Concrete and appropriate policies are needed to ensure ethnic minorities participate fully in the nation's economy, said Be Truong Thanh, vice standing chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs at the third two-day session of the UN forum in Geneva , which ended on Dec. 15.
He said ethnic groups should be classified according to their geographical location – such as mountainous or delta – and their socio-economic development level, in order to implement appropriate policies.
He said the Government had been carrying out a number of programmes designed to meet the needs of specific ethnic groups.
These programmes include the implementation of hunger elimination and poverty reduction in the extremely difficult areas in a bid to reduce the poverty level of households. He said Vietnam was implementing a rapid and sustainable poverty-reduction programme in more than 60 extremely difficult and poor districts in ethnic minority areas where the poor account for more than 50 percent of all households.
He also said the Government had begun upgrading and building new infrastructure in extremely difficult areas that included building new roads and improving irrigation channels.
Thanh said projects had been implemented to preserve the indigenous people's culture.
Five ethnic groups with a population of less than 1,000 have been targeted. They include the Si La, Pu Peo, O Du, Ro Mam and Brau minorities. Further projects will be carried out targeting ethnic groups with a population of less than 10,000.
The Government is also planning to boost trade and tourism in mountainous and remote areas to boost local incomes.
Thanh said it was important to raise awareness among minority groups of the law so that their rights are protected.
He said the participation of local communities in implementing the Government's programmes was essential. He said the State could provide the "fishing rod, but not the fish."
He said that if the Government's programmes were implemented successfully, minority groups would see a marked improvement in their standard of living./.
He said ethnic groups should be classified according to their geographical location – such as mountainous or delta – and their socio-economic development level, in order to implement appropriate policies.
He said the Government had been carrying out a number of programmes designed to meet the needs of specific ethnic groups.
These programmes include the implementation of hunger elimination and poverty reduction in the extremely difficult areas in a bid to reduce the poverty level of households. He said Vietnam was implementing a rapid and sustainable poverty-reduction programme in more than 60 extremely difficult and poor districts in ethnic minority areas where the poor account for more than 50 percent of all households.
He also said the Government had begun upgrading and building new infrastructure in extremely difficult areas that included building new roads and improving irrigation channels.
Thanh said projects had been implemented to preserve the indigenous people's culture.
Five ethnic groups with a population of less than 1,000 have been targeted. They include the Si La, Pu Peo, O Du, Ro Mam and Brau minorities. Further projects will be carried out targeting ethnic groups with a population of less than 10,000.
The Government is also planning to boost trade and tourism in mountainous and remote areas to boost local incomes.
Thanh said it was important to raise awareness among minority groups of the law so that their rights are protected.
He said the participation of local communities in implementing the Government's programmes was essential. He said the State could provide the "fishing rod, but not the fish."
He said that if the Government's programmes were implemented successfully, minority groups would see a marked improvement in their standard of living./.
