A/HRC/16/45/Add.2 poverty rates had remained high, while for ethnic Kinh in the same region poverty has declined by 4.6 per cent per year.11 29. Ethnic minority women face unique challenges and are among the most vulnerable of the poor in Viet Nam. Patriarchal traditions persist, limiting women’s decision-making power in most minority communities. Minority social customs commonly dictate that males control financial assets, livestock and land-use rights certificates, potentially creating difficulties for realizing the property and land rights of minority women. A World Bank study highlighted the fact that 87 per cent of ethnic minority women in rural areas worked in agriculture and yet had limited security in land tenure. In the event of the death of the husband or divorce, women may be left particularly vulnerable. 30. The slower pace of poverty reduction for minority populations inevitably leads to growth in the poverty gap between the majority and minority populations over time. In its Social Analysis Report for 2009, the World Bank identified six key factors contributing to the persistent and disproportionate levels of poverty experienced by minorities: (a) inequalities in education; (b) less mobility and the impact on them of majority migration to minority regions; (c) poor access to formal financial services; (d) less productive land and greater dependence on swidden agriculture; (e) poorer market access and lower returns from markets; and (f) the impact of negative stereotyping and misconceptions about minorities as backward and conservative. The importance of each of these factors became evident to the expert during her visit. A. Land rights and the impact of economic development 31. Land is a vital asset for ethnic minority livelihoods and a key component of rural poverty reduction. Landlessness has, however, increased in minority areas. The land reforms implemented following the unification of Viet Nam in 1975 placed all land under the ownership of the State, which assigns rights to use land to individuals. While minority regions are frequently dominated by forestry land, these lands are subject to Government allocation, and therefore frequently no longer available for community use. Only 24 per cent of ethnic minorities reported having rights in forestry land.12 Studies conclude that many do not have access to forest resources, even in areas where there are few other livelihood opportunities, and that poverty and livelihood improvement are rarely mentioned in forestry planning. This has reportedly been disruptive to traditional forest-based minority economies. 32. Ethnic Khmer minority representatives reported the loss of ancestral farmlands in the fertile Mekong Delta. They maintained that Khmer were relocated away from southern border provinces during the war with Cambodia owing to their perceived ties with that country. Upon their return, lands had allegedly been allocated to ethnic Kinh, leaving many landless. Huge resettlement efforts brought ethnic Kinh to territories previously occupied by ethnic Khmer. Sources stated that many ethnic Khmer had consequently become poor wage labourers. Protests over land rights have been witnessed, even though they are generally banned or have allegedly met with a harsh response by the authorities. The Government contests these claims with regard to the treatment of demonstrators, but 11 12 See “The Government committee is not enough: CEMA of Vietnam”, Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network, October – December 2008, available from www.aitpn.org/IRQ/VolIII/issue_4/story06.html. See Claude René Heimo, “Forest and forest land allocation in Viet Nam: some open questions”, available from the website www.snvworld.org. 9