A/HRC/11/36/Add.2 page 11 Women, the National Council for Children and the Ombudsman. The Special Rapporteur recognizes the essential role of the Commission and can testify personally to the lively discussions among its members on such topical issues as the new law on slavery, unresolved humanitarian issues and the importance of reinforcing social cohesion and national unity. 34. With regard to the return of Mauritanian refugees from Senegal, the authorities highlighted the creation on 2 January 2008 of the National Refugee Support and Integration Agency. The Agency’s mandate is currently limited to three years and its general mission is to ensure the integration of Mauritanian refugees returning from Senegal and Mali, support the government offices and commissions responsible for the identification, return and reception of refugees, and promote the economic and social development of the areas concerned. In order to ensure its actions will have a lasting effect, the Agency’s programmes are aimed not only at new returnees but also at refugees who have returned on their own account since 1996, Mauritanians sent back from Senegal, known as “Moussafarines”; and the population as a whole in reception areas. The first group to return was expected on 29 January 2008, in the city of Rosso. 35. The Government likewise underscored the implementation of programmes and policies aimed at developing and protecting the various social groups, for example the National Plan of Action for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and the Strategic Framework for Poverty Reduction. The National Plan of Action, adopted in 2003, is intended, inter alia, to provide Mauritania with a framework for consultation and cooperation on the coordination of human rights promotion and protection programmes, promote the rule of law and a constitutional framework enshrining human rights, and strengthen national capacities and partnership between the Government and civil society for the promotion and protection of human rights. The Strategic Framework for Poverty Reduction (2001-2015) aims to give greater attention to the particularly vulnerable groups in Mauritanian society with such measures as job creation, promotion of sectors that directly help the poor in the areas where they are concentrated, development of the education system, basic health care, and the promotion of good governance. 36. The Special Rapporteur also met with the Ombudsman, an independent authority established by Act No. 93/027 of 7 July 1993. The Ombudsman deals with complaints from citizens relating to their dealings with the State bureaucracy, local authorities, public institutions and other bodies providing a public service. After reviewing the complaints the Ombudsman drafts a confidential report for the President of the Republic containing recommendations on how to remedy the complaints. During his meeting with the Special Rapporteur the Ombudsman stressed that by far the most complaints are related to land ownership and decisions affecting enforced retirement or dismissals from the civil service, and not issues involving manifestations of discrimination based on race, ethnicity or other factors. C. Official perceptions and reactions 37. Most of the Mauritanian officials the Special Rapporteur met with underscored that Mauritanian society is multi-ethnic and multicultural, cemented together by a common history and shared Islamic values. While the authorities admit that there have been tensions between communities in the past and particularly the recent past, those tensions are not considered to be attributable to any discriminatory practices based on ethnicity or race that might have led to deep divisions between the various communities, but rather the result of a range of differences between the various ethnic groups and within ethnic groups themselves.