High determination in achieving the goal of reducing the poverty rate

Many positive results

Previously, Mr. Mong Van Hoan's family in Xieng Huong village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong district) was one of the poorest households in the village. After giving up their land to implement the Nam Non hydropower project, Mr. Hoan's family received support.resettle to new place, was provided with cows by the State for breeding and livestock development. Since 2019, Mr. Hoan's two children have worked as workers, so they have the conditions to support their parents financially.

“Now, my family’s life is stable, so I wrote a request to leave the poor household to give the policy to others. If we keep clinging to the poor household, who knows when we will be able to improve...”, Mr. Hoan confided.

The model of raising cows in captivity of Mr. Nguyen Huu Due's family in Bai So village, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong). Photo: Pham Bang

Tuong Duong is one of the poorest districts in the country. However, the good news is thatproduction and business movementIn recent years, there have been many improvements. More and more households have applied to be removed from the poverty list. In 2019 alone, 1,263 households in Tuong Duong district escaped poverty, contributing to reducing the poverty rate in the district to 24.28%, a decrease of 6.19%. It is noteworthy that up to 490 households voluntarily applied to be removed from poverty. By 2020, the poverty rate in the district had decreased to 19.78%. In addition to the people's proactive awareness of escaping poverty, in the past 5 years, Tuong Duong district has mobilized over 300 billion VND in capital to invest in sustainable poverty reduction support programs.

In 2020, the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in Nghe An continued to receive the attention and direction of the Party Committee, the government, the Fatherland Front, departments, branches, and socio-political organizations from the province to the grassroots. During that process, there was active support from the business community. Thanks to that, at the beginning of 2020, the poverty rate in the whole province was 4.11% (equivalent to 41,041 households), and by the end of 2020, it is estimated that the poverty rate in the whole province will decrease to 3%.

In addition to the people's awareness of self-improvement to escape poverty, in recent years, the province has issued many policies to support and help people.sustainable poverty reduction. As of mid-November 2020, the total resources mobilized to implement the Poverty Reduction Program in the area reached nearly 3,407 billion VND. Of which, the central budget invested according to the target of the Poverty Reduction Program was: 3,191.4 billion VND; the local budget allocated 109,814 billion VND. Along with that, with the participation of the Fatherland Front, departments, branches, socio-political organizations from the province to the grassroots; the participation of the business community has created a ripple effect to mobilize socialized funds to support poverty reduction work of more than 73 billion VND.

People in Diem village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong) develop traditional weaving, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction.

Assessing the positive results of sustainable poverty reduction in 2020, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Bui Dinh Long said that the awareness of Party committees, authorities and people at all levels about sustainable poverty reduction has been raised and has changed significantly; the goal of poverty reduction has become an important task and target in the leadership, direction and operation of Party committees and local authorities. Poor and near-poor households have better access to policies and support resources from the State and the community. The improved living standards of the people have contributed to strengthening people's trust in the Party and the State.

Continue to effectively implement solutions

Although there have been positive results, objectively, poverty reduction in the province is not really sustainable, there are still many households falling back into poverty and new poor households. Currently, the whole province still has 1,340 poor households with members who are beneficiaries of the policy for people with revolutionary contributions. The poverty rate in the province is higher than the national average. The assessment and classification of poor households and causes of poverty to have appropriate support measures in some localities are not close to reality. Investment resources from the provincial and district budgets are still limited; the ability to mobilize social capital, although having achieved certain results, is still low. A part of the poor still have the mindset of not wanting to escape poverty.

Officers and soldiers of the Provincial Military Command help people in Nam Giai commune (Ky Son) develop the economy. Photo: Trong Kien

In Ky Son district, by 2020, when the support programs under Resolution 30a end, the district sets the task of reducing poor households to 36.22%. However, the district leaders also frankly shared that Ky Son is still facing many difficulties and challenges on the path to poverty reduction. Those challenges come from the harsh natural conditions, uneven terrain, and lack of arable land.InfrastructureAlthough investment has been made, it has not yet met the development requirements. The number of households escaping poverty each year has decreased, but it is not sustainable, the rate of re-poverty is still high. Vocational training and job creation have received investment attention, the direction of exporting foreign labor has been promoted with many support policies, but the results have not been as expected.

Recognizing that sustainable poverty reduction is a regular task, Nghe An strives to reduce the rate of poor households according to multidimensional poverty standards by 1-1.5% each year, of which the mountainous areas are 2-3%.

Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung emphasized that, in addition to investing resources to attract investment in key projects in the Southeast region of the province, allocating resources to improve the lives of people in the western districts of Nghe An is very important.

This is not only a sustainable poverty reduction policy but also ensures national defense and security, ensuring social order and security. Therefore, in the coming time, the province will continue to direct localities to thoroughly grasp and raise awareness, role and responsibility of the whole society towardspoverty reduction; effectively implement the mechanisms and policies of the Central Government and the province to invest in poverty reduction in the area, especially programs and projects under Program 30a, Program 135, supporting especially disadvantaged communes in ethnic minority, mountainous and coastal areas.

Cage fish farming model on the hydroelectric lake of Dinh Phong Cooperative, Tam Dinh Commune. Photo: PV

Along with that, the province has effectively implemented projects to support production development, diversify livelihoods and replicate sustainable poverty reduction models in key areas of poor districts, poor communes and disadvantaged areas. The Provincial People's Committee is developing specific solutions, suitable to the actual conditions of the province, to soon eliminate poverty for 1,340 households of people with meritorious services to the revolution who are poor households. Advise the Provincial People's Council to issue a Resolution regulating support policies for a number of groups of people in poor households whose members are people with meritorious services, the disadvantaged, and those who are unable to work...

To sustainably reduce poverty, the problem is that all levels and sectors need to synchronously deploy solutions, mobilize support resources and most importantly, the determination of poor households in the province.