A/61/335 which he has submitted a mission report, with a view to monitoring their follow-up to his recommendations. 22. The Special Rapporteur has tightened his collaboration with the AntiDiscrimination Unit of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. To this end, he participated in several activities organized by the Unit, including the Regional Workshop for the Americas on Inclusion Strategies for Afro-descendents in Poverty Reduction Programs, held from 2 to 4 November 2005 in Chincha, Peru, which had the principal objective of elaborating strategies to involve persons of African descent in the elaboration, application, monitoring and evaluation of poverty-reduction programmes. In his presentation, the Special Rapporteur stressed the need in any anti-poverty strategy to take cognizance of two factors specific to the historical and social situation of African descendants in South America. The first (social) factor is racism, the ideological underpinning for slavery and the reason for the presence of African descendants in South America. This racism is deeply embedded in societies in the region, where there is a direct linkage between political, economic and social marginalization on the one hand and, on the other, ethnic groups and communities, especially indigenous communities and African descendants, which have traditionally suffered from discrimination. Efforts to combat poverty in these communities must thus be linked to efforts to combat the racism and discrimination that they have suffered for centuries. The second (historical) factor is the fact that the survival of African descendants is linked to their physical and cultural resistance to slavery-related violence. Faced with material hardship arising from economic exploitation and a dehumanized system of slavery, their cultural resistance has found expression over the long-term in collective values of solidarity, sharing and the primacy of the family and the community as the ultimate focus for putting these values into practice and for survival. The rich ethical heritage of solidarity and sharing, still alive in these communities, must inform any strategy for sustainable poverty eradication, including through efforts to ensure local economic, social and political ownership. 23. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur participated in a thematic debate on the topic “Globalization and racism”, held during the fourth session of the intergovernmental working group on effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action on 16 and 17 January 2006, at which he emphasized the need to link the fight against racism, discrimination and xenophobia to the promotion and construction of a democratic, egalitarian and interactive multiculturalism. He also took part in debates on the theme of “Fighting everyday racism”, held in Geneva on 21 March 2006 to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, where he drew attention to the fact that racism was becoming more commonplace; to the increasingly racist and xenophobic dimension of immigration and asylum policies; and to the increase in racist violence, as evidenced by several recent racist crimes. Finally, the Special Rapporteur and the Anti-Discrimination Unit collaborated closely to organize a seminar on political platforms which incite racial discrimination, held in Brasilia on 29 July 2006 at the Special Rapporteur’s initiative (see para. 33 above). 10 06-51904