Worldwide, October 17 was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. In Vietnam, October 17 was also the National Day of the Poor. Taking advantage of an apt date, the local United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) administrators used October 17 as an opportunity to present Vietnam’s new poverty reduction plans through 2015. Read the fact sheet here.
The most salient aspect of the new poverty plan is the push to alleviate poverty among ethnic minorities. As noted by several of the UNDP coordinators, poverty remains much more pronounced among ethnic minorities. Although Vietnam has successfully reduced poverty from 58.1% in 1993 to 14.5% in 2008 and malnutrition from 41% to 11.7%, poverty rates among some ethnic groups remains as high as 86%. In absolute terms, ethnic minorities make up 14% of Vietnam’s total population but 54% of its poor.
With poverty affecting ethnic minorities to such a disproportionate degree, the National Targeted Programme for Sustainable Poverty Reduction 2012 – 2015 sets a goal of reducing poverty among minorities in the North-West mountainous and Central Highlands by 4% per annum, which is double the national average.
Other items in the new poverty reduction agenda include addressing other vulnerable populations, such as individuals and communities living near the poverty line who could slip into poverty due to natural disasters or economic shocks; job creation for under-employed youth and farmers; narrowing the widening income gap; and shoring up social services.
Achieving these goals will not be simple. At the launch event for the new strategy, UNDP Country Director outlined three challenges facing these goals, which include: 1) coordination and uniformity in implementation; 2) empower communities and guarantee local participation; and 3) build local capacity for implementation.
But the general outlook seems optimistic and measures have been taken to ensure success. At the 2010 global summit on Millenium Development Goals, Vietnam was ranked at 6th in terms of relative and absolute progress. Vietnam is now also one of 50 countries selected to take part in the UN’s broad-based national consultation program, which will “hear the voices of people of different income, gender and age groups” and factor their input in poverty reduction plans.
How do you think poverty can best be addressed in Vietnam? What changes would you like to see?
Sources: Louise Chamberlain’s speech | Pratibha Mehta’s speech