Poverty reduction in Vietnam: “Chronic poverty” and new poverty

If we evaluate based on the general summary reports of the past 15 years, poverty reduction is "impressive" - ​​an estimated 28 million people have escaped poverty. However, if we evaluate independently, we see that the rate of poverty reduction in our country is slowing down. More worryingly, a group of poor people are becoming "chronically poor", especially ethnic minorities; at the same time, many new forms of poverty have appeared associated with the process of urbanization and migration.

Near poverty rate tends to increase

At the CG 2011 Foreign Investment Partners Conference held earlier this month, Vietnam's development partners expressed concern that nearly half of those considered "chronically poor" (47.3%) in Vietnam are ethnic minorities, and that this number is increasing: 63% of the poorest are ethnic minorities. The Conference's statement on poverty reduction in Vietnam also showed that, although for many years, the Government has invested significant financial resources in targeted programs for poor, mountainous and ethnic minority areas, it is easy to see that poverty reduction programs here have not been as successful as in other places and regions.

Not only that, according to the assessment of the United Nations agency in Vietnam, Vietnam's success in poverty reduction is likely to face many new challenges. Meanwhile, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences commented that the rate of poverty reduction is slowing down, while the rate of near-poor households is increasing.

In the past 15 years, Vietnam has had about 28 million people.
escape poverty. Illustration: Hoang Long

In particular, recently, new forms of poverty have emerged, linked to urbanization and rural-urban migration. We have long assumed that poverty is concentrated mainly in rural areas, but in recent years, due to the rapid urbanization process, the migration of people from rural to urban areas has also increased, leading to the fact that new forms of poverty have been created, which are more difficult to distinguish and may be overlooked in poverty statistics. These groups face serious difficulties, including access to housing, sanitation, services and social integration.

These make us ask the opposite question: have the State's tools and mechanisms applied to poverty reduction reached their limits? Clearly, it is time for more innovative and effective approaches - The difficulties faced by ethnic minority communities need to be better understood, and appropriate and innovative solutions developed. For example, sociological and cultural factors need to be carefully considered. In particular, the barriers to development must be better understood by ethnic minority communities themselves, not just through the eyes of outsiders. These communities must participate not only as passive beneficiaries, but also as agents of their own development. Innovations can include bilingual education and direct financial provision to local communities...

Poverty reduction measures

To effectively address "chronic poverty" and poverty of ethnic minorities, according to international donors, a long-term effort is needed. The representative of the European Commission in Vietnam commented: In reality, there is a huge gap in income and quality of life between rural and urban areas, especially between people in coastal areas and inland areas. At a time when the domestic and foreign economy is difficult and has many fluctuations like now, to continue the goal of improving the quality of life and narrowing the income gap between regions, the Government must introduce a truly good social insurance and security policy, implement it synchronously and have a smooth, consistent and thorough coordination instead of sporadic and temporary measures.

As for the poor group associated with urbanization and rural-urban migration, they have not been included in national surveys because the current poverty line has not been adjusted to the inflation rate, and short-term migrants without temporary residence registration are not considered survey subjects. Representatives of the Group of Four Western countries including Canada, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland suggested that Vietnam should make more efforts in poverty reduction, especially for individual poor groups and meet the needs of vulnerable groups. The Government also needs to properly assess the economic contribution of rural-urban migrants to economic development, on that basis, have policies to protect their legitimate rights. At present, due to many difficulties and barriers, this group of temporary residents in urban areas does not have full access to quality social services.

Agreeing with this view, many funding partners believe that Vietnam needs to ensure that: In urban or rural areas, all poor people must have full access to basic social services and appropriate to their abilities, including health and education. Mr. David Shear - US Ambassador to Vietnam commented: Vietnam's economy has a good growth rate, but at the same time, income inequality between groups in society and the level of access to quality services in Vietnamese society are worrying issues. The Vietnamese government needs to take measures so that the quality of services as well as the ability for people to access these services grow in line with the economic growth rate. Currently, this growth rate is different.

Ms. Pratibha Mehta - Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Vietnam and many other development partners recommended that Vietnam should apply multi-criteria poverty measurement methods, and adjust the official poverty line each year as a basis for determining social assistance beneficiaries. The Government's current socialization policy also needs to be reviewed, and implementation needs to involve more non-state and non-profit sectors in service provision. The Government can play a greater role in regulating, monitoring and ensuring quality and engaging citizens in monitoring social services.

According to Great Unity