Changes are occurring in areas where people want to have sons to carry on the family line.
(Baonghean.vn) - Building communes and wards where no third births are recorded is an important goal that Nghe An province has been implementing for many years. In reality, despite many difficulties, many positive examples have emerged, demonstrating effective work in population and family planning.
Positive signs
Nghi Hop commune is the only locality in Nghi Loc district that saw a 50% decrease in the rate of third or subsequent births in 2018. Achieving this result was not easy, as Nghi Loc district still has a high rate of third or subsequent births, occurring in almost all communes. Meanwhile, Nghi Hop is a commune at high risk because most residents still prioritize having a son to carry on the family lineage. Within the commune, there are still specific hamlets where the birth rate consistently exceeds the average for the commune and the district.
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| The Provincial Population and Family Planning Department is conducting an assessment of the reduction in the rate of third births in Nghi Hop commune (Nghi Loc district). Photo: My Ha |
Positive changes have only occurred in the last two years after the commune simultaneously implemented numerous solutions. Most notably, it involved drafting documents related to population work to assign responsibility for population issues to all levels, sectors, and organizations.
In 2018 alone, the commune advised on 18 plans, including many meaningful activities such as coordinating with organizations to conduct communication and propaganda activities on family planning, implementing social activities to provide contraceptives, organizing the "Families Not Having a Third Child or More" Club, and organizing thematic talks for teenagers and children on school violence. Simultaneously, the commune also promoted the signing of commitments in households, with a signing rate of 99.1%.
In its leadership, the commune government has determined that cadres and Party members must be pioneers, leading the way in correctly implementing population and family planning policies, ensuring there are absolutely no cases of Party members violating these policies. Annually, the local budget also allocates a portion of its funds to invest in population work and provide financial support for population and family planning campaigns.
"The commune has always considered population control as a key factor in improving the living standards of its people."
Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha, Chairman of the Nghi Hop Commune People's Committee, also stated: "The commune has always prioritized population control to improve people's living standards, so all population-related activities aimed at reducing the birth rate are supported by the commune. Encouragingly, after efforts to reduce the birth rate from a commune with a high birth rate, the rate of having a third child or more is now only 10%, a decrease of over 50% compared to the previous year. People have also begun to consciously choose to have fewer children so they can raise them better and have better conditions for economic development."
In Thanh Chuong district, Xuan Tuong commune is also a typical example, with the rate of having a third child or more decreasing from 29.29% (in 2017) to 12.1% (in 2018).
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| Leaders of Thanh Chuong district inspect the service delivery model at Ngoc Lam commune health station. Photo: Manh Dat. |
This achievement is thanks to the effective solutions implemented by the commune government over the past period, with particular emphasis on propaganda work, linking communication with the provision of reproductive health care and family planning services; incorporating the implementation of population policies into village regulations, community conventions, and regulations of agencies, units, and schools located in the area...
Throughout the province, Thanh Chuong is also a model district, with Ngoc Lam commune being the only commune in Nghe An that has had no one giving birth to a third child or more for three consecutive years. Furthermore, many villages have consistently had no violations of population policies for many years, such as Cha Luan village (10 years), Lap village (7 years), Kim Hong village (5 years), and Nhan Nhinh village (4 years).
Ngoc Lam's success serves as an inspiration for other units to strive for greater achievements in implementing population policies.
Mr. Nguyen Hien Ngoc, Director of the Population and Family Planning Center of Thanh Chuong district, said: “After successfully building the model in Ngoc Lam commune, we have also disseminated the commune's good practices so that they can be replicated and developed. Currently, although implementation still faces many difficulties, Ngoc Lam's success is an impetus for other units to strive so that more units will be commended for doing well in population policies.”
The "difficult" commune overcomes its difficulties.
Currently, the Provincial Population and Family Planning Department is evaluating communes that have performed well in implementing population policies in 2018 in order to submit their recommendations to the Provincial People's Committee for commendation.
Notably, although the rate of third births in the province remained quite high in 2018, in many localities, the government and people were very conscious of implementing population and family planning work. Therefore, compared to the previous year, this year the list of those recommended for commendation is longer, and the results achieved are also better.
Specifically, the province has two communes recommended for commendation for having no third births: Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong district) and Yen Thang commune (Tuong Duong district). In addition, 11 communes have rapidly reduced the rate of third or subsequent births by 50% compared to 2017. These communes include Hung Loi (Hung Nguyen district), Xuan Tuong (Thanh Chuong district), Chau Kim and Dong Van (Que Phong district), Chau Loc and Nam Son (Quy Hop district), Con Cuong town (Con Cuong district), Nghi Hop (Nghi Loc district), Thach Giam and Yen Tinh (Tuong Duong district).
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| Providing advice on contraception to residents of Chau Ly commune, Quy Hop district. Photo: My Ha |
Looking at the list of units that have done well in implementing population policies is encouraging because most of the communes honored this time are poor communes in mountainous and disadvantaged districts. This also shows the positive changes in the people there, as they have begun to see the negative consequences of having many children and poverty.
In Yen Tinh commune (Tuong Duong district), accompanying Ms. Luong Thi Gian – a population collaborator in Canh Toong village – to households to promote and encourage people not to have a third child, she shared many experiences in the process: “A few years ago, people were almost completely unaware of contraception, so the propaganda was very difficult. But now people are aware of this issue. Therefore, we will now screen the target groups; for families with daughters who are almost grown up, we will talk to them to advise them not to drop out of school or get married early. For women who have only daughters, we will encourage them not to have more children so that they can have better economic conditions.”
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| Local authorities' commitment to effectively implement population policies. Photo: My Ha |
Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong, a population official in Yen Tinh commune, also acknowledged: "Currently, 70% of the commune's population is still classified as poor households. Therefore, if we don't do a good job in population management, poverty will persist and the quality of the population will be difficult to improve."
In 2018, across the province, the rate of having a third child or more was 22%, an increase of over 5% compared to 2017. Meanwhile, the birth rate and the rate of having a third child in mountainous districts were generally lower than in the plains and special regions, with some mountainous districts having birth rates below 10%.
The success of mountainous districts is a very good foundation for improving the quality of the population.
Mr. Nguyen Trung Thanh – Deputy Head of the Provincial Population and Family Planning Department – affirmed: The Population and Family Planning Department will continue to advise higher authorities to prioritize bringing population campaigns to disadvantaged areas, strengthening the implementation of programs such as prenatal and postnatal screening, reducing gender imbalance, and adapting to population aging. In addition, it will continue to promote propaganda work and improve knowledge and skills for adolescents and young people on reproductive health, sexual health, the consequences of child marriage and consanguineous marriage, in order to raise awareness and understanding among the people.
