Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung speaks at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD) (Photo: VietnamPlus) Hanoi (VNA) – Ministers in charge of social welfare and development from member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to cooperate together to ensure social welfare and enhance capacity of poor people and vulnerable groups to recover during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The consensus was reached at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (AMMSWD) which was held via video conference on June 10 with the aim of mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups.
Attending the event were ministers in charge of social welfare and social development from all 10 ASEAN member states and the ASEAN Secretary General.
The meeting was an initiative put forth by Laos as its capacity as Chair of the AMMSWD and supported by Vietnam which holds the Chairmanship of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community 2020
It was organized in the context that the COVID-19 pandemic is developing complicatedly, posing adverse impacts on all aspects of the lives of people, especially vulnerable groups. The Vietnamese delegation was led by Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung.
The meeting acknowledged the ASEAN ministers’ opinions on policies and programmes on social security and welfare as well as each country’s assistance to people, particularly groups vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19. Ministers also raised recommendations to promote social security and welfare in the region.
During the conference, the ministers discussed and approved a joint statement on mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups in ASEAN. The joint statement emphasizes the need to ensure social welfare and enhance capacity of poor people and vulnerable groups to recover during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ASEAN ministers agreed to cooperate closely to realise the targets: Ensuring timely access to social security and properly allocate public funds for social spending; protecting rights, safety and human dignity; ensuring health and safety of social workers on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19; stepping up inter-sectoral cooperation at the national and regional levels; building post-pandemic recovery programmes in a comprehensive manner; mapping out continuous plans and measures to ensure the integration of persons with disabilities; and implementing policies on vulnerable groups and mitigating the adverse impacts on the elderly, women and children.
The ASEAN ministers agreed to assign the Senior Official Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) as the coordinator to carry out the joint statement as well as ensuring social security and minimizing the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups through regional cooperation activities in related fields.
The ASEAN ministers adopt a joint statement on mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups in ASEAN (Photo: VietnamPlus) Speaking at the event, Vietnamese Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung appreciated the efforts of Laos and the ASEAN Secretariat in hosting the video conference.
This is a practical initiative that helps implement effectively the outcomes of the online Special ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Summits on COVID-19 as well as the Chairman's Statement on ASEAN collective response to the outbreak of COVID-19, Dung said.
The minister revealed that as of June 8, Vietnam has gone through 54 days without any new COVID-19 infections in the community while successfully treating nearly 90 percent of the patients. This was the result of the concerted efforts of the Vietnamese government and people in the fight against the pandemic, he stressed.
Dung told the participants that the pandemic has affected all people in the society, especially workers, the poor and those from vulnerable groups. The Vietnamese government provided a social aid package worth over 62 trillion VND (about 2.7 billion USD) in support of 20 million people, including the elderly, sick people, and low-income earners.
He called on ASEAN member nations to strengthen coordination at both national and regional levels in promoting social welfare and response to crises, disasters and diseases to ensure no one is left behind.
The Vietnamese minister expressed his belief that with the attention of top leaders and regional-level policy actions, ASEAN will soon overcome this difficult time to recover the economy and build a cohesive and responsive community./.
