Hanoi meets poverty reduction target ahead of schedule

The Hanoi Times — The rate of poor households in Hanoi fell from 0.03% at the end of 2023 to zero percent by the end of 2024, helping the city meet its poverty reduction target for 2021-2025, one year ahead of schedule, according to the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.

Phung Khac Vy and his son, who live in Dong Thai Commune, Ba Vi District, feel very comfortable in their newly built house after moving in eight months ago.

"Ten years ago, I was paralyzed after falling from the fourth floor while working as a construction worker and have been in a wheelchair ever since. My son and I were living on a monthly allowance. Life was difficult, so I didn't have money to repair the old house, the roof was sagging, the walls were rotten," Vy told The Hanoi Times.

He also secured a loan from the Social Policy Bank to start raising cattle, a new livelihood that is helping him make significant progress. "I am grateful to the Hanoi government for their support. This Tet holiday in 2025, my son and I were able to welcome a warm and joyful spring," Vy said.

A total of 714 poor and near-poor households were supported by the city to build new houses and repair dilapidated ones by 2024. This is also a sustainable solution for Hanoi to help the poor live in a safe environment and achieve the goal of eliminating 100% of dilapidated houses.

Bach Lien Huong, Director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, said the mountainous Ba Vi District deserves praise for cutting the number of poor households from 264 in early 2024 to zero by the end of the year.

Together with donations from organizations and individuals, funds from the Hanoi People's Committee have helped nearly 4,200 families build or rehabilitate their homes, 120 more than the target. Currently, no households in Hanoi are experiencing housing problems.

"Notably, all of Hanoi's inner districts have successfully eradicated poverty by 2021," Lien told The Hanoi Times.

She added that the city has provided VND350,000 ($15.05) monthly as an allowance for each of 5,000 elderly people and free health insurance for the poor and other social policy beneficiaries.

Hanoi has also continued programs to spur socio-economic development in rural and mountainous areas, such as Ba Vi, Thach That and My Duc districts, while organizing mobile job fairs.

"To ensure rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, the city People's Committee has asked the districts to keep reviewing the list of poor households to draw up specific assistance plans. Poverty alleviation should be a continuous task for authorities at all levels so that disadvantaged people are not left behind," Lien stressed.

Hanoi also accelerated ongoing measures to support the poor, including "diversifying livelihoods and promoting poverty alleviation models", "supporting business or production activities and improving nutrition for the poor", "supporting vocational training for sustainable job security", "raising public awareness on poverty alleviation", and "strengthening monitoring capacity on the implementation of poverty alleviation programs". In addition, 100% of poor households were provided with free electricity.

The city's Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has been tasked with assisting poor and near-poor households, especially during the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, which is the most important and largest festival for Vietnamese.

Priority should be given to poor households, especially those from ethnic minority groups and families on welfare. District People's Committees are asked to regularly review the local poverty situation to provide timely assistance to the poor.

The Hanoi Fatherland Front Committee was tasked with overseeing the classification of poor, near-poor, and average households to ensure that aid reached the right beneficiaries.