A/HRC/15/18 development. The members were informed that there is not an appropriate education system for children in adult prisons and children are forced to work during their imprisonment for very low compensation. 54. According to NGOs with which the members met, racial profiling against people of African descent by the police is an ongoing concern; the darker a person’s skin, the more likely they are to be stopped, questioned and frisked by police. The members were informed that the New York City Police Department is working on a training programme to eliminate unconscious racial bias in officers that may contribute to racial profiling. 55. The members were also informed by an NGO that in cases where the death penalty is a possibility, a convicted felon is four times more likely to receive the death penalty if the victim was white than if the victim was of African descent. The members also learned of the Racial Justice Act, adopted in the state of North Carolina in 2009, whereby a defendant can now invoke statistics to establish a presumption that racism affected their case. 7. Poverty 56. In many of the meetings that the members had, particularly with NGOs, poverty was identified as being a particular concern for people of African descent in the country, impacting as it does upon the enjoyment of a host of rights. NGOs stressed that poverty is very much connected with the slavery past and long-lasting discrimination even after slavery was prohibited. According to some of them, racism and poverty are intimately linked and still part of the system. The criminalization of poverty and reliance upon welfare programmes instead of a more comprehensive approach to fighting poverty were seen as specific obstacles to breaking the circle of poverty. NGOs also emphasized the connection between racism, poverty and segregation, which is becoming much more visible in the period of economic crisis. 57. According to data provided by the Census Bureau for 2008, about 24 per cent of people of African descent were living below the poverty level - considerably higher than the poverty rate for the total population, which was about 13 per cent. About 33.5 per cent of children of African descent lived in poverty, compared to about 18 per cent of the total population. Among those aged 65 and older, people of African descent had a poverty rate of about 20.5 per cent while the total population had a rate of about 10 per cent. According to the same statistics, in 2008 the median annual income of households of people of African descent was about $35,400. This compares to the median annual income of the total population, which was $52,000. B. Policies for the integration of people of African descent 58. In a meeting with the Department of Homeland Security, the members were informed of several outreach initiatives that the Department has undertaken to facilitate the better integration of American Arab, Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, Somali and Middle Eastern and other ethnic and religious communities. The Engagement Team of the Department’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties leads or plays a significant role in round-table discussions between federal, State and local government and community leaders in eight metropolitan areas. Other initiatives include the production, in collaboration with leaders from the Somali community, of a guide for newly arrived Somalis in the United States. At the time of the meeting, the Department of Homeland Security was also looking for funding for Somali Community Centers. 59. The Department of Homeland Security produces informative publications and has special procedures designed to prevent discriminatory behaviour by civil servants who 15