Better social assistance system needed to prepare vulnerable people for crisis

Vietnam’s track record in people-centered development is second to none. Putting the needs of the people first was of vital importance in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when the Government rejected the false dilemma between protecting the health of the people and supporting the economy.

Because of its focus on people, Vietnam was one of the few countries around the world to record a positive rate of economic growth in 2020, 2021.

Ultimately, our ability to get the pandemic under control depends on the speed with which the Government can deliver vaccines, first to frontline workers and vulnerable people including the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions, and then to the general population.

The Government’s efforts to reach vulnerable households and individuals during the pandemic, focused on informal workers and female-led micro-enterprises in rural and urban areas.

Measures are needed to help the transient poor cope with the loss of income as social distancing measures are introduced to control the latest surge in the virus.

Citizenship-based social protection systems are fair and build social solidarity. Since poverty is closely associated with life-cycle events, categorical forms of social protection are effective at reducing the incidence of poverty and responding quickly to emergencies like pandemics and natural disasters.

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Child benefit, social pensions and social assistance programs for people living with disabilities are easy to administer and to adjust at times of crisis.

Digitization of public services like social protection will help streamline implementation and provide policymakers with vital information on coverage and impact. E-banking will reduce the cost of delivering cash benefits and save program administrators and recipients time and inconvenience.

Extra efforts are required to widen access to communications technology and prevent the digital divide from intensifying the economic divide between rich and poor.

Viet Nam has succeeded in containing the coronavirus pandemic because of bold, decisive action and an unwavering commitment to inclusion.

Now the focus is on the rapid and universal distribution of vaccines.

In Vietnam, ensuring social protection is always regarded as regular mission of the State and the whole society. An universal social protection system will be fundamentally established with requirements: the most of people have job, minimum income; participate in social insurance and ensure to have timely supports to the extreme disadvantages people (children with special disadvantages, elderly people with low income, people with severely disability, and the poor…), gradually to increase income, to ensure a safe, equal and happy life for people.

Many people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, people affected by the transforming process of agricultural land using have accessed to loans for business development and job creation.

Currently, the country has 408 social assistance establishments that nurtured and cared more than 41.4 thousand targets, of which people with disabilities and mental disease accounted for 56.5%. Generally, nearly 3% population were receiving social assistance while the demand for social assistance was up to 20% of the total population.

The percentage of malnutrition in underweight children decreased to 14.1% for underweight and 24.2% for stunting; the maternal mortality rate dropped to 58.3 per 100,000 live births, the infant mortality under 1 year reduced to 14.7 ‰.

The program of social housing for urban low-income people has built 25,850 apartments and further developed 61,290 apartments. The housing program for pupils and students which was invested by government bonds has arranged accommodations for 200,000 students, reached around 80% of the demand.

Hunger eradication and poverty reduction is always considered as a key task by the government in the socio-economic development strategy.

Poverty reduction has performed simultaneously at all levels: individuals, households, communes and districts to support the poor people in production development, accessing to healthcare and education service, vocational training, legal aid, housing and clean water; investments were focused on essential infrastructure development for extremely difficult communes.

Project of expanding the model for poverty reduction and project of capacity building, communication and monitoring and evaluation of implementation are further implemented.