E/CN.4/2005/21 page 5 16. One observer referred to the situation of people of African descent during conflicts, especially their need for and access to health care in such situations. If the nature of the conflict was founded on discrimination, the Working Group’s mandate covered this situation regardless of the geographical area in which it had occurred. 17. Mr. Jabbour referred to the recent event in France to mark the honouring by the Government of France of several African States whose troops contributed to the liberation of France from Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War. He also mentioned that, recently, Germany asked Namibia for forgiveness for the Herero massacre on the occasion of its hundredth anniversary. 18. Some observers expressed concern about the low attendance by NGO representatives. The Working Group’s Secretary stated that NGOs had been informed, including those who were active in the Durban process. The low turnout could be explained by the limited financial resources of most NGOs, given the expenses that two weeks attending the Working Group’s session in Geneva entailed. Several observers expressed the view that, for future sessions, interested NGOs should be provided with financial support. 19. Speaking on behalf of the African Group, the observer for the Republic of the Congo questioned the absence of two of the five experts who were expected to participate in the session. The Chairman explained the commitments which prevented the two experts from participating during the first week of the session. A. Racism and employment 20. Manuela Tomei, manager of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Follow-up Action Plan to the Global Report, made a presentation entitled “Measuring interracial inequalities in the labour market: issues, facts and challenges”. She spoke on the main issues and challenges associated with inter-ethnic/interracial inequalities in the labour market. She considered that a key condition for effectively addressing discrimination in employment and occupation was to know how significant it was and how it manifested itself. Hence, data collection was necessary to: (a) broaden the knowledge base on discrimination; (b) set targets and benchmarks to measure progress towards equality; (c) inform policy choices; (d) influence budgetary allocations; and (e) monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of policy interventions. 21. Ms. Tomei examined, in particular, the methods of racial identification and the racial categories used in Brazil, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands and the United States of America and the corresponding results, as those countries shared a history of past and recent immigration from many countries. In addition, Brazil and the United States had in common a legacy of slavery of Africans, although the relative size of their black populations differed considerably. 22. Ms. Tomei suggested that empirical studies all agreed on the existence of disparities in earnings or in unemployment and employment rates between dominant and minority ethnic groups. But controversy arose in the assessment of those disparities. One of the most contentious points was whether they were the expression of present discrimination, the consequence of past discrimination, or a combination of both. A correct analysis of the imbalances was crucial because of their implications for policy formulation.