to access to existing programmes. The director of the Afro-Peruvian Policy Directorate of the Ministry of Culture demonstrated particular insight and expertise throughout the Working Group’s visit. 37. The Office of the Ombudsperson also has credible expertise with respect to the situation of people of African descent in Peru. In its comprehensive evaluation of the National Development Plan for the Afro-Peruvian Population, it noted that the lack of effective implementation began with a lack of political will, and that the absence of a general antidiscrimination law or registries of Afro-Peruvians affected the capacity to implement the Plan. The Ombudsperson has, inter alia, called upon the Government to approve a specific and autonomous national policy for Afro-Peruvians. 38. Peru has a vibrant group of academic researchers documenting and investigating the Afro-Peruvian community. Several are Afro-Peruvian themselves, and are connected to universities or the Group for the Analysis of Development. To the Government’s credit, a leading researcher into Afro-Peruvian experiences and racial discrimination was recently appointed Minister of Education. Nonetheless, the contributions of academics and researchers studying the situation of Afro-Peruvians have not had adequately broad influence in public policy. 39. Lastly, the collection and analysis of disaggregated data based on race and ethnicity is an important way to understand the material deprivation of groups and progress in remediation. Afro-Peruvians face disproportionately higher levels of poverty and barriers to access to land, clean water, education, health care, housing and economic opportunity. A study conducted in 2014 found that only 3 of 100 Afro-Peruvians had access to tertiary education.13 In 2018, while national poverty levels averaged 20.5 per cent, Afro-Peruvian poverty was 27.5 per cent. It appears that the State has nevertheless excluded Afro-Peruvian identity as a category from COVID-19 data collected pursuant to the supreme decree issued on 30 May 2020.14 B. Invisibility, lack of recognition, and stereotyping 40. Despite its institutional and policy framework, Peru faces challenges in realizing civil and political rights, and economic, social and cultural rights as well. Most Peruvians have witnessed discrimination against or the mistreatment of Afro-Peruvian people. The national human rights survey conducted in 2013 by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights found that 64 per cent of Peruvians considered non-discrimination to be the most elusive human right of Afro-Peruvians. A survey conducted in 2017 on perceptions of and attitudes towards cultural diversity and ethnic-racial discrimination found that while 60 per cent of Peruvians 12 13 14 8 For example, the Directorate of Cultural Diversity and Elimination of Racial Discrimination referred to an advertisement in 2018 for mattresses that suggested that Afro-descendent women lacked proper hygiene and smelled bad, reinforcing a common racist trope. Benavides et al., Estudio Especializado sobre la Población Afroperuana. www.gob.pe/institucion/cultura/normas-legales/633316-005-2020-mc.