A/HRC/20/25 Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur recommended that Viet Nam take steps to address the numerous factors, including cultural stereotyping and intolerance towards minority groups, a lack of budgetary support for minority poverty reduction initiatives, and insufficient disaggregated data, which contribute to the disadvantages experienced by ethnic minorities. 84. The Government has provided information noting that it continues to implement social and economic policies to advance the situation of ethnic minority groups, and has expanded direct support programmes to the rural poor, reaching almost 5 million people in 2011. Acknowledging the considerable role played by language barriers in preventing ethnic minorities from benefiting from social protection and social services, the Government reports the gradual expansion of the teaching and learning of ethnic languages in primary and secondary schools. According to Government statistics, in 2010/11, 108,118 students in 688 schools were able to learn ethnic languages, an increase of 2,489 students from the previous year. In December 2010, the Government adopted measures to support semi-boarding students in ethnic minority schools, including food-expense waivers, free accommodation and financial support. The Special Rapporteur welcomes these changes, and calls on the Government to redouble its efforts to reduce poverty and exclusion among ethnic minority groups. 2. Children 85. The Special Rapporteur particularly welcomes the information received from the State that enrolment rates have increased for high school and secondary education and that in both cases the dropout rate has decreased. She reiterates her previous recommendations and calls on the State to strengthen measures to comply with them. C. Social protection 86. At the time of the Special Rapporteur’s mission, Viet Nam was finalizing the SocioEconomic Development Strategy for 2011-2020, a key element of which was the Social Security Strategy for 2011-2020. The Special Rapporteur provided a number of recommendations relating to the need to incorporate human rights principles into the design and implementation of the Social Security Strategy, focusing in particular on targeting mechanisms and coverage and the availability, accessibility, acceptability and cultural adaptability of benefits and services. The Special Rapporteur urged the Government of Viet Nam to use the Strategy as an opportunity to develop an integrated, comprehensive approach to social protection that enables greater coordination with the health system. 87. The Government reports that the Social Security Strategy is still under the Government’s consideration. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that Viet Nam has not yet developed an implementation plan for the Strategy, and urges the Government to expedite the adoption and publication of the Strategy as a matter of priority. 88. The Special Rapporteur reminds Viet Nam that public expenditure on social protection and social services should remain a fiscal priority, particularly during times of slow economic growth and global financial turmoil. She notes that since early 2011, the Government has been implementing an economic stabilization programme in order to reestablish macroeconomic stability in the context of the global economic and financial crises. The Special Rapporteur encourages the State to continue prioritizing poverty reduction and social protection measures during this difficult economic time. 89. The Special Rapporteur had also recommended that the Government prioritize improving access to health insurance and health-care services for the poorest and most vulnerable. She noted that barriers to access included insufficient training of health-care staff and institutionalized discriminatory attitudes towards beneficiaries of social protection 17