Adherence to international standards Vietnam has signed up to has been weak in many cases and the implementation of development initiatives has often not reached the most vulnerable ethnic minority communities. They continue to be discriminated against by state and non-state actors and remain marginalised from development programmes and from decision making processes. Ethnic minorities suffer from poor access to education, land, markets, financial services and employment.

lThe proposed project will build the capacity of ethnic minority representatives to understand their rights under Vietnamese laws and international norms, and to understand the areas in which they can influence key decision makers. It will also strengthen the capacity of ethnic minority representatives to work together to secure their rights through both direct and indirect interaction with government stakeholders and with the media – who have the ability to shape and influence public opinion.