Hanoi: Poverty rate down to 1.16 percent in 2018

Hanoi (VNA) – Some 12,000 households in Hanoi escaped poverty this year, bringing the local poverty rate down to 1.16 percent, a goal achieved two years ahead of schedule, heard a conference on December 26.

The event was held by the municipal Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs to review its performance in 2018 and plan for tasks in 2019 in the presence of Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affair Doan Mau Diep and Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy.

The city’s success in poverty reduction was largely attributed to its efforts to expand vocational education.

This year, Hanoi has provided support in vocational training and introduced employment opportunities for more than 190,000 people, up 25.1 percent from 2017.

The capital has also financially assisted 4,166 impoverished households to build and repair their houses and given them easier access to soft loans to start or expand their businesses.

The unemployment rate in the city dropped to 1.91 percent and the number of trained workers accounted for 63.15 percent of the local workforce.

In 2019, the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs aims to provide vocational training for 205,000 people and introduce jobs to 154,000 people in Hanoi. It also plans to reduce the poverty rate by 0.3 percent and ensure all policy beneficiary families have a living standard equal to the average of their residential areas.

In addition, it will continue to protect children, foster gender equality and prevent social evils.

Vice Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Ngo Van Quy urged the department to effectively mobilise all possible resources for poverty elimination and expand sustainable poverty reduction models.

The department must also improve the quality of vocational training courses and keep them relevant to the needs of businesses and the market, Quy said.

He also emphasised the need for the department to adopt effective and comprehensive solutions for child care and protection as well as to prevent occupational accidents. –VNA