A/68/333
74. The Special Rapporteur recalls that offering education in a country’s minority
languages is also important for promoting tolerance. In Singapore, children can be
taught both in English and in their mother tongue, Mandarin, Malay or Tamil. 67
Mongolia’s National Programme on Implementation of Human Rights recognizes
ethnic minorities’ right to receive education in their mother tongue. 68 In Cambodia,
the Highland Community Programme seeks to increase educational opportunities for
remote indigenous ethnic minority communities by teaching their native languages
first, while progressively introducing the Khmer language. 69 Guatemala committed
itself to strengthening intercultural bilingual education in its education policy for
2008-2012. 70
75. Another good practice in eliminating poverty and racism through education is
the promotion of access to schools for marginalized children. The Abrazo
Programme, set up in 2005 in Paraguay, focuses on children working in the street
and their families. The children are put in schools, their attendance is monitored,
and they are provided with food and health care. At the same time, the children’s
families are provided with support to make up for the lost income. 71 Inclusive
education in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic tries to increase access to
primary education for all children, especially marginalized children. 72 In Belgium,
the Samsara Project aims to support immigrant youth who are vulnerable to
dropping out of school. 73
76. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that measures and programmes designed
to improve the social inclusion of disadvantaged groups also constitute good
practices. In Hungary, several programmes are being implemented in order to
improve Roma access to education, employment, housing and health care, including
the Decade of Roma Inclusion Programme Strategic Plan for 2007-2015, the
European Union framework for national Roma integration strategies, the National
Social Inclusion Strategy “Extreme Poverty, Child Poverty and the Roma” for 20112020, and the Framework Agreement between the Government and the National
Roma Self-Government. 74 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the
Czech Republic, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Spain
have also committed themselves to the Decade of Roma Inclusion. 75 Ireland has
been implementing a strategic approach to alleviating poverty and social exclusion
through its National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007-2016, National
Development Plan 2007-2013, and National Social Partnership Agreement,
“Towards 2016”. 76
77. Similarly, protection against discrimination in labour markets is critical in
promoting the mobility of disadvantaged groups from poverty. In the United States,
discrimination related to employment on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, or
__________________
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
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A/HRC/17/40/Add.2, para. 39.
A/HRC/23/36/Add.2, para. 48.
MDG Good Practices, Chapter 2, pp. 59-60.
Report on the mission to Guatemala of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education
(A/HRC/11/8/Add.3), para. 61.
A/HRC/14/25/Add.2, para. 36.
MDG Good Practices, chapter 2, pp. 39-40.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Fighting Racism
and Discrimination; Identifying and Sharing Good Practices in the International Coalition of
Cities (Paris, 2012), pp. 32-33.
A/HRC/20/33/Add.1, para. 30.
http://www.romadecade.org/about-the-decade-decade-in-brief.
A/HRC/17/34/Add.2, para. 13.
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