HCM City to Spend Additional $114M for Poverty Reduction
The HCM City People's Committee has submitted a proposal to allocate nearly VN?2.9 trillion ($114 million) more for the city’s sustainable poverty reduction programme for the 2021-2025 period.
At the 17th session of the municipal People's Council meeting held on July 15, the People's Committee proposed that the People's Council revise the multidimensional poverty measurement criteria, including the average income criteria of VNDs46 million per person per year.
Indicators measuring basic social services include nutrition, health insurance, adult education level, school attendance status of children, job, social insurance, dependents in the family, housing quality, housing area per capita, domestic water source, hygienic latrines, telecommunications services, and means of accessing information.
The People's Committee also proposed poverty thresholds for poor and near-poor households, and households with average living standards in the 2021-2025 period.
Accordingly, people with an average income of VND46 million or less per year and lacking three or more indicators measuring basic social services are certified as near-poor households.
People with an average income from VND46 million to VND69 million per year are those certified as households with an average standard of living.
The city’s sustainable poverty reduction programme for the 2021-25 period has a total capital of VND15.1 trillion.
Under the city’s poverty standards for the 2021-25 period, a poor household has an average income of below VND36 million per person per year, and a near-poor household from VND36 million to VND46 million.
Measures to help the poor include loans, vocational training, job introduction and scholarships, as well as support for education, housing, healthcare, and legal aid for the poor and near-poor.
The solutions and policies supporting socio-economic development are implemented to gradually reduce financial assistance and increase support for production and businesses, helping poor and near-poor households lift themselves out of poverty.
Localities and departments regularly review and update the list of poor households to promptly provide support.
By the end of last year, the city had more than 8,290 poor households and 14,574 near-poor households, accounting for 0.33% and 0.57% of the city's total households, respectively.