A/HRC/16/45/Add.2 congress of ethnic minorities in Viet Nam was convened, bringing together representatives of minority groups to offer an opportunity for minorities to voice their issues to senior Government officials. 74. Customary practices remain important in many ethnic minority communities, and include village constitutions, conventions and regulations, as well as forms of leadership structures. These structures have not been recognized in State law and no mechanisms exist to allow minority governance structures and the minority leaders that they produce to be taken into account at the regional and national levels. Analysts consider that minorities should have a greater say in the selection of their representatives, which would result in greater confidence and trust in those representatives who have stronger connections with communities and a greater understanding of their issues. The Government pointed out that the State respects the customary practices of ethnic minorities and has promulgated specific policies to enhance the role of village and tribal leaders. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 75. It is evident to the independent expert from her visit and the information received that the Government of Viet Nam recognizes its minority populations as important constituent parts of the country, and understands many of the challenges that it faces to ensure the rights of minorities in every sphere of life. Viet Nam is a poor country, a victim of devastating wars and subject to natural disasters. Yet, considerable resources have been dedicated to improving the lives of ethnic minorities and to develop the infrastructure and service provision in the most remote, disadvantaged and mountainous regions. There is evident political will to address the sizeable socio-economic gaps that exist between disadvantaged ethnic minorities and the majority Kinh population. The Government deserves to be commended for its initiatives in this respect. 76. Despite valuable constitutional and legal provisions, many belonging to minority groups continue to experience serious disadvantages. They experience severe challenges in all aspects of life, including with respect to opportunities for education and employment, their socio-economic and geographical mobility, and their ability to engage fully and in a meaningful way in the decision-making process about policies that affect them. As the majority population benefits from impressive economic growth and prosperity, minorities risk being left ever further behind. Undoubtedly, their inequality is heightened by their geographic remoteness and sole reliance on agricultural livelihoods. As the Government has begun to demonstrate, however, much can be done to put minorities on the path to progress. 77. Minorities are burdened further by perceptions of them as backward, passive, ignorant and the architects of their own poverty and under-development. Besides constituting unfortunate stereotypes, this perception is used to lend justification to a top-down model of decision-making about minority issues and development models that undervalues genuine consultative processes and traditional knowledge. The Government should undertake a vigorous public education campaign to address civil society and official attitudes about persons belonging to minorities and their contributions to society. 78. The Government should also address the lack of a comprehensive legislative framework to guarantee non-discrimination and to promote and protect minority rights. In addition to comprehensive legislation, an independent agency should be established with the authority to monitor enforcement of these rights, such as an 18