environments. UNDP supports countries to address gender inequalities – through the empowerment of women and girls and sexual minorities (i.e. men who have sex with men, transgender populations, lesbians and bisexuals), while also engaging with men and boys to challenge harmful gender norms. In order to reduce the prevalence of HIV in ethnic, religious and linguistic minority groups, specific policy interventions should be developed. Taking into consideration of the social determinants of health approach, prevention measures need to be culturally attuned and focused on the risk factors that are particular to each minority community. Minorities could be trained as health care providers to improve community HIV prevention programmes. Minority health workers could ensure that culturally appropriate health information is made available in minority languages, while also addressing discrimination issues that minorities may face 70 from health workers. Box 11 outlines some of the efforts in the United States to reduce higher HIV prevalence among minority groups. Special efforts are needed to reach minorities in remote areas and to provide primary health care services that are adapted to minorities’ cultures, environments and traditional medical practices. Box 12 illustrates some lessons learned from HIV education projects in the remote areas of the Upper Mekong region. Key Messages  Cultural stigma and poverty can result in higher rates of HIV among minorities  Discrimination can prevent minorities from accessing equal health services for HIV  HIV policy responses need to take into consideration specific cultural risk factors for minorities and the impact of discrimination M A R G I N A L I S E D M I N O R I T I E S I N D E V E LO P M E N T P R O G R A M M I N g