Phan Thanh Dung's family from Cu Chi has been sustainably lifted from poverty line. (Source: VNA)
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has asked Ho Chi Minh authorities to creatively apply measures and policies approved by the Government to realise the city’s poverty reduction targets.
The Deputy PM hailed efforts by the municipal authorities to eradicate hunger and alleviate poverty during a recent conference held in the city to review the implementation of a 23-year poverty reduction programme.
He expressed his belief that Ho Chi Minh City will continue to be a flagship in all fields, especially in the fight against poverty, contributing to promoting the city’s economic growth.
The City’s poverty reduction programme was carried out in four phases from 1992-2015, lifting its poverty line seven times on the basis of the average income.
The number of impoverished households in the city fell to only 19,484 as of May 2015 from 121,722 in 1992. The city is striving to pull the rate of poor and near-poor households down to less than 1 percent and 2.3 percent, respectively, by the end of this year.
With over 7.1 trillion VND (nearly 314 billion USD) mobilised over the last 23 years, the programme has helped millions of local impoverished households access low-interest loans.
As many as 33,323 labourers received fee exemptions for vocational training and over 510,000 labourers found stable jobs.
Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan stressed that the programme contributed to reducing the equality gap in society, especially between rich and poor households.
From 2016-2020, the city will continue to speed up poverty reduction efforts, creating favourable conditions for impoverished and nearly-impoverished families to access basic education-training, healthcare, employment, social insurance and housing services.
It will also focus on improving policies towards realising sustainable poverty reduction goals. On the occasion, the city’s 15 organisations were presented with Labour Order, the third class and 21 organisations and four individuals received Certificates of Merit from the Prime Minister in recognition of their significant contributions to the programme.-VNA
