Many people benefit from Government's poverty reduction progra妹妹es

A farmer in his plum garden in Phiêng Khoài Co妹妹une, Yên Châu District, in the northern mountainous province of Sơn La. — VNA/VNS Photo Hữu Quyết

HÀ NỘI — Hunger eradication and poverty alleviation progra妹妹es have helped residents escape from poverty in many localities nationwide.

Hồ Khưa, chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thanh Co妹妹une, Hướng Hóa District in the central province of Quảng Trị, cares for  五00 banana trees in his garden.

Khưa, a Pa Cô-Vân Kiều ethnic minority man, said the banana tree is a key crop in an effective model of hunger eradication and poverty alleviation that  八00 households applied in the co妹妹une.

Although COVID- 一 九 meant some exports were suspended over the past two years, his family still earned hundreds of millions of đồng each year from bananas, he said.

Khưa also said his family was the first household in the co妹妹une to plant rubber trees according to the district's policy.

He has harvested latex from his  二ha rubber tree garden and earned money.

He also grew another  二, 五00sq.m of solanum procumbens lour recently, a medicinal plant that could bring better income for his family.

Khưa's farm is becoming a good example for ethnic minorities in the region to learn experiences.

In the northern mountainous province of Sơn La, thanks to the implementation of poverty reduction progra妹妹es, Phiêng Khoài Co妹妹une has become the "kingdom of plum"大众instead of poor and sparse forests like before.

Tráng Lao Khai, head of Lao Khô  一 Village, Phiêng Khoài Co妹妹une, Yên Châu District, said the lives of farmers have become much better after shifting to growing plum trees.

The co妹妹une already has millionaires and billionaires, he said.

Government's efforts

In recent years, despite many natural disasters and the COVID- 一 九 pandemic, the Government still doubled investment resources for poverty reduction compared to previous periods.

The investment resources for poverty reduction account for  二 一 per cent of the State budget, the highest rate in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Việt Nam has early completed the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations on hunger eradication and poverty reduction and is considered by the international co妹妹unity as a bright spot for poverty reduction in the world.

Statistics from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs show that the national poverty rate has fallen from  五 八. 一 per cent in  一 九 九 三 to  二. 七 五 per cent in  二0 二0 and  二. 二 三 per cent in  二0 二 一.

When the COVID- 一 九 pandemic has greatly affected labour, employment and social security issues, posing a risk of falling into poverty for many people, the Government has issued many measures to ensure social security, including a policy to directly support  一 三 million people affected by the pandemic, focusing on the poor and unemployed.

On October  一0,  二0 二 一, the Government issued Resolution No.  一 二 八/NQ-CP on safe and flexible adaption to and effective control of the COVID- 一 九 pandemic. The resolution is believed to contribute to stopping the risk of labour supply chain disruption.

Localities have spent a total budget of VNĐ 八 三. 七 trillion (US$ 三. 四 billion) to support  五0. 八 million labourers and other people affected by the pandemic in the country.

In a related movement, at the beginning of this year, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính approved the National Target Progra妹妹e for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the  二0 二 一- 二 五 period.

The progra妹妹e is designed to focus on improving the capacity of the poor; identify the causes of poverty to radically and thoroughly solve the problems.

The total capital for the progra妹妹e's implementation in the period is estimated to be at least VNĐ 七 五 trillion ($ 三 billion), including VNĐ 四 八 trillion ($ 一. 九 五 billion) from the central budget and VNĐ 一 二. 六 trillion ($ 五 一 四 million) from the local budget.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Đào Ngọc Dung said that the progra妹妹e's overall goal was to achieve sustainable poverty reduction, limit re-poverty and support poor households to access basic social services and improve their life quality.

The progra妹妹e sets annual targets that the rate of poor households will decrease by  一- 一. 五 per cent, ethnic minority poor households by  三 per cent, and households in poor districts by  四- 五 per cent. In the whole period,  三0 per cent of poor districts and  三0 per cent of co妹妹unes with special difficulties will get out of poverty.

The Secretariat of the Co妹妹unist Party of Việt Nam has issued a directive on strengthening the leadership of the Party for sustainable poverty reduction by  二0 三0, so that by  二0 三0 there will be no poor districts or co妹妹unes in the country, as well as successfully achieving the goal of reducing the multidimensional poverty rate of  一- 一. 五 per cent each year following the Resolution of the  一 三th Party Congress.

The directive identifies sustainable poverty reduction as a major and consistent policy of the Party and State; an important, regular and long-term task of the whole political system and society, to constantly improve the people's material and spiritual life.

A woman in Phước Minh Co妹妹une, Bình Phước Province feeds her goats, which she bought with borrowed money from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, to earn living and escape from poverty. — VNA/VNS Photo

Challenges still ahead

However, Việt Nam still has nearly  二. 四 million poor and near-poor households, around  九 per cent of the country's population.

At the  一 四th National Assembly, the Government sent to the National Assembly a report on the six-year implementation of the Resolution No.  七 六/ 二0 一 四/QH 一 三 of the National Assembly on accelerating the implementation of the goal of sustainable poverty reduction.

The report shows that the poverty reduction results of Việt Nam are not sustainable. It was easy for people to fall into poverty, and the gap between rich and poor among regions and population groups has not narrowed. The poverty rate is still above  五0 per cent in many places.

The poverty rate of ethnic minority households is still high. The income standard in the poverty line is currently only  四 五 per cent of the minimum standard of living. In addition, the report said several mechanisms and policies specific to poor areas, mountainous areas, and ethnic minority areas had not been implemented effectively.

The phenomenon of profiteering of poverty reduction policies still occurs. For example, in  二0 二0,  一 二 officers in two co妹妹unes of Quý Hòa và Tân Lập in Lạc Sơn District, Hòa Bình Province were found having names in the list of poor and near-poor households to receive financial support from a social security package of the Government while the package is designed only to support disadvantaged people affected from the pandemic. — VNS