A/HRC/17/34/Add.1 22. Recent studies show that the most glaring disparities in income, employment, health coverage, education and access to other Government services have formed along ethnic lines. While overall trends in poverty reduction remain positive, the income gap between the Kinh and the Hoa (which has a relatively large population in comparison with other ethnic groups) and other ethnic minorities is still significant and increasing. In 2008, while Kinh and Hoa households experienced a poverty rate of only 9 per cent, ethnic minorities averaged a 50.3 per cent poverty rate, with rates of over 80 per cent within some groups.14 The rate of poverty reduction among the ethnic minorities in Viet Nam has also been relatively slower by some margin.15 23. Stark inequalities are evident even from a very early stage. For example, while 22 per cent of Kinh or Hoa children are identified by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as living in poverty, the corresponding figure for ethnic minority children is 62 per cent.16 Thirty-one per cent of ethnic minorities have never attained any education, compared to six per cent of Kinh.17 Considering that education is the gateway out of poverty, and lack of education is especially damaging for ethnic minorities who may have no other opportunity to learn the official language, these inequalities are of great concern. 24. The independent expert recognizes that the Government attaches political priority to the plight of minority populations and has developed a set of programmes aimed at improving their standard of living. Through these, the Government is making a serious effort to help ethnic minorities overcome the barriers that they face. The Programme for Socio-Economic Development of Communes Facing Extreme Difficulties in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas in Viet Nam, known as Programme 135, for example, has focused on developing infrastructure in remote areas in order to address geographical isolation as a source of vulnerability among ethnic minorities.18 25. However, geographical isolation alone does not explain the disproportionate vulnerability to poverty of ethnic minorities. For example, while more than 52 per cent of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands and North-West live in hunger, less than 10 per cent of Kinh/Hoa in these areas live below the (higher) general poverty line.19 This is partly because ethnic minorities tend to rely more heavily on agriculture as a source of food and livelihood, putting them at greater risk of economic and environmental shocks. 26. Evidence shows that, although infrastructure interventions have had sizeable positive impacts, generally, Kinh groups tend to benefit more from Government programmes on poverty reduction, as minorities have more difficulty in accessing services, for a variety of reasons, including linguistic barriers.20 Similarly, educational disparities are caused not only by problematic physical access to schools for those minorities in remote areas, but also by linguistic barriers (as education is frequently provided in Vietnamese 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 8 World Bank, based on data from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam; recent figures. World Bank, Vietnam Development Report 2008: Social Protection, p. 13. According to multi-dimensional indicators, the gulf is even larger for monetary poverty (13% and 61%). See III, C., Children, below for further information on indicators; UNICEF, An Analysis of the Situation of Children in Viet Nam 2010, p. 45. World Bank, Country Social Analysis: Ethnicity and Development in Vietnam: Summary report (2009), p. 24. This programme is complemented by other initiatives such as Programme 132 and Programme 134 that include measures to support ethnic minorities with land, housing and water supply. World Bank, Vietnam Development Report 2008: Social Protection, p. 15. World Bank, Country Social Analysis: Ethnicity and Development in Vietnam: Summary Report (2009), p. 19.