E/CN.4/2004/21 page 17 95. The observer for Ethiopia remarked that it was important to assess the impact of economic exclusion and economic marginalization because where there was economic disadvantage, access to quality education was only for those who could afford it. 96. The observer for Senegal said that affirmative action for people of African descent could only be a temporary solution. While lauding the many initiatives taken by Switzerland, it was also important to focus on raising awareness among perpetrators of racism. The observer for Switzerland thanked the Working Group and many observers for their appreciation and stated that all the programmes were intended to address the victims as well as the perpetrators of racism. 97. The observer for the African Society of Comparative and International Law spoke about access to education for people of African descent in Germany. She said that while in law everyone had access to education, in practice, discrimination tended to arise in the highly selective and discretionary process in which teachers recommended individual students for university. Discrimination could also be manifest in criticism of the German language abilities of students of African descent and in the fact that being bilingual was not considered an asset in the system. She urged European Governments to implement EU directives 2000/43 and 2000/78 intended to eliminate discrimination in education. 98. At the twelfth meeting, Angela Haynes of Minority Rights Group International presented her paper “Realizing the right to education for people of African descent in Latin America” (E/CN.4/2003/WG.20/Misc.9). She discussed the experiences of people of African descent in formal education in Latin America and the role of the State in providing education. 99. She stated that the eight Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, which defined the primary development objectives, provided a significant opportunity to achieve the right to education for people of African descent. Two relevant targets were ensuring that by 2015, all children everywhere would be able to complete primary schooling (goal 2), and promoting gender equality and empowering women by eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015 (goal 3). She noted that the goals could only be achieved at the national level if communities of people of African descent benefited. 100. Mr. Frans stated that an important question was how to get people of African descent into higher education if their performance rates tended to be lower because of lower-quality education. Continuing education and supplementary education could be the key. 101. The observer for Haiti stated that affirmative action policies were insufficient without financial policies to support the people of African descent in education, since many of them had to support their families as well. 102. The observer for South Africa said that while the outcomes and targets of numerous international summits and conferences were welcome, they could not be met without political will, funding, and the enhancement of international cooperation as stated in the final paragraph (219) of the Durban Programme of Action.