E/CN.4/2005/21 page 16 92. Africa had the world’s highest urbanization growth rates with an annual average growth of 4 per cent, almost two times faster than Latin America and Asia. Currently, 37 per cent of the total population in the continent lived in cities and by 2030 the urban population was expected to rise to 53 per cent of the total population. Those trends indicated that Africa was no longer the least urbanized continent in the world; it had overtaken Asia by a slight margin. Current trends revealed that sub-Saharan Africa was the only region where the number of people living in extreme poverty would increase by more than 100 million between 1990 and 2015. This economic and social profile of the continent was reflected very clearly in housing conditions with growing slums in urban settlements. Housing conditions of people of African descent living in the diaspora and in Africa could generally be characterized as the worst in the world. 93. Mr. Ergüden contended that housing policy should be based on a coherent package of fundamental goals, including secure tenure; transparent land markets; access to services; access to affordable credit; protection under the law, including from arbitrary eviction; access to information, and efficient administration. 94. As UN-Habitat’s experience indicates, the most important factor limiting progress in improving housing and living conditions of low-income groups, particularly in slums, was the lack of genuine political will to address the issue in a fundamentally structured, sustainable and large-scale manner. There was no doubt that political will, combined with local ownership and leadership, and the mobilization of the potential and capacity of all stakeholders, particularly the people themselves, were the key to success. Lessons from several countries underscored the importance and the fundamental role of sustained political will and commitment. 95. It was essential that good urban governance be promoted to support the formulation of effective housing policies. The role of local authorities, landowners, community leaders and the residents themselves should not be underestimated and an enabling institutional framework involving all partners should be established. Consistent with poverty eradication strategies and objectives, adopting a rights-based approach to housing development was fundamental in addressing the needs of the poor and other disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. III. RECOMMENDATIONS 96. The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent submits the following recommendations to the Commission on Human Rights for consideration at its sixty-first session: General 1. States should give priority to improving and funding systems to collect reliably disaggregated data to measure inequalities among specific social groups, including racial groups, with a view to identifying and implementing appropriate corrective measures to combat racism and racial discrimination experienced by people of African descent.