Ho Chi Minh City (VNA)- More than 164 billion VND (nearly 6.2 million USD) was pledged to the Ho Chi Minh City Fund for the Poor at the 2026 "City of Compassion – Connecting Love" art exchange programme, held in the city on October 17.
At the event, the 2026 Month for the Poor was launched by the municipal Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, running from October 17 to November 18. It aims to promote the city’s traditions of solidarity and compassion, contributing to the achievement of sustainable poverty reduction goals.
The campaign also seeks to mobilise contributions to the Fund for the Poor and implement practical programmes, projects, and initiatives to support disadvantaged people.
With an estimated budget of around 100 billion VND, the campaign will support housing construction and repairs, provide livelihood resources and employment opportunities, assist with education and healthcare, and help poor and near-poor households, children, older people, persons with disabilities and others facing exceptional hardship.
Earlier, at a social welfare programme held in response to the Month for the Poor, the municipal Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee presented 1,500 scholarships, provided educational assistance to 13 ethnic minority students, and allocated funding to purchase 750 health insurance cards for local residents. The total value of the support amounted to 8.57 billion VND.
The same day, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Vinh Long province held a conference to review the Fund for the Poor, launch the 2026 Month for the Poor and honour organisations and individuals for their contributions to social welfare during 2024–2026.
According to the committee, from October 2025 to September 30, 2026, the province's Fund for the Poor mobilisation boards at all levels raised a total of 156.5 billion VND.
In addition, the committee and its member organisations mobilised more than 711.2 billion VND for various social welfare programmes. From 2024 to September 30, 2026, more than 557 contributions from organisations, individuals, businesses and religious organisations inside and outside the province were recorded, with total funding for local social welfare programmes estimated at around 1.7 trillion VND./.
