Vanguard role

Vietnam now has approximately 8.6 million elderly people who have devoted their lives to the cause of national liberation and unification.

During the war, elderly people played a vanguard role in revolutionary organisations, protecting revolutionary cadres and encouraging their offspring to join the army to fight for national liberation.

In the Doi Moi (Renewal) process, they continue to set a shining example and make significant contributions to every area of social life.

Throughout the country, we can see elderly people engaged in production, boosting economic development and developing Party organisations. Elderly people are actually good examples for the younger generations to follow and they are a spiritual mainstay in the family and social community.

Through their life experiences, elderly people have the advantage over other social classes to encourage their offspring, families and local people to take part in campaigns to create a lifestyle established by the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) and the Vietnam Elderly People’s Association (EPA). Elderly people take the lead in promoting a civilised lifestyle at weddings, funerals and festivals, and combating social evils to preserve and develop the national cultural identity. They have also played an active role in promoting education as a contribution to creating an educated society at the grassroots level.

At the 2008 National Conference for the Elderly, more than 225,000 elderly people were honoured for developing the household economy at communal, district and provincial levels. This year, more than 300,000 have been honoured for their contributions.

According to the EPA, 64 percent of members of associations promoting education are elderly people, 72 percent of cadres in learning promotion associations are elderly, and more than 80,000 elderly people are involved in the management and teaching at community-based centres. 

HCM City has opened 233 classes to train 4,000 elderly people in computer skills to help them raise their level of knowledge.

In recent years, elderly people’s economic development movements have been launched across the country, and their achievements have enhanced their leading role in poverty reduction and socio-economic development.

According to a report by the National Assembly Committee for Social Affairs, 70 percent of elderly people rely on their children and relatives or earn their own living which indicates that running their own business can eliminate hunger and reduce poverty for the elderly. According to statistics from the EPA, the number of elderly people, who run their own business successfully, is quite high. 

The Party and State always care about the elderly

Taking care of elderly people is one of the most important tasks of the Party and State. The Party confirms that the elderly are valuable social force in the nation. After the Vietnam Association of the Elderly was established in 1995, the CPV Central Committee’s Secretariat declared that looking after the material and spiritual lives of the elderly was the responsibility of the Party and State.

The Ordinance on Elderly People also states that it’s the responsibility of families and the whole community and shows the good nature, moral standards and traditions of the Vietnamese people.

Over the years, policies and guidelines for taking care of the elderly have become more concretized and meet their needs more effectively. Survey by the EPA shows 80 percent of elderly people live with their children which it meets their material and spiritual needs. As a result, every year 75-90 percent of families are recognised as “cultural families”.   

Emulation movements to look after the elderly are deployed widely throughout society. In 2009, domestic and foreign benefactors supported the rebuilding of nearly 72,000 houses and offered 600,000 warm clothes to poor elderly people.

At the end of last year, total funds for the elderly sourced central and local budgets were VND5 billion and VND469 billion, respectively. Tens of thousands of poor elderly people nationwide were assisted with this money.

The National Assembly has recently adopted the Elderly Law, which will come into effect on July 1. Speaking at the second patriotic emulation congress held in Hanoi recently, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung assigned the EPA to organise the research, inform EPA members of the Law’s contents and propose guidelines and measures to local authorities to put the Law into effect quickly. It should also ensure the elderly enjoy enough rights and create favourable conditions for them to uphold their roles for their descendants and the community.