A/HRC/42/59/Add.1 legacy on the lives of Afrodescendants, African newcomers and other African migrants in Belgium. B. Structural discrimination and disparities in employment, education, housing and health Employment 50. The Working Group noted deficiencies in the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights among people of African descent in Belgium. 51. The Working Group heard repeatedly that Belgians of African descent faced “downgrading” and other employment challenges. People with university and graduate degrees reported working well below their educational levels, including in manual labour, despite possessing university certificates from Belgian universities. Unia has documented a pervasive downgrading of employment and the prevalence of people of African descent working well below their educational levels, even though they are among the most educated in Belgian society. Unia also highlighted difficulties in obtaining recognition of foreign diplomas, and reported systematic exclusions from job assistance, as job centre staff declined to refer people of African descent to employment opportunities at their educational levels. 52. According to the King Baudouin Foundation study, 60 per cent of Afro-Belgians are educated to degree level, but they are four times more likely to be unemployed than the national average. The rate of unemployment among people of African descent is four times higher than that among Belgians of European descent, and it is three times higher for the second generation of people of African descent born and educated in Belgium. The study shows that gender is also a strong discriminating factor, and that women are downgraded less than men but are subject to considerable stratification on ethnic grounds in the employment market. According to the Government of Belgium, a recent study by the Brussels employment service, Actiris, entitled “Profil et trajectoire des chercheuses et chercheurs d’emploi en région de Bruxelles-Capitale: monitoring selon l’origine nationale” (“Profiles and pathways of job seekers in the Brussels-Capital Region: monitoring according to national origin”) confirmed that people from sub-Saharan Africa (including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda) were overrepresented in unemployment statistics. The most affected populations include those whose origin falls under “other African countries” (41.3 per cent) and the population of Burundian, Congolese or Rwandan origin (39.3 per cent). The unemployment rate for people of Belgian origin (“Belgo-Belgians”) is 11.8 per cent. The Working Group welcomes the intention of the Government of Belgium to develop levers in this area to strengthen existing instruments for the promotion of diversity and the fight against discrimination in employment. 53. The Actiris study shows in detail that people of African descent are strongly affected by ethnoracial discrimination and racism, and that this exacerbates their feeling of not having the same opportunities as Belgo-Belgians. Almost 80 per cent of respondents indicated that they had experienced discrimination, unequal treatment or insults for at least one of two reasons (their skin colour or origin), and 80 per cent said that they had been victims of discrimination from a very young age. Public officials consistently rationalized the systematic exclusion of people of African descent with references to language and culture, even in cases involving second-generation Belgians. 54. Various studies, including the socioeconomic monitoring conducted by Unia and the Federal Public Service for Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue, show that people of African descent are systematically disadvantaged, especially compared with people of Belgian or European origin, whatever the reference used – the employment rate, the unemployment rate, the duration of employment for graduates or levels of precarious employment. 55. The European Commission reports that inactivity and unemployment are largely concentrated among specific population groups, with differences depending on age, educational attainment level and origin. People with a migrant background are 12