Nghe An province strives to eliminate all extremely disadvantaged households by 2021.

On the morning of September 21st, the Provincial People's Committee held a meeting of the Steering Committee for the Implementation of Sustainable Poverty Reduction Programs to assess the progress of tasks during the first nine months of the year.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee - chaired the meeting; attending the meeting were Comrade Doan Hong Vu - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, and members of the steering committee from the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee, the Provincial Women's Union, the Provincial Farmers' Association; and relevant departments and agencies.

Over 52,000 poor and near-poor households have received loans.

Delegates attending the meeting. Photo: Thanh Nga

In 2020, despite being significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the sustainable poverty reduction program in the area continued to receive attention and guidance from the Party Committee, government, Fatherland Front, departments, agencies, and socio-political organizations from the provincial to the grassroots level; the participation of the business community, and especially the widespread impact and positive response from all sectors of the population.

Preferential credit funds have helped 52,688 poor households and other policy beneficiaries borrow capital from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies; 28,706 poor, near-poor, and newly-escaped-from-poverty households have borrowed capital for production development; creating jobs for 2,115 workers; and 170 workers have gone abroad for employment...

Poverty Reduction ProgramIt has made a significant contribution to achieving the province's socio-economic development and national defense and security goals; directly impacting the quality of life of the people, strengthening infrastructure, improving the appearance of rural areas, and raising cultural and spiritual life. It is estimated that by the end of 2020, the poverty rate in the entire province will decrease to 3.0%.

There are still 1,340 poor households with members who are war veterans or martyrs.

However, there have still been issues over the past nine months.many households have fallen back into poverty and new poor households have emerged.Currently, the province still has 1,340 poor households with members who are beneficiaries of policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution. In some localities, the classification of poverty causes has not been given sufficient attention, leading to unrealistic poverty reduction plans and a lack of coordinated implementation of poverty reduction solutions.

Focus on effective poverty reduction models for wider replication. Photo: courtesy of Thai Hien.

According to the organizing committee members: In reality, there are still many poor households in remote and mountainous areas.Not yet able to escape povertyHowever, some people still proactively request to be removed from the poverty list to give the policy benefits to others; or many areas have not yet benefited from essential infrastructure according to the national poverty standard, so many households have not truly escaped the poverty threshold, even though they are not on the list of poor households. “Perhaps we need to evaluate poverty reduction support programs; how effective the investment in these programs is, in order to have support plans that target the right beneficiaries,” said Ms. Le Thi Huong Giang, representative of the Provincial Women's Union.

To escape poverty, poor and near-poor households, or those who have recently escaped poverty, need access to loan capital and must utilize it effectively. However, in reality, many projects involving raising black chickens, Muscovy ducks, hybrid cattle, etc., have not been truly effective. In fact, surveys show that many herds of cattle and chickens supported for poor households are dying or becoming weak, rendering the economic development of these households ineffective.

We need to understand what the poor need and how to support them effectively.

At the meeting, the Organizing Committee unanimously agreed on the key tasks for the last three months of 2020, which are: Continuing to effectively implement policies and projects supporting poverty reduction, creating conditions for the poor to develop production and increase income; improving living conditions for poor households; building infrastructure; providing preferential credit to poor households; encouraging agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; supporting the development of production and trades; and providing vocational training for the poor; as well as policies on health, education, and ethnic minorities. Organizing the survey and review of poor and near-poor households at the end of 2020.

Comrade Bui Dinh Long delivers the concluding remarks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Nga

Concluding the meeting, Comrade Bui Dinh Long - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee affirmed: Departments, agencies, localities, and socio-political organizations need to focus on achieving the goal of reducing the poverty rate in the province; continue to direct and expedite the implementation of policies, programs, and projects, especially the disbursement of funds supporting infrastructure investment in poor districts and communes, and supporting production development, diversifying livelihoods, and replicating poverty reduction models in the province in 2020.

The Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested: "We need to review the programs and projects to see what the poor need and how to support them effectively. The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs should take the lead in reviewing the support and poverty reduction efforts over the past five years to obtain the most accurate assessments. At the same time, we should review poverty reduction models to synthesize and evaluate them; effective models should be replicated, and ineffective models should be transformed."

"We must strive to ensure that by 2021, no households are left in extreme poverty. Support resources should prioritize those in dire straits so that they can access the humane policies of the Party and State, as well as those of charitable organizations," Comrade Bui Dinh Long emphasized.

Nghe An Newspaper donates cows to poor households in Xieng My commune. Photo: Xuan Hoang.