Investing resources, improving the effectiveness of population work

Many problems with population size and quality

According to the 2019 Population Census, Nghe An has more than 3.3 million people, ranking 4th out of 63 provinces and cities nationwide, about 3 times the population of Da Nang. With an average annual growth rate of 1.33% (2009 - 2019 period) and higher than the whole country (1.14%), it is forecasted that by 2032, Nghe An's population will increase to over 3.6 million people and over 3.8 million people by 2045.

It is worth mentioning that although the province's family planning program was launched in 1961, the birth rate in Nghe An is still the second highest among provinces and cities in the country and Nghe An has not yet achieved the goal of "2-child family".

The birth rate and population size in Nghe An are disparate between mountainous districts and plain and urban areas. Photo: My Ha

This high birth rate "not only rapidly increases the population size but also changes the age structure of the population, thereby challenging many aspects of the province's socio-economic development".

He also said that in theory, a large population, large market, and abundant labor create favorable conditions for production and business development. However, in the context of a poor economy, little capital, and inadequate technical facilities, a large population also poses challenges in terms of employment, education, and health care.

Meanwhile, the current rate of employed workers aged 15 and over with primary or higher training in Nghe An is lower than the whole country (according to 2019 data, Nghe An's rate is 20.6%, this rate is lower than the region (22.6% and the whole country is 23%). Low population quality will make it difficult to have high labor productivity and therefore, difficult to accelerate economic growth.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cu - former Director of the Institute of Population and Social Issues - National Economics University

Commenting on Nghe An's population, recently at the scientific conference "Some issues on Nghe An's population in sustainable socio-economic development", many opinions went into specific analysis of the scale, quality of population and current inadequacies of Nghe An's population.

For example, the issue of Nghe An population size, although Nghe An's population size is very large, only 3/21 districts, cities and towns have a population size of over 300,000 people, namely Dien Chau, Yen Thanh and Vinh city. The population growth rate in urban areas is 2.68% and in rural areas is 1.12%. The rate of population growth has a high difference, the highest place is up to 20% but the population growth in Tuong Duong district is only 7%, because this is a difficult district, the population wanting to migrate is much lower than the population migrating away.

Currently, the rate of trained workers in Nghe An is still low compared to the rest of the country. Photo: My Ha

According to Dr. Tran Quy Long - Institute for Family and Gender Studies, Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences: "Nghe An should consider investing to increase the attractiveness of some other urban centers of the province, sharing the attraction of immigration to Vinh city.

This investment should also focus on improving the welfare and opportunities for urban residents in the districts, reducing the existing inequality between urban centers in Nghe An. Currently, although Nghe An province is very large, 6/11 mountainous districts have a population of less than 100,000 people. The rugged terrain, harsh climate, difficult transportation, and underdeveloped economy limit the mechanical population growth in Nghe An mountainous districts. Compared to the provinces in the North Central region, Nghe An is the province with the lowest urban population ratio. This shows that the urbanization trend in Nghe An is not strong.

Need attention and synchronous investment

This year, the theme of World Population Day is "A world of 8 billion people: A sustainable future for all requires harnessing opportunities and ensuring rights and choices for all".

This is a clear and powerful message calling on countries and policymakers to "invest in human and material resources for inclusive, productive societies that ensure human and reproductive rights. Only then can we address the enormous challenges facing our planet and build a world where health, dignity and education are rights and realities, not privileges and empty promises. In a world of 8 billion people, there must always be space for opportunity."

Commending families who have implemented population policies well on World Population Day. Photo: Cong Kien

Returning to Nghe An, in order to “move towards a sustainable future”, investment and concern for population is a very important issue. While besides the realities as analyzed above, population work in Nghe An is facing many challenges such as high birth rate (2.79 children), ranking second in the country (after Ha Tinh); in particular, the birth rate of the third child or more is high and tends to continue to increase in most districts, cities and towns; the gender imbalance at birth is at an alarming level; although population quality has been improved, it is still limited; the rate of newborns with genetic diseases, disabilities, and malnutrition is still high, the human development index is still low.

This is really a difficult problem that raises many issues that need to be solved, such as the needs of housing, education, medical examination and treatment, employment, entertainment, improving the overall quality of people and developing the province's economy and society in the future.

Students of Anh Son district respond to the Population Communication Campaign. Photo: My Ha.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Tan - Head of the Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning said: In recent years, with the participation of authorities at all levels, the persistent efforts of specialized agencies in charge of population and development work from the province to the grassroots level, the active participation of departments, branches, organizations and the strong response of the people, the population work of Nghe An province has achieved important results. Those results have contributed significantly to the socio-economic development, increasing the annual average income per capita, eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and improving the living standards of the people.

However, with current difficulties, the province's population work needs to continue to implement the goals of reducing births and the rate of third and higher births; bringing the sex ratio at birth to a natural balance; effectively exploiting the advantages of the golden population structure; distributing the population reasonably; and gradually improving the quality of the population.

Propagating the implementation of the Population Policy - Family Planning for ethnic minorities. Photo: My Ha

With the shortcomings and difficulties, many experts in the population sector have also proposed many solutions for population work in Nghe An in the coming time to both improve population quality and promote population advantages in socio-economic development.

In particular, it is necessary to continue promoting family planning, especially in rural areas, improving population quality early, improving the quality of general education, developing vocational training, and adapting to population aging.

In addition, encourage investment, promote industrialization, promote rural-urban migration, and strongly shift labor towards modernization. At the same time, develop and implement a mechanism to integrate population factors into strategies, planning, plans, and socio-economic development projects of the industry and each field, ensuring the principle that people are the center of development.

My Ha