A/HRC/11/36 page 8 disproportionately affected by poverty; for example, in her report, the independent expert on minority issues (A/HRC/4/9) provides concrete examples of higher levels of poverty among Afro-descendents in Brazil; Dalits, Muslims and hill Janajatis in Nepal; British Indians, British African-Caribbeans, British Black Africans, British Pakistanis and British Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom; the San-speaking minority in Namibia; ethnic minorities in Viet Nam; immigrant and ethnic minorities in the European Union; and African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives and Hispanic or Latinos in the United States of America. There is no doubt that there is a very close association between race and poverty in most countries. 18. The Special Rapporteur notes that the socio-economic vulnerability of minorities is generally the result of historic legacy, such as the impact of slavery in the American continent, systems of inherited status in other continents and also of systems of formalized and State-sponsored discrimination against minorities that were long in place in many parts of the world. Because of the inaction of States, the imbalances that were historically created continued to profoundly affect minority groups long after formalized discrimination was dismantled. 19. A number of concrete measures are needed in order to address the disproportionate levels of poverty of members of minorities. While the Special Rapporteur intends to analyse specific measures further in future reports, he will concentrate on three broad issues in the present one: the need for data-gathering that provides policymakers with reliable information concerning the socio-economic situation of minorities; the need to fully implement the obligation not to discriminate; and the need for special measures to redress historical imbalances. A. Gathering data on poverty and race 20. Despite the significance of the correlation between poverty and race, the Special Rapporteur notes that very limited knowledge has been acquired concerning it. As mentioned above, one problem is the refusal of many Governments to collect ethnically disaggregated data, an activity that, in some situations is even prohibited by law. The reasons for not collecting this type of data are often grounded on legitimate concerns regarding the pernicious uses of such data in the past, such as during the Holocaust. However, in some instances, refraining from collecting ethnically disaggregated data is also a refusal to recognize the existence of certain minority groups within a country and the vulnerable situation those groups face. 21. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the lack of ethnically disaggregated data collection has led to an important information gap that obstructs policymaking. Without knowing which minority groups are more affected by poverty and lack of access to economic, social and cultural rights, devising specific public policies to redress these problems becomes virtually impossible. Lack of data means that minorities are officially “invisible” and that policies towards them, when existent, will be based on assumptions rather than on empirically sound information. 22. The key reason why ethnically disaggregated data are needed is the heterogeneous character of minority groups. Not only do these groups have different needs vis-à-vis “majorities”, but they also differ substantially among themselves. Lack of data that inform policymakers of such heterogeneity will inevitably lead to sweeping “one size fits all” approaches directed at all minority groups alike, which are bound to fail. In order to design