Ngo Truong Thi, Vice Director of the Department of Social Protection under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), said the website is designed to provide official, timely and comprehensive information about the implementation of the government’s Resolution 30A regarding rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in the targeted districts. 

Along with introducing concerned documents, the website, at http://giamngheo.molisa.gov.vn, will keep readers updated on the progress in implementing the programme as well as experiences of outstanding individuals who have successfully escaped from poverty. 

According to MoLISA, after one year of performing the resolution, the rate of poor households in these districts dropped from 47 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in late 2009. 

The government earmarked almost VND5.43 trillion for the poor districts to carry out Resolution 30A in 2009 and 2010, reported the ministry. 

Forty-two State-owned groups, corporations and businesses pledged to grant more than VND2.1 trillion to support the districts in the 2009-2020 period, of which VND723 billion was doled out in 2009. 

By the end of the first quarter of 2010, the beneficiary districts had built over 73,000 houses for poor families, 167 district-level infrastructure projects and 520 commune-level works. 

As part of the programme, a total of 180,000 poor households were provided with free-of-charge saplings and animals for farming and rice as food. 

Enterprises joined hands with local authorities to send almost 1,700 poor workers to Libya, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, where they have earned a stable income of between VND4-6.5 million a month. 

In terms of personnel, 14 provinces sent 240 young officials from provincial and district-level agencies to work in the poor districts. 

The programme has set a target of reducing the number of poor households in the districts to 40 percent by the end of 2010 and to the regional average by 2020.