Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

112th session

Summary record of the 3053rd meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Tuesday, 9 April 2024, at 4 p.m.

Chair:Mr. Balcerzak

Contents

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention (continued)

Combined twenty-second to twenty-fourth periodic reports of Mexico (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 4 p.m.

Consideration of reports, comments and information submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention (continued)

Combined twenty-second to twenty-fourth periodic reports of Mexico (continued) (CERD/C/MEX/22-24; CERD/C/MEX/Q/22-24)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Mexico joined the meeting.

The Chair, noting that some members of the delegation of Mexico would be participating via video link, invited the Country Rapporteur to resume putting questions to the delegation.

Ms. Tlakula (Country Rapporteur), welcoming the 2019 reforms that had led to the explicit recognition in the Constitution of Mexican people and communities of African descent, said that, in view of public policies in which they appeared to be categorized as Indigenous, she nonetheless wished to know what steps had been taken to adopt legislation and policies to enable people of African descent in the State party to exercise, in their own right, their economic, social and cultural rights. She also wished to know whether the State party had adopted, as the Committee had recommended in its previous concluding observations (CERD/C/MEX/CO/18-21), the special measures necessary to ensuring the exercise and enjoyment by Mexican people of African descent of their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, with a view to advancing that population group’s social inclusion and active participation in public and political life, including in decision-making positions. In that connection, she wondered what special measures, if any, were being taken to combat structural racial discrimination against people of African descent and how many such people there were in Congress, in the judiciary and in other senior federal positions.

It would be helpful to learn what had been the impact of the measures taken by the State party to combat discrimination against Indigenous women and women of African descent. She would like to know, for example, what those measures had done to ensure that such women had adequate access to employment, education and culturally relevant health care, including during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period. Similarly, she wondered whether the State party had acted on the Committee’s recommendation that it should investigate all acts of discrimination and violence against Indigenous women and women of African descent in the health-care system, including cases of involuntary sterilization, and, if so, what the outcome of the investigations had been. In addition, she wished to know what measures were being taken to help Indigenous women and older women with disabilities overcome the social and economic obstacles they faced.

She would like to know why the number of women who identified as Indigenous who were in prison had risen so dramatically since 2016 and why Indigenous women who had been charged with a crime were more likely to be in pretrial detention than Indigenous men. It would be helpful to know, in that connection, what measures were being taken to combat the perception that Indigenous women were being targeted by law enforcement for who they were.

She would welcome information on the types of complaint that had been lodged with the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. In particular, she wished to know whether the complaints related to reprisals against human rights defenders from Indigenous communities and communities of people of African descent or against defenders of the rights of people from such communities; what the outcome of the complaints had been; and whether there were any statistics that made it possible to assess the effectiveness of the protection measures taken. She asked whether the killings of Trinidad Baldenegro, an environmental rights defender in Coloradas de la Virgen, Chihuahua State, and of three men, including Fathers Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora, in a church in Cerocahui, Chihuahua State, had been investigated and, if so, what the outcome of the investigations had been.

Ms. Shepherd said that she wondered whether the programme of activities for the implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent had informed the authorities’ efforts to eliminate violence against women and whether anything was done to that end in the State party’s schools. She wondered, too, how the State party was dealing with migrants from Haiti. Were they allowed to settle in Mexico or were they sent back to Haiti?

Ms. Stavrinaki said that she would welcome more information on the State party’s approach to Indigenous health, in particular as that pertained to land rights and self‑determination.

Mr. Diaby said that he would welcome statistics, broken down by ethnic group, on the prison population in the State party. He asked why there were so many serious attempts on the lives of human rights defenders and whether the effectiveness of the law adopted specifically to protect them had been assessed. He also wondered, as he had noted at the previous meeting, whether the hundreds of complaints against members of the National Guard that had been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission had led to investigations and, if so, what the results of the investigations had been. Was there a mechanism in place to monitor and control the excessive use of force by the National Guard?

It would be helpful to learn what percentage of the persons in migrant holding centres were Indigenous or of African descent. He also wished to know what percentage of the State party’s population was stateless and whether the authorities had taken any measures to combat statelessness, such as ratification of the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

A representative of Mexico said that the Human Rights Defenders and Journalists Protection Act had been evaluated. The National Protection Mechanism established pursuant to the Act was one of only a small handful of such specialized protection mechanisms in the Americas.

A representative of Mexico said that the work of the National Protection Mechanism involved assessments of the risks incurred by human rights defenders and journalists and the adoption of coordinated protective measures by federal, state and local agencies. The risk assessments, for which culturally relevant approaches were taken, were informed by a gender perspective.

From 2018 to 2023, the Mechanism’s budget had increased by 175 per cent and its staff complement by 70 per cent, thereby enabling it to reach the parts of the country where protection was needed. The authorities worked with civil society and international organizations to strengthen the Mechanism, including by providing relevant training opportunities to its staff members.

A working group, which included representatives of the institutions that managed the Mechanism, civil society and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, had been created in 2022 to strengthen the Mechanism. In 2023 and in 2024, the working group had taken a number of steps to help make the Mechanism more robust, including drawing up road maps for implementation of priority recommendations in areas such as displacement, the gender perspective and digital media.

Outreach campaigns led by the Mechanism had publicized the work of human rights defenders and journalists, and steps had been taken to enhance coordination with the authorities involved in the Mechanism’s work. Representatives of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources had participated in a recent national meeting, at which measures to prevent attacks on land rights defenders and environmental activists had been considered.

In May 2023, the Government, together with international partners, had organized a campaign to raise public awareness of the importance of defending human rights, including land and environmental rights and freedom of expression. People who made significant contributions to a culture of equal opportunity and non-discrimination were honoured by the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination.

In 2020, the Special Unit for Indigenous Affairs of the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office had organized training activities for public servants. It had also worked with Indigenous persons and people of African descent, including in a number of Indigenous languages, to disseminate information about their rights. In addition, the Unit had secured the early release of a number of imprisoned Indigenous persons.

A representative of Mexico,noting that there were slightly more than 6 million Indigenous women in the country and around 1.2 million women of African descent, said that the National Institute for Indigenous Peoples promoted policies and programmes for the advancement of Indigenous women and women of African descent, including by providing economic support to almost 600 projects managed by the women themselves. The country’s 17 Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Women’s Houses, whose activities were informed by a gender perspective, provided a wide range of culturally relevant services. A sexual and reproductive health programme had been adopted for the period 2020–2024 specifically to support Indigenous women during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period.

The intercultural perspective adopted by the Ministry of Health had translated into a number of initiatives to promote inclusive health care. They had included the recognition of traditional birth attendants, the organization of courses in Indigenous languages for health personnel, and the development of a strategy intended to lower the rates of teenage pregnancy in Indigenous communities and prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. The Mexican Social Security Institute was also promoting access to health care in Indigenous and rural communities.

Measures had been taken to promote the participation of persons of African descent in the federal elections of 2020 and 2021. As a result, there were currently 36 Indigenous members of the Chamber of Deputies and 6 members of African descent. Three senators were Indigenous, and one was of African descent. The National Electoral Institute had issued rules governing the registration of candidatures of Indigenous persons, Mexicans of African descent, people with disabilities and immigrants. The current Director of the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists identified as a woman of African descent. The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary had ensured that community radio stations broadcasting in more than 10 Indigenous languages provided information on its rulings on the civil and political rights of Indigenous women.

A representative of Mexico said that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security had developed a programme to help young people who were neither studying nor in employment to acquire vocational skills. The programme had benefited nearly 400,000 young people, many of them from municipalities with significant Indigenous populations. The Indigenous Residential Schools Programme, for its part, sought to combat historic inequality and enable Indigenous young people and young people of African descent to complete their studies. Instructional material had been translated into at least 20 Indigenous languages.

As a result of the constitutional recognition of persons of African descent as a component of the country’s multicultural social fabric, such persons had been designated priority beneficiaries of sector-specific programmes. Traditional Indigenous health practices, including in respect of childbirth, were recognized in the constitutional reform proposal.

Ms. Tlakula said that, according to the report, the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists had registered more cases in 2019 than in any other year. She wished to know what type of complaints had been lodged; whether any of the cases related to reprisals against human rights defenders from Indigenous communities and those of persons of African descent; and what had been the outcome of the investigations. Information on the case of the murdered human rights defenders Javier Campos Morales and Joaquín Mora, and on the investigation into the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes, would be welcome.

Mr. Amir, noting that customary law was usually more relevant to the lives of Indigenous persons than statutory or constitutional laws, said that he would be interested to know the status of customary law in Mexico. Recalling that the State party had a tradition of land reform that dated back to the Mexican Revolution, he asked whether Mexico still had laws that protected Indigenous lands and whether the Zapatista movement continued its struggle.

Mr. Diaby said that he remained concerned about the excessive use of force against migrants in detention and about refoulement of one third of the migrant population. He would welcome information on the outcomes of complaints submitted to the National Human Rights Commission. The delegation might also comment on reports of interference by the executive branch in the Commission’s work, which might undermine its independence. He wished to know what action had been taken, further to a Supreme Court decision of 2020, to enact legislation to guarantee the right of Indigenous Peoples to free and informed consent. Lastly, he wished to know why the Government had disregarded the order by a federal judge to suspend the construction of a section of the Maya Train railway.

A representative of Mexico said that the Office of the Prosecutor General of the State of Chihuahua had opened an investigation into the aggravated homicide of Joaquín Mora, Javier Campos Morales and Pedro Eliodoro Palma Gutiérrez in the municipality of Urique on 20 June 2022. The investigation, which had been conducted with an intercultural and culturally sensitive approach, had yielded evidence that had resulted in the issuance of an arrest warrant for two individuals. The Office of the State Prosecutor General had reviewed its records and had determined that it had received no complaints of threats against the victims. Protection measures were being provided for a witness and his family.

Since the murder of Samir Flores Soberanes in 2019, 11 people from his community had been placed under the protection of the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists. Protection measures included monitoring, the provision of satellite telephones and alarms, and access to temporary shelters. Such measures were deployed both for preventive purposes and for persons who had already been attacked, while the corresponding investigations were conducted by the federal or State prosecutor generals’ offices. As at 31 March 2024, 1,549 human rights defenders were under protection, of whom 184 self-identified as Indigenous persons and 4 as Afro-Mexicans.

A representative of Mexico said that the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination sought to promote policies and measures that contributed to cultural and social development, while guaranteeing the right to equality. The National Human Rights Commission maintained its autonomy and functioning as set forth in the Constitution. Its mandate was to protect, observe, promote, study and disseminate human rights and to handle specific complaints, 475 of which had been received during the current Administration. The Commission had recently published a special report on the invisibility and lack of recognition of people of African descent and Afro-Mexicans deprived of their liberty in the country’s prisons.

Mexico had acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons in 2000. Since then, measures taken by the Government had included a campaign to combat statelessness and the drafting of an amendment to the Nationality Act to ensure that situations of statelessness would be taken into account in naturalization procedures. Only the previous week, the Government had convened a thematic consultation on the protection of persons in situations of human mobility and stateless persons, in the framework of efforts to develop a new regional strategy for the protection of refugees known as the Cartagena+40 Process.

Ms. Chung (Country Task Force), recalling that the Mexico–United States of America migration corridor was the world’s largest, said that it would be useful to know whether the State party maintained statistics on migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees, disaggregated by factors such as country of origin and length of stay. She would be glad to receive information on the resources and operational capacity of the Commission on Assistance for Refugees, the number of applications for refugee status that had been received and processed in the previous five years, and the number of people who had been granted international protection. She would be interested to know what steps had been taken to combat discrimination against migrants and ensure their equal access to education, employment and health services. She wondered whether asylum-seekers had access to legal aid and could appeal if their applications were rejected.

Furthermore, she would be interested to know whether the State party provided training programmes for immigration and border officials. It would be useful to know whether the Government recognized the difficulties that migrants and asylum-seekers faced in accessing the banking system, as the documents issued by the authorities reportedly did not enable them to open accounts. The Committee would appreciate further information on the Integrated Health-Care Plan for the Migrant Population and its impact on the rights of migrants. Information on measures taken to prevent all forms of abuse against migrants, in particular the excessive use of force, would be welcome.

In the light of reports that some asylum-seekers had disappeared after entering Mexico, she would be grateful if the delegation could give details of any searches or investigations carried out or measures taken to assist the families of the missing persons, together with information on any steps taken to implement the recommendations of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

Recalling that, in 2021, Mexico had witnessed the formation of mixed migration movements known as “migrant caravans”, which included vulnerable persons and persons in need of international protection, she asked what had happened to those people and what steps the authorities had taken to address the situation. Moreover, as the Committee had been informed that immigration control was enforced by the National Guard and that internal immigration checkpoints staffed by soldiers and immigration officials had been set up throughout the country, she asked why the State party had adopted a militarized approach to immigration policy. The Committee had also been informed that the State party’s containment policy had caused migrants to embark on more dangerous routes, where they were at risk of falling victim to crime, and that some had been subjected to push-backs and collective expulsions. She therefore wished to know what measures had been taken to uphold the principle of non-refoulement. She would be grateful for further details regarding the so‑called Migrant Protection Protocols, which required persons seeking asylum in the United States of America to remain in Mexico during the asylum process, and which had exposed some of them to violations such as kidnapping and extortion.

She would be interested to know what steps had been taken to avoid the deprivation of liberty of migrant or asylum-seeking children and to improve their protection and the assistance available to them. It would be useful to know what had been done to avoid the separation of migrant families. The Committee would also appreciate information on efforts to improve living conditions in immigration detention centres, which were notoriously overcrowded and unsanitary, and on the circumstances surrounding the fire at the migrant holding centre in Ciudad Juárez on 23 March 2023, in which 40 people had died.

The Committee would welcome an explanation regarding the practices of the migration authorities, which included, according to the National Human Rights Commission, the temporary release of migrants from holding centres after 36 hours and their relocation to other centres – practices that might increase the risk of their going missing or being kidnapped or trafficked. It would also be useful to know what measures had been taken to prevent and punish trafficking in persons and to reduce statelessness.

Civil society organizations had documented cases of assault, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment and mass deportation committed against Haitian nationals in various Latin American and Caribbean countries, including Mexico, while Haitians transiting through the Americas faced systemic racism and negative stereotypes. Therefore, and in the light of the Committee’s 2023 statement on the situation of migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees of Haitian origin in the Americas, she wished to know what measures had been taken to prevent racial discrimination against migrants of Haitian origin.

Lastly, she would be grateful if the delegation could provide statistics on the political participation of Indigenous women and women of African descent, and information on measures to address discrimination against them.

Mr. Diaby said that he would be interested to know whether the State party had adopted a national action plan in the framework of the Global Action Plan to End Statelessness 2014–2024 and, if so, whether it had evaluated its national action plan.

Mr. Tlemçani said that he wished to know what treatment migrants received in terms of access to education, health and employment.

Mr. Amir said that he would appreciate a response to his question regarding the protection of Indigenous lands. He was curious to know the extent to which Indigenous persons and communities enjoyed land rights.

A representative of Mexico said that Mexico was at a turning point in matters of migration: traditionally a country of origin, it had become a country of transit, destination and return. Under the circumstances, the Government recognized the need for a regional approach with shared responsibilities, while also strengthening national capacity. Latin America and the Caribbean, like other regions, was confronted with the significant challenge of dealing with mixed migration flows with multiple causes. In Mexico, the number of asylum applications had increased from under 1,300 in 2013 to over 140,000 in 2023, making Mexico the country with the third highest number of applications in the world. In 2023, the Commission on Assistance for Refugees had registered over 58,000 women (42 per cent of the total) and almost 34,000 children and adolescents as asylum-seekers. Between December 2018 and December 2023, the National Institute of Migration had issued 439,000 “visitor for humanitarian reasons” cards. During the same period, 607,730 migrants had regularized their status. In keeping with the growing demand for international protection, the Government had increased the funding of the Commission on Assistance for Refugees from about 24 million pesos in 2014 to a projected 52 million pesos in 2024.

Since 2019, Haiti had been among the five countries with the largest number of nationals issued with “visitor for humanitarian reasons” cards. The number of cards issued to Haitians had risen from 858 in 2019 to about 36,000 in 2023. The Government, recognizing the need to address the structural causes of migration and to invest in communities of origin, had launched cooperation activities with Haiti through the Sowing Life (Sembrando Vida) programme, which had also been rolled out in Honduras, El Salvador and other countries.

As to data on the skills and qualifications of migrants and refugees in Mexico and on their involvement in the labour market, the average time spent in education by migrants aged 15 years and above was 10.7 years, and some 68 per cent of the migrant population were economically active. Mexico had historically promoted recognition of the contribution of migrants in other parts of the world, such as the United States of America, and was committed to doing so on its own territory, too.

As part of efforts to prevent discrimination, the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination, the Commission on Assistance for Refugees and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had contributed to a joint project under which sessions on inclusion and non-discrimination were held in communities in Mexico receiving high numbers of migrants. In June 2023, the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination, in cooperation with civil society organizations, had organized an event on persons of African descent in Mexico, antiracism and anti-discriminatory cultural change. Efforts to prevent discrimination were also manifest in the institutions themselves: the Commission on Assistance for Refugees had delivered 27 staff training sessions on preventing discrimination and combating xenophobia in 13 of its offices across the country, and 10,000 civil servants working for the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination had attended training courses on migration and xenophobia and on discrimination and hate speech. In addition, the Ministry of the Interior in 2023 had produced a guide, aimed specifically at state-level policymakers, on core elements to include when drafting public policy on the integration of migrants.

Following amendments to national legislation that prevented accompanied and unaccompanied migrant children from being accommodated in migrant holding centres, the National System for the Comprehensive Development of the Family had established 75 hostels across Mexico to accommodate migrant children. The hostels required expansion and further infrastructural development; with support from international agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), work was under way on four models for specialized centres that, once operational, would be able to offer a series of State services, including health care and employment support, to all migrants.

In response to Ms. Chung’s inquiry about the resources available to persons detained by the migration authorities, he wished to stress that an administrative, not a criminal, procedure was initiated. Migrants had the right to be notified about the procedure initiated and to communicate with their consulate and, in many instances, they had access to a lawyer and legal defence. Where an asylum application was submitted to the migration authorities, the migration procedure was suspended pending a decision by the Commission on Assistance for Refugees, consistent with the principle of non-refoulement. It was important to note that the Supreme Court had updated its protocols for officers issuing judgments in cases involving migrants and subjects of international protection, and that the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office had a specialized unit dedicated exclusively to the investigation of crimes committed against migrants.

In response to the tragic event on 23 March 2023, as a result of which 40 migrants had perished and more had been injured, the President of the Republic had established a working group headed by the Ministry of Public Security, and the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office had immediately initiated an investigation aimed at identifying those responsible for the event. The investigation was ongoing; to date, 11 persons, 8 of whom were civil servants, had been linked to the event. The National Human Rights Commission, having identified serious human rights violations, had issued recommendations to strengthen the protection and safety of persons in a migration context. In addition, the Executive Commission for Victim Support had issued 41 compensation orders amounting to US$ 6 million, from which 29 families of the deceased and 148 indirect victims had benefited. As part of efforts to prevent a recurrence, the Supreme Court had issued a decision whereby the procedures initiated for persons detained by any migration authority must be completed within 36 hours.

As to problems experienced by migrants in gaining access to banking and other services despite already having a permanent residence permit or being partway through the process of acquiring refugee status or even Mexican nationality, he was pleased to note that, from 2019 to 2023, the National Population Registry and the Commission on Assistance for Refugees had issued 227,000 unique population registry codes to asylum-seekers. A group within an interministerial commission on migration was currently assessing how to further facilitate access to documents for migrants.

The national employment service had three centres and an online portal for processing applications for employment and had, over the previous five years, served 27,000 migrant workers, of whom 4,000 had entered formal employment. In 2023 alone, more than 7,300 migrant workers had been served and some 1,500 had entered formal employment. During the term of office of the current President, 41,000 migrants had been served. Lastly, he wished to highlight a recent initiative whereby the largest companies in Mexico had formed a coalition called Tent, through which, over the previous seven years, more than 35,000 refugees in Mexico had gained access to work. His Government was currently working with other countries in the region to further the initiative.

Ms. Chung said that the Committee had, in its previous concluding observations, expressed alarm at the level of impunity and the lack of access to justice in the State party. The Committee had recommended that the State party should ensure that all allegations of human rights violations committed against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers were promptly, impartially and thoroughly investigated, and that perpetrators were prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate penalties. She would be grateful to know if any progress had been made in that regard.

Ms. Boker-Wilson said that, while the State party had programmes, structures and laws in place, what was important was the tangible impact of those mechanisms on the people of Mexico, in particular Indigenous Peoples and persons of African descent. In that spirit, she would be grateful if the delegation could explain what the Indigenous Residential Schools Programme provided for children and adolescents. In addition, she wished to know the age range of children and adolescents to whom the Programme applied, and whether compulsory schooling was free of charge.

Mr. Amir said that he would be grateful for a response to his earlier question on land and agricultural policy in the State party.

Mr. Diaby said that he would be interested to know an estimate of, and to receive further information about, the stateless population in the State party. In addition, he wished to learn how people of African descent and Indigenous Peoples were represented in school textbooks, public service media and social media, and how the history that had led to modern-day Mexico was portrayed in school textbooks.

Ms. Shepherd said that she wished to thank the delegation for the information provided about strategies in the State party to support Haitian migrants. Those strategies would certainly prove fruitful once the situation had become more stable, but perhaps additional strategies that were focused on the situation as it currently stood would be helpful.

A representative of Mexico said that Mr. Amir had referred to Emiliano Zapata, the famous revolutionary leader whose goal of returning ancestral lands to Indigenous Peoples, reflected in his slogan, “Land and Liberty”, had culminated in the Constitution of 1917, in which, under article 27, the general terms of land rights were set out. Under those terms, a distinction was made between private property and social, or ejido, property. In the case of the latter, a system of communal land ownership applied, in which communities used the land for agricultural purposes. The existence of that system gave historical continuity to the ancestral form of land ownership that had existed among Indigenous Peoples prior to the arrival of the Spanish in Mexico. While some populations did manage land differently, it was chiefly that form of collectively owning and organizing the land which was known in Mexico as the agrarian community. The vast majority of agrarian communities were also recognized as Indigenous communities.

The Indigenous Residential Schools Programme helped to ensure that girls, boys, teenagers and young students from 5 to 29 years of age could gain access to, remain in, progress through and graduate from school at various levels. It did so, more specifically, by offering accommodation in homes and free meals in canteens. Support had been offered in 23,313 instances between 2019 and 2024. As to whether compulsory schooling was free of charge, in so-called “public schools” the cost of studying was minimal, but there was also a programme in place that offered grants to students by way of support for their education.

A representative of Mexico said that the Federal Public Defender Service had 43 staff members who were specially trained in providing support and protection to migrants. In addition, the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination had initiated inquiries into complaints concerning alleged acts of discrimination against migrants and, in 2003 alone, the Federal Prosecutor General’s Office had opened 10 investigations relating to the aforementioned unit specialized in measures to protect migrants.

The programmes in place in Mexico in the area of education were having a significant impact. Several new universities had been established, including the University of Indigenous Languages, and considerable investment was being channelled into the sector. Between 2019 and 2023, one programme, named Young People Building the Future, had supported more than 2.5 million young people and provided training in some 450,000 places of work. In addition, that programme had been rolled out in 25 per cent of municipalities with primarily Indigenous populations or communities of people of African descent and had benefited some 390,000 young people.

A representative of Mexico, as an Indigenous woman representing the State, said that her country was aware of the need to listen to the voices of those facing racism, classism and racial discrimination and recognized the debt that still needed to be settled. It would no doubt take time, but her country had already shown determination. The Government of Mexico sought to build public policies which guaranteed access to social justice that was appropriate and culturally relevant for all persons who had been racialized, in order to consolidate an equitable society where all persons were able to grow equally and without discrimination, in recognition of the fact that everyone had the right to be different but remained equal in terms of human rights.

Ms. Tlakula said that she wished to thank the members of the delegation for their responses and cooperative attitude and to commend the State party on bringing its reporting obligations up to date. Regretting that there was currently no native Spanish-speaking member of the Committee from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean, she appealed to the State party to consider nominating an expert from Mexico to serve on the Committee when a vacancy arose.

A representative of Mexico said that her delegation had participated in the dialogue with the Committee in an open and transparent manner, sharing the progress made and the challenges faced by Mexico. Her Government was focusing more than ever on groups that were discriminated against and on persons who were vulnerable and marginalized, while recognizing that there were still challenges to be addressed and acknowledging, as Committee members had noted, the importance of the real-life impact on the people of Mexico. Her delegation would duly provide outstanding information in writing within the stipulated time frame. In view of the lack of a common language and shared context between members of the delegation and members of the Committee, she wondered whether some information might have been lost along the way. It would therefore be positive if the Committee enjoyed greater geographical and gender diversity in the future. In that connection, her delegation warmly welcomed the suggestion made by Ms. Tlakula.

The Chair said that, in his view, the new shorter format of the interactive dialogue had been intensive but successful.

The meeting rose at 5.55 p.m.