E/CN.4/2006/19 page 17 75. The Working Group considers that the effective implementation of the Millennium Development Goals can address many of the central challenges connected with racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and lead to equal opportunities for many groups discriminated against, including people of African descent. 76. The Working Group emphasizes that the formulation and implementation of all measures, in particular those benefiting people of African descent, require their participation. 2. Recommendations (a) Mainstreaming the situation of people of African descent in plans for achieving the Millennium Developing Goals. 77. In implementing the Goals, States are urged to take into consideration the contents of paragraphs 1 and 5, respectively, of the Durban Programme of Action, which recommend, inter alia, measures for the eradication of poverty particularly in those areas in which victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance predominantly live, and to consider positively concentrating additional investments in health-care systems, education, public health, electricity, drinking water and environmental control, as well as other affirmative - or positive-action initiatives, in communities of primarily African descent. 78. In implementing the Goals financial and development institutions, operational programmes and special agencies of the United Nations are urged to take into consideration the contents of paragraph 8 of the Durban Programme of Action, which recommends, inter alia, that they assign particular priority and allocate sufficient funding, within their areas of competence and budgets, to improving the situation of Africans and people of African descent, while devoting special attention to the needs of these populations in developing countries. 79. Considering the conditions of extreme poverty in which a majority of people of African descent live in both developing and developed countries, the Working Group urges States in cooperation with civil society to develop strategies to implement the Millennium Development Goals with respect to all people of African descent, regardless of the country in which they live. 80. In the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, States should focus on measures that can address extreme poverty and remove the obstacles impeding the enjoyment of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights by people of African descent. 81. In planning, designing, monitoring and evaluating development strategies as part of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, States, the United Nations system and other relevant actors including international financial institutions should make use of a rights-based approach.