E/CN.4/2003/21 page 9 trade worldwide and their cultural, educational and healing significance and submit it to its second session. It also invited the World Bank to prepare and present at its next session a paper on the work that it is undertaking to mainstream the issues of Afro-descendants in the Latin American and Caribbean region in its programmes and operations. 46. At the sixth meeting, the Working Group heard further comments on the draft. There was also a discussion concerning whether consideration of the trans-Saharan slave trade was within the mandate of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and thus whether it should be reflected in the set of conclusions and recommendations of the Working Group. There were several interventions from the floor. The observer for Egypt maintained that the Working Group was a follow-up initiative of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and, as such, a reading of paragraph 13 of the text of the Declaration and Programme of Action implied that only the transatlantic slave trade was to be considered by the Group. The Special Rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance was of the view that, as studied by the UNESCO Slave Route Project, the Working Group should consider the phenomena of the transatlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean slave trades. 47. The Working Group also considered the organization of work of the second session. The Chairman-Rapporteur closed the meeting by thanking the observers for having expressed their concerns, views and expectations to the Working Group. He added that the first session provided an opportunity to exchange views and information, but that it was a first step as the Working Group began studying the problems facing people of African descent. III. SUMMARY OF THE SECOND SESSION OF THE WORKING GROUP OF EXPERTS ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT, 3 TO 7 FEBRUARY 2003 48. On 3 February 2003, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello, opened the second session of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. He welcomed the participants to the meeting and reminded them that the challenge facing the Working Group was to generate recommendations that would make a concrete difference where it matters most - in the daily lives of people of African descent. He added that there was an urgent need to address the problem of poverty experienced by victims of racism, including people of African descent. He paid particular tribute to the civil society actors which were at the forefront of bringing the human rights issues of people of African descent to the attention of the international community. He added that the Working Group had the potential to be a very important catalyst for the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. 49. Also at the first meeting, the Chairperson-Rapporteur, Mr. Peter Lesa Kasanda, made some introductory remarks about the second session, and discussed the programme of work. He then introduced his paper (E/CN.4/2003/WG.20/WP.3) entitled “Identification and definition of ‘people of African descent’ and how racial discrimination is manifested in various regions”. He noted some demographic trends, the historical bias against blacks, issues of invisibility,