Monitoring and supporting poor households until they escape poverty.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan: "Each organization that receives support for a particular household must be responsible for it until that household escapes poverty."

“Unlike before, when poor households still benefited from state policies but no one supervised how they used the funds, now each organization that receives support for a particular household must be responsible until that household escapes poverty,” Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Member of the Politburo and Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, emphasized in a press interview during the Month of Action for the Poor (October 17th to November 18th).

PV:Sir, October 17th is the National Day for the Poor. Could you tell us how the Fund for the Poor has contributed to poverty reduction efforts over the years?

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan:We know that after the liberation and reunification of the country, socio-economic life faced many difficulties. With the efforts of the Party, the State, and the people, the poverty reduction efforts have achieved very important results. However, after 25 years of liberation, a significant portion of the population, especially in rural and mountainous areas, remains poor. One poor household often leads to four or five other family members also being poor. Therefore, while implementing the State's poverty reduction programs, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and other political and social organizations have taken on the responsibility of mobilizing society to contribute their efforts, intellect, and determination to support the poor in achieving sustainable poverty alleviation.

Therefore, on October 17, 2000, 16 years ago, in response to World Day Against Poverty, the Vietnam Fatherland Front, in agreement with the Government, launched the "Day for the Poor" campaign, along with the establishment of a Fund for the Poor at all four levels nationwide. Through this campaign to care for the poor, we have mobilized a very significant amount of funding from society.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Member of the Political Bureau, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

Responding to the call of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the campaign has mobilized significant social support. Specifically, from its launch to the present (October 17, 2000 to September 30, 2016), the "For the Poor" Fund at all four levels has mobilized and received 11,454 billion VND; and directly supported social welfare programs in localities with over 31,150 billion VND.

This funding has provided extremely significant support to the poor. As a result of this mobilization, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels, in coordination with the government, have supported the construction and repair of nearly 1.5 million solidarity houses for poor households; tens of millions of poor households have received support in terms of capital and production materials; thousands of public works (schools, health stations, bridges, rural roads, etc.) have been built; and millions of people have received financial assistance for medical examinations and treatment.

These achievements have been recognized by the people nationwide and highly appreciated by the Party and the State. In the first nine months of this year, activities for the poor have mobilized 945 billion VND through the "For the Poor" Fund at four levels and directly supported social security programs with 2,571 billion VND. Through this, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels have coordinated and supported the construction and repair of 34,437 solidarity houses for poor families to improve their living conditions; helped over 149,000 poor households develop production; provided medical examinations and treatment for over 1.2 million poor people; and supported the education of over 295,000 disadvantaged students.

These achievements have been recognized by the people nationwide and highly appreciated by the Party and the State. In 2016, based on the summary of 15 years of the campaign for the poor, the Vietnam Fatherland Front launched a new campaign to continue the campaign for the poor and the requirements for building new rural areas and civilized urban areas.

Accordingly, on October 3rd, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Government signed a joint resolution on implementing sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas and civilized urban areas. This resolution clarifies the responsibilities of the government system from the central to local levels, as well as the Fatherland Front system and other political and social organizations, in mobilizing social forces and state resources to implement sustainable poverty reduction, build new rural areas, and create civilized urban areas.

PV:Sir, what is new about this campaign compared to the campaign for the poor that we have been implementing for the past 15 years?

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan:Unlike before, we have clarified the responsibilities of the five socio-political organizations in helping to reduce poverty in a targeted manner. We are not only mobilizing funds, but the Vietnam Farmers' Association, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the Vietnam Women's Union, and the Vietnam Veterans' Association will provide support to individual poor households at the commune and ward levels. Along with the support of local authorities, we will encourage the poor to innovate their production and business methods, and change their lifestyles to be more economical and efficient, thereby achieving sustainable poverty reduction and legitimate wealth creation. The achievements of the past 15 years are both successes in mobilizing social resources to help people escape poverty and valuable lessons learned to develop even more effective approaches in the future.

PV:The Prime Minister has approved the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2016-2020. Based on 15 years of organizing the "Day for the Poor" campaign and the fundraising for the poor, what activities and solutions will the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) implement to contribute to the successful achievement of sustainable poverty reduction goals and prevent re-poverty, in order to help the Government achieve the target of reducing the poverty rate for the period 2016-2020 as set out in the National Assembly Resolution, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan:On September 2nd, the Prime Minister signed the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2016-2020. Then, on October 3rd, the Prime Minister signed a joint resolution with the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front on mobilizing for sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas, and civilized urban areas. Thus, compared to the previous program, there is a new aspect in the approach.

Previously, the Fatherland Front mobilized resources, and the government acted in parallel. Now, it's a five-year joint program between the Government and the Fatherland Front. Through this signed program, both sides clarify the responsibilities of all levels of government, from central to local, as well as the Fatherland Front and political and social organizations from central to local levels, ensuring that no poor households are left without support from social organizations and the Fatherland Front at all levels. Unlike before, when poor households still benefited from state policies but their usage was not monitored, now each organization that receives support for a particular household is responsible for supporting them until they escape poverty.

PV:Sir, the poverty rate remains high. Besides government policies, mobilizing social resources to help the poor escape poverty is crucial. How will the Fatherland Front innovate its mobilization methods in the future to achieve the highest effectiveness?

Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan:According to the new poverty standard, the country currently has over 2.3 million poor households and 1.2 million near-poor households. Thus, with 3.5 million poor and near-poor households nationwide, approximately 14 million Vietnamese people are still affected by poverty and near-poverty, accounting for about 15% of the population. This is a huge challenge.

In implementing the sustainable poverty reduction campaign and building new rural areas and civilized urban areas, the main principle is to combine resources. These resources include state resources, resources from individual households, and social resources mobilized by the Fatherland Front and its member organizations, especially the Fund for the Poor. Currently, the Fund for the Poor operates at four levels: central, provincial, district, and commune. In the future, we will continue to mobilize resources and clarify the expenditure objectives. We will allocate a significant portion, around 50%, to address the most basic human needs: housing; healthcare; and production conditions. The goal is to help the poor have better housing, and to provide quick support from the Fund for the Poor during holidays, when they are sick, or when they face particularly difficult circumstances. The Fund will also allocate a portion to support people's production conditions.

On October 17th, the Fatherland Front launched its annual "Month of Action for the Poor" to mobilize businesses, banks, and well-off individuals to contribute to the fund supporting the poor. This year, a new feature is that, in addition to supporting house construction, production, and holidays, Vingroup Corporation has committed to supporting charitable surgeries for poor people suffering from serious illnesses at medical facilities within the Vingroup system (Vinmec Hospital). Vingroup is contributing 300 billion VND specifically for this charitable surgery support. This is a very large-scale and groundbreaking contribution from businesses to the Fund for the Poor.

We believe that with the long-standing tradition of contributions from organizations, businesses, and people nationwide to the Fund for the Poor, there will be new and innovative contributions to achieve even better results in the sustainable poverty reduction movement, the building of new rural areas, and civilized urban areas in 2016 and the next five years.

PV:Thank you, sir.

According to Vov.vn