E/CN.4/2004/18/Add.3 page 8 18. The Government informed the Special Rapporteur of its recent initiatives to reformulate its policy in support of Afro-Colombians. The Office of Ethnic Affairs has been promoting a plan of action that identifies specific measures for meeting the needs of these communities, mainly by strengthening their organizational base and raising the awareness of other State bodies of their special and differential treatment. The plan seeks to give organizations access to opportunities offered by the State, and involves local bodies in the achievement of this objective. 19. Within the framework of the National Development Plan for the period 2002-2006, the Office of Ethnic Affairs supported the holding of two Afro-Colombian conferences organized by grass-roots organizations of the Black communities as part of a plan to strengthen those communities. The conferences were held in Bogotá in November 2002. 20. The Office also supported the holding of the first Conference on the Strengthening of Afro-Colombian Institutions, which was held in Cartagena in July and August 2003. The Conference, which was promoted by the Association of Pacific Coast Mayors, focused on the following topics: the human rights situation, the social and economic development of the AfroColombian population and the proposal on the strengthening of Afro-Colombian organizations. The Conference involved the broad participation of members of the Afro-Colombian Social Movement, local and national authorities, including the President of Colombia himself, who attended the closing ceremony, and prominent international delegates. 21. The commitments assumed by the President of Colombia include the decision to adopt a document of the Economic and Social Policy Council (CONPES) for the Afro-Colombian population, and to hold a communal council (a forum for open dialogue between the head of State and the community) next year. In order to further the development of CONPES, a series of actions are being taken to identify specific and time-limited programmes. In addition, two essential elements for sustaining its development are involved: (a) Formulation of a system of information on the Afro-Colombian population; (b) International management for the development of proposed programmes. 22. The Government indicated that the basic needs to be covered by the programmes are defined in terms of unsatisfied basic needs, namely, health, education, housing and generation of income, and as strategic interests that involve the following basic areas: protection of human rights, progress in developing regulations pursuant to Act No. 70 of 1993, completion of the process of granting collective land titles, strengthening of institutions and organizations and, lastly, strengthening of cultural identity. 23. Other actions proposed by the Government include: (a) Under an inter-institutional support agreement between the World Bank, the National Department of Statistics and the National Planning Department, the Office of Ethnic Affairs is taking steps to include the ethnic variable in the next national census; there are plans to hold two workshops, the first with Brazilian and Afro-Colombian experts on the topics of self-determination and statistics, and the second with the participation of Afro-Colombian organizations;