Resources mobilized to improve livelihoods of the poor

(VBSP News) Deputy Prime Minister – Mr. Vu Duc Dam chaired a meeting of the Central Steering Committee for the National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Hanoi on March 10.

Last year, over 1.9 million poor households and policy beneficiaries accessed loans from VBSP

Speaking at the event, Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs – Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung said targets under the program assigned by the National Assembly were met and surpassed last year. However, the rate of poor households remained high in remote and mountainous areas, especially poverty relapse in case of natural disasters and flooding.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs reported that over 10.4 trillion VND (452 million USD) from the State budget were earmarked for the program last year, and more than 2.17 trillion VND (93.8 million USD) from the budget of 40 out of the country’s 63 provinces and cities. The sum from the State budget was used to support poor and near-poor households in the fields of health care, education, housing, preferential credit, agriculture and forestry extension, and production.

Last year, over 1.9 million poor households and policy beneficiaries accessed loans from VBSP. Jobs were generated for nearly 267,000 workers, about 7,000 of them were sent abroad for term contracts while more than 1.2 million clean water supply facilities were built. By the end of 2019, the poverty rate nationwide was below 4 percent while that in extremely disadvantaged communes was reduced by about 3 – 4 percent year-on-year.

Mr. Dung suggested reviewing the implementation of the program in the north, central and south regions, then holding a conference to review the efforts nationwide. According to him, the program for the 2021-2025 period will have new criteria, including those regarding housing construction for the poor, especially those in mountainous regions. Opinions at the event proposed giving priority to investing in extremely disadvantaged and ethnic minority-inhabited areas, widely spreading the campaign “The whole nation joins hand for the poor – No one left behind”, monitoring policy implementation for poor households that contributed to the revolution in mountainous areas, among others.

The national target program for 2020 aims to reduce nationwide poverty rate by 1-1.5 percent per year, and 4 percent per year in poor communes and districts under multidimensional poverty approach, improve livelihoods and lives of the needy, increase the income of the poor households nationwide and those in especially disadvantaged villages, communes and districts 1.5-fold and two-fold, respectively from the late 2015.

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