A/HRC/41/39/Add.2 minority groups at a disadvantage in school. 54 Many countries face the challenges of having multiple languages spoken in their territories, and the answer is not to insist dogmatically that education can only be conducted in Lao. If the Government wants to maximize the potential of members of minority communities, it must develop a nuanced approach that combines its desire to promote Lao as the official language with the strategic use of local languages. Teachers and health providers in those communities should be officially allowed to provide services in non-Lao languages when appropriate. 62. Indigenous status has been conferred on certain ethnic groups by a range of interlocutors. Although the present report is not the appropriate context in which to resolve that claim, the Special Rapporteur notes that such status would confer additional rights under international law, including to free, prior and informed consent to the use of land and resources. Instead of shutting down the discussion, the Government should engage in good faith on the status of indigenous groups. D. Gender 63. Despite the central role of women in traditional ethnic Lao communities, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic today, they often face marginalization and discrimination, with substantial negative implications for poverty alleviation and the rights of poor women. Most official bodies are required to include a representative of the Lao Women’s Union, and various other government policies promote gender equality. However, far too many of those measures remain aspirational and tokenistic, doing little to ensure that women are meaningfully included in decision-making. The widespread subordination of women has major economic consequences, quite apart from the denial of their human rights. 64. Women generally occupy the lower rungs of the labour market and are less present in the formal sector, deprived of the rights and social protection that it offers. Women make up 64 per cent of workers in elementary occupations, whereas men account for the majority of civil servants, professionals and technicians. 55 According to the Lao Women’s Union, 7 of the 69 members of the Politburo Central Committee are women, just over 10 per cent, 56 and, as confirmed by the Government, currently none of the powerful 17 provincial governors is a woman. Fewer than 3 per cent of village chiefs are women, 57 and, in 2012, women accounted for just 5 per cent of members of decision-making institutions. The exception is the National Assembly, which has a higher proportion of women, at 27.5 per cent,58 and the President and Vice-President of which are women. The vast majority of the Special Rapporteur’s government meetings were dominated by men, including several who expressed deeply patriarchal attitudes and blamed women for gaps in achievement. Women living in villages and camps were resoundingly more likely to report they had not been informed of, or consulted about, critical livelihood decisions, including resettlement and compensation, contract farming arrangements or disaster relief. 65. The Government should move beyond formal equality commitments by setting meaningful targets for closing disparities in education and the job market and empowering women. An excellent starting point would be to ensure that one third of all provincial governors and village chiefs are women by the year 2025. The virtual invisibility of women at those levels sends an unmistakable message that must be transcended. The Government should also ensure that the new land law protects women’s land rights. 54 55 56 57 58 Understanding Children’s Work Programme, “Understanding children’s work and youth employment outcomes in Laos: summary report”, Rome, January 2014, p. 7. Available from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/587261545112094976/pdf/133003-WP-v1-PUBLICADD-SERIES-see-103603-Laos-Summary-child-labour-youth-employment20140109-131624.pdf. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Lao PDR: Goal 5: Gender Equality”. Available from www.la.undp.org/content/lao_pdr/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-5-genderequality.html. Meeting with Lao Women’s Union, 25 March 2019. United States, Department of State, “2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Laos”. Available from www.state.gov/reports/2017-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/laos/. UNDP, “Lao PDR: Goal 5: Gender Equality”. 15