A/HRC/16/45/Add.2 ombudsperson’s office or a national institution on human rights established in conformity with the Paris Principles. 79. Economic and social data disaggregated on the basis of ethnic, religious and linguistic criteria are a valuable resource for the Government as it seeks to introduce policies to ensure equality and non-discrimination. Such data allow problems faced by particular groups to be identified and targeted responses to be formulated. However, to be fully effective, the data must be fully “unpacked” and comprehensively analysed to reveal the unique circumstances of all, including the smaller minority groups currently only included in the category of “other ethnic groups”. The resulting information should then be applied practically in the planning of policies and programmes to meet the needs of specific communities. A. Poverty alleviation and development 80. Additional development and poverty reduction investment targeted at minorities is required urgently to close the poverty gap faced by ethnic groups. Efforts to increase the agricultural output and incomes of minorities should be encouraged in consultation with minority communities. Efforts to improve access to markets for ethnic minorities also require further support, including the provision of transport and simple information technology to allow minorities to be aware of market prices and maximize their potential incomes. Targeted microfinance schemes should be made easily available to minority communities. Attention should also be paid to increasing the opportunities for minorities to have to access diverse labour markets and to participate effectively in economic life. 81. Improvements in infrastructure, roads and access to minority communes are vital, and the Government should maintain and increase its attention to these efforts. 82. While greater access potentially brings benefits to minority communities, it may also bring new challenges and problems that the Government must guard against. Minority regions are proving increasingly valuable for the cultivation of commercial cash crops, the exploitation of natural resources, such as bauxite mining and forest resources, and for hydroelectric power and other mega-development projects. Greater access may also provide more opportunities for migration of other population groups and economic interests into minority regions. Prior possession and usage rights should be recognized as creating a superior interest in remaining on traditional lands. 83. Poverty reduction policies relating to minorities should prioritize the preservation of their unique cultures, languages, traditions and lifestyles. Traditional livelihood practices should be approached as having value and presumed to be potentially compatible with increased progress and prosperity, unless disproven. It is critical that the Government ensure that economic growth in rural and remote geographical locations is achieved without negatively affecting the lives or cultures of minorities or deepening their poverty. 84. Meaningful consultations with minority communities and their full participation in decisions that affect them, on all matters from local to the national level, are fundamental rights of minorities. Failure to establish a genuine and effective consultative process with minorities results in inappropriate development approaches. The independent expert is concerned that interactions with minority communities are frequently characterized by top-down approaches that do not fully conform with the principles of free, prior and informed consultation with and consent of the affected communities. 19