A/HRC/21/60 recognize people of African descent in terms of being victims of rights violations in order to be able to address those violations 23. Ms. Najcevska noted that promoting the visibility of people of African descent was one of the original main concerns and incentives for the International Year for People of African Descent. Ms. Sahli stated the need to consider positive as well as negative aspects, and lessons learned during the International Year and noted that the very occurrence of the Year and the activities that took place gave a higher profile to the plight of people of African descent. She noted that, unlike the Year, the Decade would provide substantial time to achieve objectives. The financial commitment and determination as well as drive of Member States to make the Decade successful would be important factors. It was also important that States make real commitment beyond rhetoric to taking special measures such as affirmative action to achieve full and effective equality. With reference to the launch of the Decade, the Chairperson pointed out the financial challenges that civil society and non-governmental organizations often face in organizing such activities and suggested that States could launch activities and then hand them over to non-governmental organizations to take forward. 24. Several participants made recommendations for a focus on implementation, to learn from positive experiences to inform future work, clearly identify challenges to be overcome and to call on the political will to secure funding. They stressed the need for clear objectives in order to have clear outcomes. They also mentioned the need to consider good practices, in order for countries to learn from successful activities of other countries and to focus on positive experiences and draw on lessons learned. It was reiterated that without financial resources, it would not be possible to ensure progress towards the full and effective enjoyment of all human rights by people of African descent. 25. Other participants expressed their hope that the Decade would encourage those States that had adopted the DDPA to become fully involved in the process. It was mentioned that rather than attempting to rationalize the Decade, the practical approach of the Working Group should be to show how to make the Decade a success. It should analyse challenges faced during the International Year and organize a plan of activities for the decade and extend it to CERD, the Special Rapporteur against racism, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a whole and to present it to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly for approval. 26. The Chairperson noted the importance of minority rights for people of African descent and pointed out the need to have synergies with this area of rights. It was noted that there are diverse conceptualizations of people of African descent in different contexts. Whereas in some contexts, particularly those of recent migrants, people of African descent have been closely related to minority-rights discourse, in other contexts there have been discussions concerning collective rights around issues such as land and titles. C. Presentation and discussion of the draft Programme of Action for the Decade for People of African Descent based on contributions, including answers to the questionnaire 27. At the second meeting, held on 1 May 2012, the Chairperson welcomed Pastor Murillo Martinez, member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Before giving him the floor, she thanked him for the contribution made by CERD and the adoption last year of its general recommendation No. 34 on racial discrimination against people of African descent. She welcomed the effective interaction and cooperation between CERD and the Working Group. 7