UNDP, Ireland Help Vietnam Integrate Poverty Reduction Policies by 2020

Representatives from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Irish Embassy in Vietnam joined a workshop last weekend to review the integration of policies on poverty reduction in the Southeast Asian country in 2015 – 2016 and set plans for 2017 – 2020. Experts said that the Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs needs to emphasize the importance of synchronous application of different poverty reduction programs in the 2017-2020 period. Authorized agencies must boost cooperation to make the implementation of poverty programs more effective, state media reported, citing the experts. The policies must focus on reducing wastefulness and raising the effective use of stage budget at grassroots levels, they noted. However, participants pointed out shortcomings in integrating policies on poverty reduction. They said that cumbersome administrative systems have somewhat hindered the progress. Statistics by state agencies showed that Vietnam spent as much as VND47.34 trillion ($2.12 billion) on poverty reduction programs in the 2011-2015 period. The poverty rate fell to 4.25% in 2015 from 14.2% in 2010. The country plans to lower the poverty rate by between 1% and 1.5% annually in 2017-2020 based on the multi-dimension poverty categories. The five-year programs would focus on decentralize power to the community with the focus on direct support to poor people and poor villages as recommended by the UNDP. (Vietnam Plus Mar 25, Lao Dong Xa Hoi – Labor & Society Mar 25)