The government has approved the national programme on poverty reduction which aims to lower the rate of poor households from 18.6 percent in 2006 to 10-11 percent in 2010 (or 2 percent annually on average). This goal seems to be within reach as the rate fell to around 13 percent at the end of last year.

However, there is growing concern about the negative effects of a rapid increase in the consumer price index (CPI) and the global economic recession on people’s incomes and social welfare. These effects have not yet been calculated in the government’s official statistics on poverty.

Ngo Truong Thi, deputy head of the Social Protection Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), says the national poverty reduction programme has been drawn up to benefit the most vulnerable groups in society. To make it effective, it is necessary to identify their needs, and the poor themselves have to actively participate in the programme.

Though the government has pooled many resources and issued incentive policies for the poor, the results of the programme varied between regions, especially in the most disadvantaged areas where the poverty reduction rate was the lowest.    

To formulate appropriate policies, policymakers must make fact-finding trips to poor districts because the needs differ widely between them. A typical example is Tram Tau district in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai where more than 90 percent of its forest land has not been exploited. The district also faces harsh weather, especially during the winter. Therefore, mechanisms for poverty reduction in Tram Tau are different from those for other areas.

Trinh Quang Trinh, director of the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Lao Cai province – another locality in the northern mountainous region – says the provincial administration has set a target of reducing the poverty rate by 2.5-3 percent a year. But a powerful storm swept across the province in August 2008, causing huge damage, and it consequently raised the poverty rate, notably by 1.2 percent in Bac Ha and Sa Pa districts.

Like Tram Tau, other poor districts in the central and Central Highland regions face many storms and floods every year which severely damage local infrastructure such as roads, schools and medical stations. As a result, large numbers of people who have just escaped poverty, relapse into poverty again.

Although Vietnam has been acknowledged by the international community for its poverty reduction efforts, there remain difficulties and challenges lying ahead.

Dang Kim Trung, deputy director of the Labour and Science Institute, says the national programme has so far focused on the figures rather than the quality.

“The programme should meet its set criteria of improving the quality of life for poor people and providing them with basic services such as health care, education and vocational training,” says Mr Trung.

Meanwhile, Mr Thi from MoLISA says the next phase of the programme will focus on the quality of poverty reduction. “We continue to give instructions to agencies and localities to ensure the programme will meet its criteria in terms of both quantity and quality,” says Mr Thi.

The lack of information is another factor reducing the efficiency of the programme.

“We have not paid particular attention to disseminating policies on poverty reduction to beneficiaries, so intensive communication campaigns will be launched in the near future,” says the MoLISA official. “We want to share experiences with the media and non-governmental organisations to make communications more effective.”