A/HRC/10/66 page 3 Introduction 1. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent held its eighth session from 12 to 16 January 2009 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. 2. The Coordinator for the Durban Review Conference, Mr. Ibrahim Salama, opened the session. The Working Group elected Joe Frans as its Chairperson-Rapporteur. 3. The present report reflects the general course of the debate. I. ORGANIZATION OF THE SESSION 4. During the eighth session, the Working Group held eight public meetings and one private meeting. It was attended by the following members: Joe Frans, Monorama Biswas, Mirjana Najcevska, Ralston Nettleford, and Maya Sahli; 54 Member States and 1 non-Member State; 21 non-governmental organizations; 4 intergovernmental organizations; 1 national human rights institution, 1 observer; 1 academic and 3 invited panellists.1 II. SUMMARY OF DELIBERATIONS 5. The Coordinator for the Durban Review Conference, Mr. Salama, delivered the opening address. He welcomed the four new members of the Working Group: Monorama Biswas (Bangladesh), Mirjana Najcevska (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Ralston Nettleford (Jamaica) and Maya Sahli (Algeria). The Coordinator paid tribute to the work of the former members of the Working Group and in particular the Chairman Ambassador Peter Lesa Kasanda. The contributions that panellists will make to this session of the Working Group in the consideration of various thematic issues were also noted. 6. The importance of the Working Group in the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance was emphasized. The Coordinator encouraged Member States to accept invitations for country visits by the experts. It was noted that the active participation of victims is essential for the work of the experts. 7. The Coordinator congratulated the experts of the Working Group for their decision to address the situation of children of African descent during its eighth session as children are extremely vulnerable to racial discrimination. Quality education was underlined as an important instrument for combating prejudices and discrimination. It was also noted that special measures have to be adopted to ensure equal opportunities for historically disadvantaged groups, in particular people of African descent. 8. The President of the Human Rights Council, Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi addressed the Working Group. He also congratulated the new members of the Working Group and paid tribute to the work of the former members. The President pointed out that human rights are better 1 All working papers submitted by the experts and participants are available at the Secretariat or can be found on OHCHR website: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/ african/4african.htm.