A/HRC/25/56/Add.1 populations, and the issuance of birth certificates. Representatives of non-governmental organizations and minority groups pointed out that greater awareness-raising about such initiatives was required, since many people were unaware of them and their impact was therefore limited. Government officials stated that certain communities, owing to cultural and traditional factors and lifestyles, do not value education or consider it a high priority. This commonly-held view was, however, disputed by rights groups working with communities, describing it as a stereotype that can hamper steps towards solutions or be invoked to justify poor progress in the education services provided. 28. Certain groups face significant challenges, including in particular the Pygmy people with regard to health and their access to health-care services. Forest-dwelling and remote or nomadic communities frequently have no access to health care owing to their location, the lack of funds to pay for treatment, and the lack of interaction with authorities and service providers. Poor health-care information and low levels of education also have a significant impact on access to health care, while vaccination programmes can be slow to reach remote and forest peoples. Fear of discriminatory treatment can also lead communities to avoid seeking medical services. E. Participation of minorities in political and public life 29. Certain ethnic minorities are grossly underrepresented in political, administrative and decision-making structures. It was pointed out that no member of the Pygmy or the Mbororo communities has held the position of government minister, regional governor, senior divisional officer, town or city mayor, member of parliament, senator or leader of a political party. For certain Pygmy and Montagnard communities, the situation is particularly severe. Contributing factors include lack of education, language issues and poverty, although some claim that minority groups face political marginalization and exclusion by political and ethnic elites at all levels of political life and decision-making. 30. The Electoral Code lays down provisions governing elections and the right to stand for election without discrimination. Electoral laws require that electoral lists take into account the “sociological components of the constituency concerned”.15 Non-governmental organizations consider that this creates an obligation to include on party lists appropriate representation of the ethnic communities present in the constituency. Before the elections in 2013, a number of party lists were challenged by minority rights groups on the grounds that they were not in conformity with this requirement. Nevertheless, their objections were eventually dismissed by the Supreme Court. 31. The Government pointed to some progress in improving the participation of minorities in the management of public affairs,16 stating that it had been working on awareness-raising measures relating to political participation and to help to achieve appropriate representation of all population groups without distinction on all electoral lists and the involvement of national and ethnic minorities in the electoral process. 15 16 10 Part V, section 151 (3), of the 2012 Electoral Code on the election of members of parliament states that “each list shall take into consideration the various sociological components of the constituency concerned. It shall also take into consideration gender aspects.” A Mbororo is mayor of the Ngaoui Council in the Mbere Division. There are also four Deputy Mbororo mayors and several councillors; a Mbororo is also Chargé de Mission at the Presidency of the Republic.