The case of Mexico is particularly interesting. First, Mexico has a comprehensive constitutional framework that covers economic and social rights. Also, its Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination prohibits discrimination in obtaining those services for religious minorities, ethnic minorities, and LGBTI persons. In addition, Mexican laws on social security, health, housing, water, electricity, and financial services all contain an article that prohibits discrimination in the provision of the respective services.

In Morocco, the only relevant provision is Article 31 of the constitution, which guarantees equal access of its citizens to health care, housing, water supply, health insurance, and social pensions. Article 31 does not address equality in the provision of financial services, but the country has adopted a law on microcredits—Dahir 1-99-16 of 1999, modified by Dahir 1-04-12 of 2004—which provides for the disbursement of up to DH 50,000 to destitute people to help them either start a business for the production of goods or services, improve their housing conditions, or gain access to electricity and clean water.<sup>72</sup> Although the law does not refer specifically to minorities, many of the minorities are among the poorest in the country and are therefore covered by the law.<sup>73</sup> In Vietnam, the 2013 constitution includes some—but not all—of the social services covered by the study. In particular, the Vietnamese constitution regulates health care and health insurance (Articles 38 and 58), welfare, social security, and housing (Art. 59). Despite such constitutional protections, other national laws in Vietnam limit access to social services for ethnic minorities in the country. In particular, the _hộ khẩu_ , or system of household registration, represents a barrier to ethnic minorities, especially children, to obtaining access to education, health insurance, and other services<sup>74</sup> (see box 4).

# Box 4: Vietnamese Household Registration System

The _hộ khẩu_ , or system of household registration, was established by law in 1964 and stated that every citizen was to be registered as a resident in one and only one household at the place of permanent residence, and movements could take place only with the permission of authorities. Registration was linked to the provision of public services and employment. As shown in a recent World Bank Group report on Vietnam’s Household Registration System, although the system has become less rigid over time, concerns persist that _hộ khẩu_ limits the rights and access to public services of those who lack permanent registration. Incidentally, extremely few ethnic minorities are permanent registrants—just 1.8 percent of the overall permanent registrant population. (Nationally, ethnic minorities constitute approximately 14 percent of the population.) Ethnic minorities are a much larger fraction of temporary registrants. Children with temporary registration are substantially less likely to be enrolled in school at the lower and upper secondary levels, even after controlling for individual and household characteristics. Also, despite a national policy of free health insurance for children under age 6, one-quarter of temporary registrant children in that age group lack health insurance. Qualitative evidence indicates that this is due in part to their registration status. Some temporary registrants also face obstacles in designating a local facility as their health care location, which means that they pay higher fees for health care. Additionally, qualitative evidence suggests that policies on whether temporary registrants can qualify for social assistance are inconsistent. Temporary registrants are slightly less likely than comparable permanent registrants to appear on the “poor list,” but overall rates of appearing on the poor list and receiving most forms of social assistance are low (regardless of registration status) in areas where temporary registrants live. Temporary registrants also face difficulties in conducting basic government procedures such as registering a motorcycle.

Source: World Bank and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (2016)

> 72 Dahir 1-99-16 of February 5, 1999, promulgating the law 18-97 related to microcredit, http://81.192.52.100 /BO/Fr/1999/BO_4678_Fr.pdf; and Dahir 1-04-12 of April 21, 2004, promulgating the law 58-03 modifying and supplementing the law 18-97 related to microcredit, http://www.albaraka.ma/portail-des-administrateurs/wp-content/themes/albaraka/textes %20reglementaires/Dahir%20Loi%20microcr%C3%A9dit/Dahir%201-04-12.pdf.

> 73 World Bank 2011, 103.

> 74 World Bank and Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences 2016, XI.

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