The 'revolution' in eradicating hunger and poverty.

Poverty eradication has been a crucial and consistent policy of the Vietnamese Party and State for many decades. As the first and only country in Asia to implement a multidimensional, inclusive, and sustainable poverty reduction program, Vietnam's efforts have been internationally recognized as "a revolution" in poverty eradication, bringing about widespread and far-reaching changes even in the most remote rural areas.

Eradicating hunger and poverty, and gradually improving the lives of the people, especially those in remote areas, ethnic minority regions, and mountainous areas, has always been a priority for the Party, the State, and local authorities. In addition, thanks to the people's determination to improve their lives, poverty eradication efforts in many localities have made effective progress.

In the border district of Buon Don in Dak Lak province, along with the rest of the country, the fight against poverty for the people, especially the ethnic minorities, has seen encouraging changes and high expectations. Buon Don is home to 18 ethnic groups, with ethnic minorities accounting for over 47% of the population. The people mainly engage in agriculture , but due to harsh natural conditions and barren land, life remains difficult, and the poverty rate is high. In recent years, thanks to the effective implementation of various programs and projects, the lives of the people, especially those in ethnic minority areas, have seen many positive changes.

The family of Ms. H'Khưa HĐơh and Mr. Y Chít Niê in Jang Lành hamlet, Krông Na commune (Buôn Đôn district, Đắk Lắk province) received support for livestock farming, which helped them develop their family economy and escape poverty.

Previously, the family of Ms. H'Khưa HĐơh, in Jang Lành hamlet, Krông Na commune, was classified as a poor household with little land for production, mainly engaged in farming and doing odd jobs for hire. Joy came in 2017 when the Krông Na commune provided her family with two goats worth 13 million VND, along with investment in a barn. By 2020, the goat herd had grown to 10. Realizing that raising cattle was more profitable, Ms. H'Khưa decided to sell the goats to raise cattle. In 2023, her family escaped poverty.

The family of Mr. Y Chít Niê, in Jang Lành hamlet, also received support from the Krông Na Commune People's Committee in the form of two breeding cows to develop their economy in 2022. He also has an additional source of income from planting 1 hectare of cassava to develop his economy. Each year, the family earns a total of about 100 million VND. Thanks to this, in 2023, his family escaped poverty.

The model of growing lotus for its rhizomes provides a decent income and contributes to sustainable poverty reduction for farmers in Soc Trang province.

Soc Trang province has nearly 1.2 million inhabitants, of which ethnic minorities account for about 35% of the population, with the highest proportion of Khmer people in the country (over 30.1%, equivalent to about 362,000 people). Over the past period, the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial People's Committee have effectively implemented many specific mechanisms and policies of the Party and State for ethnic minorities, thereby helping many households escape poverty sustainably. Mr. Danh Chum (a Khmer person in Thuan Hung commune, My Tu district) said that his family was once classified as a poor household, without land for production, living only on hired labor, and facing very difficult living conditions. In 2022, with support from the local government to build a house, provide breeding cows, and capital to switch to small-scale trading, his family's life gradually improved.

In Lai Chau, the implementation of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction has brought a new look to rural areas, especially remote, mountainous, and particularly disadvantaged areas. In particular, people's lives have improved; many households have gained access to and benefited from basic social services; production has developed, jobs have been created, and incomes have increased. According to the Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee, Le Van Luong, the province has implemented poverty reduction policies and programs quite comprehensively and fully. This has created livelihoods for people to rise out of poverty sustainably and enjoy increasingly prosperous and happy lives, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.

The implementation of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction has brought a new look to rural areas, especially remote, mountainous, and particularly disadvantaged areas in Lai Chau.

From the founding of the nation to the period of national construction and renovation, the Vietnamese Party and State have consistently affirmed that comprehensive poverty eradication and improvement of people's living standards are urgent requirements and a central, strategic task in the process of rapid and sustainable national development.

Given that people's quality of life is linked to many aspects beyond income, in 2015, the Vietnamese government issued a multidimensional poverty standard applicable for the period 2016-2020, marking a significant step in Vietnam's transition from measuring poverty based on income to a multidimensional approach. Accordingly, the new poverty standard, with higher poverty-exit criteria based on indicators measuring the level of deprivation of basic social services including healthcare, education, housing, clean water and sanitation, and information, has made Vietnam one of the leading countries in the Asia-Pacific region in applying the multidimensional poverty measurement method to reduce poverty in all its dimensions.

Vocational training classes help people escape poverty and gradually stabilize their lives.

The use of national poverty standards is not only essential for developing poverty reduction policies and programs and monitoring poverty in Vietnam, but also helps Vietnam track progress in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Since then (2016-2020 and 2021-2025), poverty reduction has become one of the three national target programs. Specifically, for the 2021-2025 period, the goal is to maintain a reduction rate of 1.0-1.5% per year in the multidimensional poverty rate; a reduction of over 3.0% per year in the poverty rate among ethnic minorities; and for 30% of poor districts and 30% of particularly disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas to escape poverty and extreme hardship; and for the poverty rate in poor districts to decrease by 4-5% per year. In addition, specific poverty reduction policies prioritizing vulnerable groups, ethnic minority communities, and particularly disadvantaged areas have been issued, thereby providing support to specific target groups.

Diversifying livelihoods helps people escape poverty sustainably.

To implement these programs, the Government has issued an Action Program, established the Central Steering Committee for the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction; promulgated a legal framework for implementing sustainable poverty reduction work, including criteria for identifying poor households, near-poor households, and poor districts, communes, and villages facing extreme difficulties; criteria for households escaping poverty, and for districts, communes, and villages escaping extreme difficulties… Local authorities have intensified propaganda and mobilization efforts for sustainable poverty reduction; reviewed poor households, near-poor households, poor villages, and poor communes through various stages; promulgated mechanisms and policies to support sustainable poverty reduction specific to the locality; implemented poverty reduction programs, projects, and policies; built and replicated effective poverty reduction models, combining effective poverty reduction and social security policies…

The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels and people's organizations have developed plans to coordinate with relevant agencies and units to monitor and implement poverty reduction work. The Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, in coordination with the Steering Committee for National Target Programs, organized a live television and radio program titled "The whole country joins hands for the poor – Leaving no one behind" to mobilize resources to support the poor during the peak month for the poor (October 17 – November 18) and the Day for the Poor (October 17).

Vietnam is one of the first 30 countries in the world and the first in Asia to adopt a multidimensional poverty standard, ensuring a minimum standard of living and addressing deficiencies in access to basic social services. The goal is to provide comprehensive and inclusive support to the poor and people living in impoverished areas, helping them improve their material and spiritual quality of life, ensuring their needs for safe living conditions are met, and enabling them to access and effectively utilize basic social services; and to enhance their capacity and adapt to climate change.

Officers and soldiers of the Bac Giang Provincial Military Command provided assistance in building a house for Ms. Vu Thi Quyen, a poor household in Ngoc Son village, Quang Thinh commune, Lang Giang district.

The poverty reduction program for the period 2021-2025 has fundamentally changed its objectives, requirements, and demands compared to previous periods. Accordingly, new poverty reduction measures increasingly focus not only on providing food and clothing for poor households but also on ensuring equal and full access to basic social services, meeting minimum living needs in healthcare, education, housing, clean water, sanitation, and information. The support mechanism has completely shifted from "giveaway" to conditional support. Meanwhile, the program's implementation focuses on core poverty areas and the most disadvantaged regions of the country.

Every year, Vietnam allocates significant resources to invest in and support social security, improving the material and spiritual lives of its people. These resources are mobilized from central government funds, socialized social security funds from localities, and contributions from the "For the Poor" Fund of the Vietnam Fatherland Front at all levels. The people's living standards have improved significantly. In 1993, per capita income was only 185 USD, but today it is approximately 4,650 USD. In 2023, the multidimensional poverty rate continued to decrease by 1.1% compared to 2022, reaching 2.93%. In 2023, as many as 10 particularly disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas successfully escaped poverty. In many provinces and cities, the living standards of poor households, near-poor households, and those in core poverty areas have significantly improved. In particular, hundreds of poor households proactively wrote letters requesting to be removed from the poverty list, relinquishing their right to assistance to other households and striving to lift themselves out of poverty.

Along with that, rural economic and social infrastructure has undergone remarkable changes, transforming the face of the countryside and fundamentally completing essential projects to meet the requirements of production development and people's lives, such as electricity, roads, schools, health stations, markets, cultural centers, etc. This "transformation" of many localities vividly reflects the joint efforts and solidarity of the Party, the State, and the people for the poor with the goal of "leaving no one behind".

Thus, once among the poorest countries in the world, Vietnam has transformed itself into one of the fastest-growing economies in recent decades. From 1989 to 2023, Vietnam's GDP per capita increased 40 times. While the poverty rate in Vietnam was over 58% in 1993, it had fallen to 2.23% in 2021. In just two decades, more than 40 million people have escaped poverty. Vietnam has achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goals on poverty eradication ahead of schedule, and is recognized by the international community as a shining example of poverty reduction worldwide.

Let's work together to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households nationwide.

According to the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report published on July 15, 2023, by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the OPH (Operation Poverty and Human Development Initiative) at Oxford University, Vietnam is one of 25 countries that have halved their MPI within 15 years. Prior to that, in April 2022, in its report "From the Last Step to the Next – Assessing Vietnam's Poverty and Equality in 2022," the World Bank (WB) noted that "the progress Vietnam has made in less than half a century since the end of the war in 1975 is almost unprecedented."

The achievements in poverty eradication in Vietnam over the past period have been recognized by the entire nation, and the international community has assessed Vietnam's poverty reduction efforts as "a revolution," transforming the face of society and the lives of people in even the most remote areas. This is one of the most outstanding successes, demonstrating Vietnam's humanitarian significance in its goal of sustainable development and in carrying out the nation-building process during the period of reform and international integration.