Bac Lieu province focuses on poverty reduction

Bac Lieu (VNA) – The Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu has reduced its poverty rate significantly by taking a number of effective measures, according to its Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Bac Lieu has enabled more than 28,000 households to escape poverty since 2016, thus reducing the poverty rate from 15.5 percent to 1.24 percent now. It now has only 2,776 poor households.

The poverty rate is expected to reduce further to 0.5 percent by the end of this year.

In the last five years the province has invested more than 2.1 trillion VND (91.2 million USD) in poverty elimination efforts, and effectively implemented various policies, programmes and models to support poor households.

One of the models, which involves Party members and government workers helping poor households, has enabled many of them to escape poverty.

They provide them with inputs for production and teach them production techniques, and introduce jobs.

The province has built nearly 5,000 houses for poor families since 2016.

It has also focused on teaching poor people vocational skills and providing them with jobs, and carrying out advocacy activities to motivate them to escape poverty.

Speaking at a recent seminar, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Vuong Phuong Nam said to implement the task of reducing poverty more effectively in future, poverty reduction programmes should be implemented more actively and responsibly by province officials.

The Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in cooperation with other relevant agencies should identify detailed targets, measures and resources to implement the task of alleviating poverty, he added./.