A/HRC/42/59/Add.1 Annex Report of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its visit to Belgium I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent undertook a visit to Belgium from 4 to 11 February 2019. The members of the delegation were Michal Balcerzak (Chair-Rapporteur), Dominique Day and Ahmed Reid. 2. During its visit, the Working Group assessed the human rights situation of people of African descent living in Belgium, and gathered information on the forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afrophobia and related intolerance they face. The Working Group studied the official measures taken and mechanisms in place to prevent systemic racial discrimination and to protect victims of racism, and responses to multiple forms of discrimination. The Working Group visited Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Namur and Charleroi. 3. The Working Group met the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, who also has responsibility for asylum and migration; the Minister of Employment, Economy and Consumer Affairs, who also has responsibility for equal opportunities; representatives of the cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs; representatives of the cabinet and administration of the Minister of Development Cooperation; representatives of the cabinet and administration of the Minister of Social Integration; representatives of the administration of the Minister of Justice; representatives of the Belgian statistical office (Statbel); and representatives of law enforcement agencies. The Working Group met with the coordinating magistrate for investigation and prosecution policy regarding discrimination and hate crimes (including gender-based discrimination) and representatives of the Belgian Prison Service, and visited St. Gilles prison in Brussels. The delegation also met with members of the federal Parliament, representatives of the Flemish Agency for Local and Provincial Government, the cabinet of the Flemish Minister of Education and representatives of the Flemish Parliament. The Working Group met with the MinisterPresident of the French Community and several representatives of his government (a representative of the Minister of Youth, Youth Aid, Houses of Justice and the Promotion of Brussels and a representative of the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Media) and the director of research at the Observatory of Cultural Policies of the Ministry of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The Working Group met with the Brussels Minister of Employment and Economy and representatives of the Brussels municipal councils. Finally, the Working Group met with members of the Walloon regional government (the Minister of Economy, Industry, Research, Innovation, Employment and Training and the Minister of Social Action, Health, Equal Opportunities, Public Service and Administrative Simplification). 4. The Working Group met with representatives of the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities (Unia), and of the Human Rights Platform, which includes representatives of various institutions including the Federal Ombudsman, the Ombudsman for Wallonia and the Wallonia Brussels Federation, the Flemish Ombudsman, the German Ombudswoman, the Institute for Equality between Women and Men, the National Commission on the Rights of the Child, the Commissioner for Child Rights of the French Community, the Flemish Commissioner on the Rights of the Child, the Data Protection Authority, the Combat Poverty, Insecurity and Social Exclusion Service, the Belgian Central Prison Monitoring Council and the High Council of Justice. The Working Group was given a guided tour of the Royal Museum for Central Africa by its director, and a decolonial city tour of Brussels by Collectif Mémoire Coloniale et Lutte contre les Discriminations. 5. The Working Group met with the local government authorities in Antwerp, including the Deputy Mayor, and with local authority representatives in Liège. It also met 2