A pillar of support for ethnic minorities.

The National Target Program for socio -economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030 (referred to as Program 1719) was approved by the Prime Minister on October 4, 2021.

After four years of implementation, Program 1719 has contributed to changing the face of highland villages and hamlets in Thanh Son, Tan Son, and Yen Lap districts, as well as some highland areas of Thanh Thuy and Doan Hung districts, by focusing on investing in rural infrastructure development. The program has also addressed urgent needs for land, housing, production land, and clean water; created livelihoods for ethnic minorities; supported vocational training and job creation; preserved intangible cultural values; and built cultural infrastructure in villages and hamlets.

The mountainous commune of Minh Dai, Tan Son district, is becoming increasingly attractive. Photo: Truong Quan

The right target audience

We visited the family of Mr. Ha Van Nhung in Chieng 1 area, Kim Thuong commune, Tan Son district, one of the exemplary households in the commune that has strived to overcome poverty. Beside his two-story house, still under construction with bricks and mortar scattered around, Mr. Nhung recounted the hardships and poverty he had endured. Like many people in the area, lacking capital and a supplementary occupation, his family's life was one of constant struggle.

Encouraged and advised by local officials, Mr. Nhung discussed the matter and borrowed 40 million VND from the Tan Son District Social Policy Bank under the poverty alleviation program to plant production forests. After several years of care, the trees have grown well and are ready for harvesting. During the off-season, he joins construction workers in the area to work on projects in Hanoi for a few months at a time. Despite her health issues, his wife, Ms. Giang, single-handedly takes care of the children and manages the household. She also earns extra money repairing and sewing traditional clothing and funeral garments for the local people. Thanks to this, the family's finances have become increasingly stable.

Mr. Nhung shared: “Thanks to the attention of the Party and the Government , our people have benefited from many policies such as housing, land, clean water, loans, and vocational training. For example, my family received 44 million VND in support from Program 1719, along with help from relatives, friends, and a loan from the Social Policy Bank, allowing us to build this sturdy and spacious house to settle down and make a living.”

Tan Son District comprises 17 communes and 172 villages, with ethnic minorities accounting for 82.5% of the district's population; primarily the Muong ethnic group, with a portion belonging to the Dao and Mong ethnic groups, and the remainder being other ethnic groups. Implementing Program 1719, Tan Son District has focused on mobilizing resources to shift the economic structure, support livestock farming and production, alleviate poverty, and build and develop a team of ethnic minority cadres. To date, 100% of the transportation infrastructure has been upgraded, renovated, and newly constructed, contributing to facilitating travel and trade for the people. The district's poverty rate has decreased by an average of 1.7% per year, and average income has reached 36.16 million VND per person per year. The lives of ethnic minorities and people in mountainous areas of the district are increasingly improving. Vocational training, job creation, and labor export for ethnic minorities have seen many positive changes.

Many poor ethnic minority families have received support to repair or rebuild their homes, eliminating temporary shelters; thousands of hectares of natural forests have been protected. Many distinctive products of the ethnic minorities are being produced commercially...

Education, healthcare, culture, and social services in ethnic minority areas receive significant investment and development. Every year, tens of thousands of ethnic minority people in disadvantaged communes receive free health insurance cards and access to medical services. The preservation and promotion of the cultural identity of the Muong ethnic group and other ethnic minorities in the area are also being maintained...

Comrade Tran Khac Thang - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, said: “The district will continue to fully and promptly implement the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, and programs and projects for ethnic minority areas, promoting economic development, especially agriculture towards commodity production. Along with that, we will focus on building a comprehensive socio-economic infrastructure in ethnic minority areas; developing and improving the quality of human resources in ethnic minority areas; promoting the preservation of ethnic cultural identity; increasing the number and improving the quality of ethnic minority cadres; consolidating national unity, ensuring national defense and security, and building a cleaner and stronger Party and political system.”

With support from Program 1719 (a grant of 44 million VND), a loan from the Social Policy Bank, and assistance from relatives and friends, Mr. Ha Van Nhung's family in Chieng 1 area, Kim Thuong commune, Tan Son district, has built a sturdy house.

Focus on mobilizing resources.

According to Comrade Hau A Lenh - Member of the Central Committee of the Party, Minister and Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities, Program 1719 is a historic policy program, the first time the National Assembly and the Government have decided to invest specifically in ethnic minority areas with the largest resources ever.

The program is built on the integration of policies for ethnic minorities over the years, along with new policies that fundamentally change the approach to socio-economic development for this specific area, gradually shifting from support-based policies to investment-based development.

The program will allocate significant investment resources to development policies by prioritizing infrastructure investment, livelihood creation, human resource development, and social security policies. The program's contents are expected to provide timely support to ethnic minority communities, enabling them to access basic services and gradually narrow the development gap with more developed regions of the country.

Implementing Program 1719, Phu Tho province has deployed 10 projects and components with comprehensive support contents covering various aspects of social life, having a significant impact on promoting socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. These contents have gradually exploited the potential and advantages of localities in the region; promoted innovation and economic development, ensured social security; achieved rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, gradually narrowing the gap in living standards and average income between the region and the national average; and gradually reduced the number of extremely difficult communes and villages...

According to the plan, the development investment capital from Program 1719 for the period 2021-2025 in Phu Tho province is over 1,177 billion VND, of which the central budget accounts for over 962 billion VND and the local budget accounts for over 215 billion VND to implement 357 projects.

As a result, people's lives have improved significantly; the appearance of rural areas, especially mountainous areas and ethnic minority regions, has changed noticeably. People's incomes in rural areas have increased steadily, and the poverty rate has decreased rapidly. By the end of 2023, the province's poverty rate was 4.49% (a decrease of 0.7%), near-poverty was 3.65% (a decrease of 0.53%); and the poverty rate among ethnic minorities decreased by 2%...

Despite significant achievements, according to the latest report from the Ethnic Affairs Committee to the Phu Tho Provincial People's Council, after nearly four years of implementing Program 1719, the goal of reducing the poverty rate has not yet been met as planned. The disbursement rate for recurrent expenditure remains low. Some projects and sub-projects are still limited in terms of implementation, some regulations on support levels are low, and the scope of eligible beneficiaries is limited...

To achieve the goals of Program 1719 in 2024 and the entire 2021-2025 period, Comrade Cam Ha Chung - Head of the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee, stated: “First and foremost, it requires the decisive involvement of Party committees and authorities at all levels, as well as the consensus of the people. The Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee is the leading agency, advising and assisting the Steering Committee in implementing a number of specific mechanisms and policies for Program 1719.”

Accordingly, the Board proactively coordinated closely with departments, agencies, and local authorities to review beneficiaries of projects and sub-projects, determine funding, propose solutions, and advise the Provincial People's Council on adjustments; strengthened inspection and supervision; and submitted a request to the Government to allow Phu Tho province to adjust the target of reducing the poverty rate among ethnic minority households from 2% to 1.2% to suit the province's reality when applying the multidimensional poverty standard for the 2022-2025 period.”

In 2024, implementing Program 1719, Phu Tho province set the following goals: 100% of households have access to the national power grid; over 96% of ethnic minorities have access to clean drinking water; 100% of 5-year-old kindergarten students attend school; 99.3% of primary school students attend school at the correct age, 99.2% at the lower secondary level, and 98% at the upper secondary level; 99% of people aged 15 and over are literate and proficient in the common Vietnamese language; striving to have over 45% of ethnic minority laborers of working age receive vocational training suitable to their needs and conditions; 74.9% of villages have community centers; 38.2% of villages have traditional cultural and artistic groups that operate regularly and with quality...

Thuy Hang

Source: https://baophutho.vn/diem-tua-cho-dong-bao-dan-toc-thieu-so-220334.htm