A/79/316 Namibia, South Africa and the United States and measures for ethnic minorities in Albania, China, Croatia, Hungary, Israel, Romania and Serbia. 30 31. In Ecuador, the Government provides tax incentives to companies that hire Indigenous Peoples and people of African descent. 31 In Croatia, there are targeted measures to increase recruitment of Roma, including co-financed employment and internships of up to 24 months for first-time work experience. 32 In Costa Rica, a 2022 affirmative action law in favour of people of African descent requires every public institution to allocate at least 7 per cent of vacant jobs per year to people of African descent, provided that these applicants meet, under equal cond itions, the legal and constitutional requirements. 33 32. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination welcomed the introduction in Brazil in 2014 a public service quota law. However, the Committee expressed concern about the decrease in the effective implementation of the law in recent years. 34 The Special Rapporteur notes that eligibility criteria vary across institutions, leading to confusion and potential misuse, and that there is a lack of effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms, making it difficult to ensure compliance and address any fraud or abuse. 35 The Committee also welcomed the adoption of special measures in Viet Nam aimed at ensuring the representation of officials from ethnic minorities in public and political positions. The legislative mandated quota of 18 per cent was met by the fifteenth National Assembly (2021– 2026) and, for the first time, smaller ethnic minority groups, including the Mang and the Brau, are represented. 36 33. In Northern Ireland, the Fair Employment and Treatment Order, adopted in 1998, has successfully contributed to greater equality in the workforce. The Order requires employers with more than 10 employees to monitor the composition of their workforce, submit annual reports to the Equality Commission and take remedial action if any imbalances are identified. The Order also requires employers to carry out a full review of their employment policies and practices every three years. While the framework was aimed at reducing segregation between Catholics and Protestants (rather than equality for racial or ethnic groups), it is a positive example of special measures working effectively and has reduced obstacles to inclusion and advancement of minorities, women, persons with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, non-citizens and others. 37 __________________ 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 12/24 Rachel M. Gisselquist, Simone Schotte and Min J. Kim, Affirmative action around the world: Insights from a new dataset, UNU-WIDER Working Paper 2023/59 (Helsinki, UNU-WIDER, 2023), p. 11. Submission from Ecuador. Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller Issues, Thematic Report on How to Stimulate Governments to Employ Roma and Travellers in Governmental Institutions and Public Administration (Strasbourg, France, Council of Europe, 2022), p. 20. Submission from Costa Rica, p. 11. CERD/C/BRA/CO/18-20, paras. 22 and 23. Visit of the Special Rapporteur to Brazil: end-of-visit statement, 16 August 2024. Available at https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/racism/sr/statements/20240816 -eomstm-brazil-sr-racism.pdf. CERD/C/VNM/CO/15-17, para. 18. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and Equal Rights Trust, Protecting Minority Rights: A Practical Guide to Developing Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Legislation (United Nations publication, 2023), p. 71. 24-15073