Vietnam reduces poverty sustainably

Accommodation support for poor households, the cow bank project, the project to build and repair houses for disadvantaged veterans’ families, and the project to help people with disabilities obtain stable jobs are among the specific programs underway to reduce the poverty rate in Vietnam.

Since the beginning of this year, charity funds and programs launched by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor have helped thousands of people obtain jobs and production capital. The Labor Union Fund alone has provided farmers capital for the construction and repair of more than 300 so-called great unity houses.

October 17 is observed as the Day for the Poor in Vietnam.

Dang Quang Thieu, head the Department for Social Policy of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, said, "We have a fund to support poor workers in job settlement. Located in Ho Chi Minh City, An Giang, Quang Ninh, Ba Ria Vung Tau, and Hanoi, the fund helps the poorest workers, who are unable to obtain a bank loan, borrow a small amount of money to provide a stable income.”

As a member of the Mobilizing Board for the Fund for the Poor, the Vietnam Farmers Association considers poverty reduction its main task.

The Association and its branches allocate quotas for farm households good at production and trading to help one or two poorer households escape poverty through financial aid and technology transfers.

Leu Vu Dieu, Deputy Chairman of the Vietnam Farmers Association, said, “Movements encouraging farmers to compete in production, trading, and making their fortunes have proven effective. In addition to direct assistance to farmers, the Association has called for contributions to a fund to help farmers with more difficult situations."

"These funds will offer disadvantaged farmers low-interest loans for production development to escape poverty. We’ve also organized vocational training courses and even onsite training for farmers in mountain areas,” Dieu added.

Presenting cows for poor households in Thuong Xuan district in Thanh Hoa province.  (Photo: baodansinh.vn).

Ethnic people account for half of the poor households in Vietnam. Resources have been mobilized for these regions and since 2013 US$5.5 billion have been disbursed to give 7 million households in the nation’s most disadvantaged areas a stable income.

Son Phuoc Hoan, deputy Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs, said that they “have a special policy for extremely disadvantaged ethnic minority households to borrow loans. We’ve proposed to allocate about US$6 million this year to address their difficulties. We’ve provided them with assistance to settlement.”

Over the past 15 years, Vietnam’s policies and programs on poverty reduction have resulted in changes for the poor.