CERD/C/DEU/CO/18 page 2 B. Positive aspects 4. The Committee welcomes the adoption of the General Equal Treatment Act in August 2006 (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz - AGG), which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race and ethnic origin, gender, religion and belief, disability, age and sexual orientation. 5. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Office within the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, which provides legal advice to individuals who claim to have been victims of racial discrimination. 6. The Committee welcomes the elaboration of the National Plan of Action against Racism and notes that its content may evolve in the course of time. 7. The Committee welcomes the declaration made by the State party under article 14 of the Convention in September 2001, by which the State party accepted the competence of the Committee to consider individual communications. 8. The Committee welcomes the signature in January 2003 of the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime concerning the criminalisation of acts of a racist and xenophobic nature committed through computer systems. 9. The Committee welcomes the creation of the Secretariat for Minorities, which strengthens the visibility of minorities’ rights at federal level and offers greater opportunities for minorities to voice their concerns to the federal executive and legislative bodies. 10. The Committee welcomes the enactment of the Law on promotion of the Friesian language in public life adopted in 2004, which strengthens the position of the Friesian minority. 11. The Committee welcomes the entry into force in 2005 of the Immigration Act, the establishment of the National Integration Plan in July 2003 as well as the statement by the delegation that the policy of integration implemented by the State party is not aimed at the assimilation of minority groups. 12. The Committee welcomes the project “Youth for Tolerance and Democracy - against Right-Wing Extremism, Xenophobia and anti-Semitism”, which was implemented from 2001 to 2006, as well as the permanent follow-up through the programme “Youth for Diversity, Tolerance and Democracy” launched in January 2007, which is intended to enhance the prevention strategies developed in the previous programme. 13. The Committee welcomes the establishment of the Islam Conference, as a forum in which representatives of the Muslim communities living in Germany meet with representatives of German authorities with the aim of establishing continuous dialogue to address Islamophobic tendencies and discuss relevant policy responses.