Population aging, labour migration pose challenges to poverty reduction

Population aging, income disparities and living standards as well as labour migration pose great challenges to the poor and poverty reduction.

Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Lê Văn Thanh revealed problems in the implementation of the National Target Programme for Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the 2021-25 period to the National Assembly’s Committee on Social Affairs at a meeting on Wednesday morning in Hà Nội.

Thanh also said that many poor districts and communes in coastal areas and islands have yet to escape from poverty.

The localities with rugged terrain have faced socio-economic difficulties and challenges in infrastructure, leading to a high percentage of poor households, he said.

Most of the poor and near-poor households still lack stable livelihoods and jobs, he said.

They have low and unstable incomes, while lacking basic social services such as health, education, accommodation, clean water and sanitation, he added.

They also lacked information and professional skills, making it difficult to find employment, he said.

Thanh said the National Assembly issued Resolution No 24/2021/QH15, approving the investment policy worth at least VNĐ75 trillion (US$3.3 billion) to implement the programme.

However, the annual ceiling for non-business capital has yet to be determined, so ministries, sectors and localities struggle to plan and propose funding, he said.

Moreover, the non-business capital to implement the programme in 2022 is lower than expected, he said.

Also at the meeting, participants pointed out that there are still differences between documents of some ministries and sectors in directing the implementation of the programme, causing confusion.

In addition, data from the implementation of the programme is not unified, the participants said.

Tasks set

Thanh said the key tasks in the last six months of this year are that the multi-dimensional poverty rate maintains a decrease of 1.2 per cent per year; the rate of poor ethnic minority households decreases by over 3 per cent each year; and the rate of poor households in poor districts decreases by 4-5 per cent per year.

To do that, the mechanism for the implementation of the programme needs to be improved, he said.

Ministries, sectors and localities must be guided to make five-year budget estimates and estimates for this year to implement the programme, he said.

It has to summarise proposals of ministries, sectors and localities and submit to competent authorities for approval of the plan for capital allocation next year to implement the programme, he said.

It is imperative to strengthen the effectiveness of communication and mobilise all resources to exceed the targets on poverty reduction, he said.

It is also necessary to strengthen the inspection and perfect the monitoring and evaluation of the programme's implementation, he said.

The programme was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh in January, 2022.

Its overall goal is to achieve multidimensional, inclusive and sustainable poverty reduction. It will be carried out nationwide, with a focus on poor districts and communes in extremely disadvantageous circumstances in lowland and coastal areas and on islands.

The programme targets to reduce the nationwide poverty rate by 1-1.5 per cent, by over 3 per cent among ethnic minority households, and by 4-4.5 per cent in poor districts per year.

The number of poor and near-poor households is expected to decrease by half by 2025.

All poor districts and communes in extremely difficult conditions in lowland, coastal areas and islands will receive assistance to invest in upgrading socio-economic infrastructure, serving 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 per cent, according to the programme.