Vietnam Poor, Near-Poor Households to Receive Housing Support

Poor and near-poor households in Vietnam’s poor districts nationwide will get financial assistance for housing from August 15 under a circular guiding the implementation of housing support under the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the 2021-2025 period.

Specifically, eligible families will be provided with VND40 million ($1,700) for building a new house or VND20 million for home repair.

Households eligible for the support policy are those certified as poor households according to multidimensional poverty standards in the 2021-2025 period or cases of splitting a household into two or more separate households but the period from the time of splitting to the effective time of the decision must be at least three years.

Housing support beneficiaries exclude families that have received assistance under the national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority-inhabited and mountainous areas in the 2021-2030 period as well as other programs and projects.

In January, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh signed a decision approving the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction for the 2021-2025 period with total funding of at least VND75 trillion.

The overall goal of the program is to achieve multidimensional, inclusive and sustainable poverty reduction. It will be carried out nationwide, with the focus on poor districts and extremely disadvantageous communes in lowland and coastal areas and on islands. The program targets to reduce the nationwide poverty rate by 1%-1.5%, by over 3% among ethnic minority households, and by 4%-4.5% in poor districts per year.

The number of poor and near-poor households is expected to halve by 2025. All poor districts and communes with extremely difficult conditions in the lowland, coastal areas and islands will receive assistance to invest in upgrading socio-economic infrastructure, serving locals’ livelihoods, and boosting production and trade, and providing basic social services.

The rate of children from poor and near-poor households going to school at the right age will reach 90%, according to the program. (VietnamPlus)