A/HRC/17/34/Add.1 only) and economic barriers – despite initiatives to exempt them from fees, minorities are less able to afford the direct and indirect costs of education.21 27. There are several mutually reinforcing factors that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty among ethnic minorities and any effort to tackle the deep-rooted inequality must take all of these into account. Budgetary support to ethnic minority poverty reduction initiatives must be enhanced and creative strategies developed to ensure adequate targeting to the specific situation of ethnic minorities, as recognized by the Government in recent evaluations.22 In this regard, it is also crucial that the Government improves data collection and develops disaggregated data for all ethnic minority groups to ensure that poverty reduction policies distinguish between the various ethnic groups and their members. Effective participatory channels should be increased and strengthened so poverty reduction programmes can take into account the expressed needs of different minority groups. 28. An additional obstacle to the development of minority groups is the lack of cultural understanding of some State officials and the stereotyping of ethnic minorities that attributes their lack of economic progress to their culture and traditional practices. A World Bank study documented reproduction of negative stereotypes among authorities and the internalization of such views among minorities, also noting that this had led to flawed policy prescriptions.23 The independent expert recognizes the efforts of the Committee on Ethnic Minorities to remove negative stereotypes. Nevertheless, in her interactions with some authorities, the independent expert was told that lack of progress among minorities related to their “mindset” and “backwardness”. The Government must strengthen its efforts to change popular perceptions about minorities and enhance the capacity of Government staff and institutions to better serve their interests. 29. The independent expert fully agrees with and adopts the analysis of the independent expert on minority issues, who, after her visit to Viet Nam called for the Government to ensure that efforts to address the poverty of minorities take fully into account their views, preserve their unique cultures, languages, traditions and lifestyles, and respect their rights to own and use the lands and territories that are essential to their livelihoods.24 B. Women 30. Viet Nam was one of the first countries to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and is a regional leader in terms of progress towards closing the gender gap. The Government reports having eradicated gender disparities in terms of access to education.25 Women and men also enjoy relative equality in terms of employment opportunities: in 2008, women’s participation rate in the labour force was four percentage points lower than that of men and the total number of working hours per year for women was almost the same as for men.26 However, this “relative equality” is not sufficient to ensure the full protection and enjoyment of women’s human rights in Viet Nam, and there is concern that the early progress of Viet Nam on this front has stagnated as, for instance, the gender pay gap has remained stable since 1998.27 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Ibid., p. 25. Viet Nam MDG National Report 2010, p. 116. World Bank, Country Social Analysis: Ethnicity and Development in Viet Nam: Summary report (2009), pp. 43 and 46. A/HRC/16/45/Add.2, para. 83. Viet Nam MDG National Report 2010, p. 41. Ibid., p. 44. World Bank, Vietnam Development Report 2008: Social Protection, p. 39. 9