A/HRC/42/59/Add.1 descent be included at all stages of decision-making in implementing the International Decade for People of African Descent and in the preparation of the national action plan against racism. IV. Manifestations of racial discrimination A. Lack of recognition, representation, negative stereotypes and the media 24. There is clear evidence that racial discrimination is endemic in institutions in Belgium. Civil society organizations have reported common manifestations of racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance faced by people of African descent. The root causes of present-day human rights violations lie in a lack of recognition of the true scope of the violence and injustice of colonization. As a result, public discourse does not reflect a nuanced understanding of how institutions may drive systemic exclusion from education, employment and opportunity. The Working Group concludes that inequalities are deeply entrenched because of structural barriers that intersect and reinforce each other. Credible efforts to counter racism require such hurdles to be overcome first. 25. Civil society organizations informed the Working Group that the fight against discrimination against people of African descent was rooted in a struggle against the representations inherited from the colonial past. Belgium provides a perfect example of the link between past and present racism, prompting us to consider what action should be taken in the future in order to combat such discrimination more effectively.9 26. The Working Group noted the lack of general knowledge and recognition of the culture, history and heritage of people of African descent. In particular, it was concerned by reports of insufficient efforts and supervision to ensure that textbooks and other educational materials reflected historical facts accurately in regard to past tragedies and atrocities, particularly enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans, the exploitation of African people, land and resources, and colonialism – including the role of Belgium. The absence of such efforts and of systematic supervision severely compromises any intentions to avoid stereotypes and the distortion or falsification of these historical facts, and this may lead to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance. According to the Working Group and to other research, the great majority of people of African descent who have been interviewed think that colonial history should be taught in school and believe that the colonial question is absent or overlooked in public discourse. Education 27. The Working Group is concerned that primary and secondary school curricula do not adequately reflect the history of colonization or the history and contributions of people of African descent in Belgium. Whether the colonial history of Belgium is mentioned is largely dependent on the interest and initiative of individual teachers. Where such a curriculum exists, it appears to recapitulate colonial propaganda, including the suggestion that economic development came to Africa as a result of colonization, while omitting references to key historical figures of African descent, such as Patrice Lumumba. Reforms in attainment targets from September 2019 are intended to tackle these issues in the Flemish Community. 28. The Government noted that Flemish schools enjoyed a wide degree of autonomy. The Flemish Parliament develops a core curriculum comprising attainment targets or learning outcomes. In primary education, individual teachers and schools have discretion on how to address the themes of racism and discrimination, inequalities in society and colonization under the subject heading of “world orientation – people and society”. The Government also pointed out that ongoing reforms in secondary education include new attainment targets for grade 1 (12- and 13-year-olds) to be implemented on 1 September 9 Nathalie Bolland, “La situation des « Noirs » de Belgique au regard du passé colonial belge”, Mouvement contre le Racisme, l’Antisémitisme et la Xénophobie, 26 June 2006. 7