Many organizations and individuals inside and outside the country are surprised at the local work of poverty reduction. Within 5 years, the province has had adjustments of poverty lines for 2 times and the locality has no poverty households according to the old poverty line.

 

Job introduction is one of policies for local poverty reduction program.

Many policies help poor households escape poverty

To help the poor escape poverty rapidly, the provincial People’s Committee ratified a national program on poverty reduction for the period of 2006-2010. Accordingly, many policies of poverty reduction for the poor have been launched. They include credit preference, supports of land, housing, healthcare, education, agricultural-industrial promotion, vocational training, job creation and so on.

The above policies have been considered as the most basic solution to help the poor make efforts for poverty escape sustainably. The program of vocational training for the poor is combined with program of vocational training for rural laborers effectively. Some localities have held models of hi-tech vocational training and offered career guidance suitable to health, aspiration and knowledge of laborers.

In addition, a free granting of health insurance cards for the poor is a useful measure, helping the poor improve their life. Over the past 5 years 256,387 poor people have enjoyed free health insurance card granting worth VND44,787mil.  

Offering housing for the poor is a measure helping them escape poverty. Based on collections, the entire province has built more than 2,000 hi-unity houses worth VND28bil for poor households. The province has so far completed the work of hi-unity house building for the poor.

Another important policy to help the poor escape poverty sustainably is educational attention of exempting and decreasing school fees and offering preferential loans for poor students. Over the past 5 years, the entire province has decreased school fees for poor students at all level with the total value of VND14.7bil.

No longer poor households in line with old poverty lines

The supportive programs for the poor have brought remarkable results, so the locality has adjusted poverty lines for 2 times in the period of 2006-2010 in conformity with real life.   

Specifically, in the period of 2006-2008 the locality applied a poverty line in the average income of VND500,000 per capita per month and below. However, till Oct. 2008, the whole province had 6 out of 7 districts, townships and 82/89 communes, wards escaped poverty basically and until the late 2008 the poverty rate was at 0.99%, downing 13,785 households.

In the period of 2009-2010 the locality keeps applying new poverty level with an average income of VND780,000 per capita per month and below in urban areas and VND600,000 and below in rural areas. With the criteria for poverty, the province had 11,441 poor households, accounting for 5.53% in early 2009 and 3,044 needy families (1.38%) in Oct. 2010. Until now, the province has no poor households according to the old poverty line, completing its goal of poverty reduction for the 5-year period. Notably, the local poverty standard in the period of 2009-2010 is 3 times higher than the national standard.

Reported by K.Tan – Translated by A.C