A/75/385 on the State’s majority religion; 90% of all state-funded primary schools in the country are Catholic, in which Catholic teaching is integrated across the curriculum for all subjects. 106 41. It is reported that in Nepal, despite being among the State's public schools, madrassas (Muslim schools) are under-funded in comparison to other schools. Consequently, poor infrastructure, fewer teachers and insufficient management reportedly contribute to the Muslim community's lower participation in education and higher levels of illiteracy. 107 In Nigeria, the terrorist group Boko Haram (which literally translates to “Western education is forbidden”) has targeted schools, students and teachers in Northeast Nigeria with lethal violence, significantly impacting access to education for both Muslim and Christian communities.108 In Bangladesh, a government ban internet access in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar is excluding up to 300,000 Rohingya children from remote learning – a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic.109 58% of Syrian refugee children in Lebanon are out of school.110 Health, Hunger and Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG-3, SDG-2 and SDG-6) 42. Discriminatory laws, policies and practices routinely interfere with the access of marginalized populations to food security, access to water resources for drinking and hygiene, and to basic healthcare and environmental protections; invariably increasing their vulnerability to poor health outcomes. While health and well-being are closely linked with levels of income and education, information received by the Special Rapporteur indicates that the religious or belief identity of persons acts as an additional aggravating factor for health inequities in some countries. The 2030 Agenda Goal to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being at all ages (SDG-3) and its related goals of zero hunger (SDG-2) as well as clean water and sanitation (SDG-6) requires the elimination of such inequalities. 111 43. A high proportion of the Shia minority population in Saudi Arabia is reportedly underserviced in terms of health care facilities compared to the Sunni-majority.112 Hmong Christians in Vietnam who fled their homes under pressure from authorities to renounce their religion or belief, disproportionately lack quality healthcare, clean water and basic necessities.113 In Ecuador, the Special Rapporteur on the right to health found that indigenous (and Afro Ecuadorian) peoples show worse health indicators than the rest of the population, including higher rates of malnutrition and anaemia.114 44. In other countries, State restrictions on the public service activities of religious or belief minorities have been shown to negatively affect the right to health of local populations. In Eritrea, State authorities forcefully closed 21 Catholic Church-run health centres that had provided essential services to the community aimed at reducing mother and infant malnutrition and mortality. 115 45. Data on disparities in mental health outcomes of religious or belief minorities is scarce but social inequalities have long been shown to have significant mental health ramifications.116 It was reported to the Special Rapporteur that prejudice against sexual 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 12 See, Rachel Fionda, Ireland: A Shift Towards Religious Equality in Schools, 605, P. A. J. Stevens, A. G. Dworkin (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Race and Ethnic Inequalities in Education (2019). https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-muslims-on-the-margins/. https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/how-much-did-boko-haram-forbid-education-nigeria. See, https://www.rescue.org/sites/default/files/document/5151/ircaccesstoeducationrohingyav4.pdf. https://www.nrc.no/globalassets/pdf/reports/the-obstacle-course-barriers-to-education/the-obstaclecourse_barriers-to-education.pdf. See, A/71/304. https://minorityrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/MRG_Brief_Saudi_Nov15_v1.pdf at p 7. Submission by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25061&LangID=E at 47. A/HRC/44/23, para 47. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/112828/9789241506809_eng.pdf?sequence=1at 16.