Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen: Gradually raising Vietnam's poverty line

Vietnam has become a middle-income country, but in some remote, mountainous areas, the living standards of people are still low. So what policies does the Government have that can support people to reduce poverty in a sustainable way? In this week's People Ask, Minister Answers column, Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen answers this question.

PV:Dear Minister, in the speech of President Truong Tan Sang at a recent United Nations conference, it was affirmed that Vietnam has achieved the poverty reduction target two years ahead of its commitment to the international community, or in other words, Vietnam is one of the six countries that have achieved the Millennium Development Goals on poverty reduction the earliest. May I ask the Minister on what basis have we achieved these results?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen: I would like to affirm that this is a very correct policy of the Party. And the Central Executive Committee has a separate Resolution on social security work in which poverty reduction is one of the goals to strive to achieve as soon as possible.

Therefore, the Government has implemented and issued many specific policies to support the poor, for example, implementing production land, loans, and funding for people in remote areas at high levels to protect forests and escape poverty sustainably.

Second is medical support, poor households are supported with full-value health insurance cards, near-poor households are supported with 70% of health insurance cards, support for education, housing, and clean water.

And in each program, the Government assigns tasks to each Ministry and the Ministries carry out with high determination, devoting large resources to these support programs.

In addition, there is also Program 30A supporting 64 poor districts to invest in essential infrastructure, irrigation works, and transportation to serve the lives of people in disadvantaged areas. In addition, 30 more districts in difficult areas are also supported with 70% of investment in infrastructure of that district, helping the poor develop production and improve their lives.

Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen.

PV: Recently, the World Bank has decided to raise the international poverty line for the first time in 10 years from 1.25 USD/person/day to 1.9 USD (equivalent to 40,000 VND/person/day). So will this change affect Vietnam's poverty line, Minister?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:We also gradually raised Vietnam's standards. For example, in the period 2006 - 2010, Vietnam's standards in rural areas were 200,000 VND/person/month and in urban areas were 260,000 VND/person/month; in the period 2011 - 2015, rural areas were 400,000 VND and in urban areas were 500,000 VND/person/month.

Especially in the coming period of 2016 - 2020, this standard will have to be raised to ensure the value of money, the living standards of the poor and improve the lives of the people.

PV:Dear Minister, currently the poverty line is mainly calculated based on income level, however, in remote areas, the poor do not have access to social services such as health care, education, and clean water. It is known that the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs is currently calculating a new poverty line, so does the Ministry consider other factors besides income?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:According to world standards, not only having enough food but also having access to minimum services. Therefore, the poverty line for the period 2016-2020 has been directed by the Government and we have built a multidimensional poverty line, still including a higher income level than the current level and taking into account the need for the poor to have access to basic services such as health care, education, clean water, information, etc.

Handing over the "Shelter of Love" house to poor women in Quynh Lam (Quynh Luu). Photo: Viet Hung.

PV:Dear Minister, previously, national resources for poverty reduction were divided into many programs, leading to a situation where some places had insufficient resources and others had overlapping resources. With the function of advising the Prime Minister on poverty reduction policies, what directions will the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs have to handle this situation?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen: The Ministry will advise the Government to review all policies for the poor, on that basis reassigning responsibilities of each sector in each field.

For example, in terms of health care, the medical sector, education is divided into the education sector, housing land is divided into the education sector, and forest care and protection belongs to the agricultural sector.

In short, each sector must have specific responsibilities in each poverty reduction target, and at the same time, change from 16 national target programs in general to 2 programs.

Among them are the national target program on new rural construction and the sustainable poverty reduction program, so resources will be more focused on local subjects that are still facing difficulties to achieve poverty reduction goals.

PV: So I would like to ask the Minister when we will determine the new poverty line for the period 2016 - 2020?

Minister Pham Thi Hai Chuyen:Implementing the Resolution of the National Assembly assigned to the Government is to build poverty standards for the next period, the implementation time is from January 1, 2016.

Currently, the Government has been developing this program. After reaching consensus, there will be a Resolution and Decree on poverty standards for us to implement./.

PV:Thank you very much, Minister!./.

According to VOV