A/68/333 deprivation of resources” with limited choices and vulnerable to multiple violations of their rights. In many parts of the world, race and ethnicity continue to be persistent predictors of poverty. The multigenerational nature of poverty, with successive generations inheriting the disadvantages of their predecessors, means that over the years poverty and deprivation have become part of the characterization of particular racial and ethnic groups trapped in poverty. This in turn fuels prejudice against those members of poor racial and ethnic groups, exacerbating the problems of racial discrimination. For most racial and ethnic groups living in poverty, the formal provisions for non-discrimination are not sufficient to address the challenges they confront in the realization of those rights that would lift them out of their conditions of poverty. Their situation is that of multidimensional discrimination — as they are discriminated against for being poor and also on account of their race and ethnicity. The nature of this challenge requires much more than formal protections and calls for special measures. 22. Quantifying the problem of the poverty among racial and ethnic minorities continues to be a challenge given the absence of disaggregated data. Nevertheless, we can look at the situation of the realization of specific rights as a proxy for determining progress from poverty. In particular, progress in the realization of some social economic rights could signify an improvement in the lives of those living in poverty. From a development perspective, the progress made on the key Millennium Development Goals with respect to racial and ethnic groups in various countries could be a useful way of assessing progress. 23. Discrimination based on racial, religious, ethnic, linguistic and also socioeconomic factors exacerbates the vulnerability of those persons and groups. This situation and furthermore the lack of participation of groups that are discriminated against in decision-making processes is often the result of historical legacies rooted in traditions. Their situation is primarily the consequence of historical systems of inherited status, and of the formalized exclusion of certain traditional populations in modern societies, sometimes encouraged by authorities. Thus, even in countries where resources are sufficient to ensure to the whole population adequate standards of living, those groups and individuals do not fully benefit from those resources. In countries suffering from lack of development, the situation of vulnerable groups is even more critical, and they often form part of the poorest of the poor. 17 24. Discriminatory treatment and practices end up perpetuating the situation of poverty these groups already suffer and encourage exclusion. The Special Rapporteur believes that it is the obligation of Governments to prevent marginalization and to ensure protection as well as to guarantee the enjoyment of human rights for all, including the right to education, the right to adequate housing, the right to health or the right to food and safe water. 18 25. In many regions of the world, minority groups already live under precarious economic situations which do not provide the opportunity for a fair access to resources but fuel racial and socioeconomic discrimination. The condition of __________________ 17 18 8/22 Minority Rights Group International, State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2009, p. 7. World Health Organization, WHO’s Contribution to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Health and Human Rights Publication Series No. 2 (Geneva, August 2001). 13-43133