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Poverty reduction plan success
Poverty reduction has been successful in remote mountainous regions thanks to National Programme 135, Ksor Phuoc, Chairman of the National Assembly Council of Nationalities, told the National Assembly Standing Committee on Monday.
Fact-finding tours of 22 provinces, 44 districts and 50 communes that were classified as "especially disadvantaged" over the last four years
revealed that incomes had increased markedly while local infrastructure had been developed, Phuoc said.
"This success should be attributed to the efficient integration of Programme 135 and other national targeted projects, as well as projects directly linked to poverty reduction in the regions," Phuoc emphad.
"The yearly average per capita income of people living in these disadvantaged areas is about VND3.5 million (US$180). The number of poor households dropped to 31 per cent in 2009 from 47 per cent in early 2006. The target is for that figure to fall below 30 per cent," Phuoc said.
The second phase of the five-year programme, which ends this year, has a budget of VND14 trillion ($875 million). Of that figure, $450 million came from seven foreign donors, including the World Bank, Finland, Ireland, the European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme. The remainder came from the State and local budgets.
Based on what has been achieved in the last four years, it is likely that by the end of 2010 when the second phase of the programme comes to an end, key targets, such as infrastructure development and poverty reduction will have been met, Phuoc said.
"The per annum reduction of poor households is rapid, but not sustainable. They [residents] are likely to become poor again if they are hit by natural disasters," Phuoc said.
Tran The Vuong, chairman of the National Assembly's Ombudsmen, said it was important to ensure that poverty-alleviation programmes did not work against one another.
"By doing so we'll be able to avoid overlapping of programmes" Vuong said.
"An indispensable part of a comprehensive poverty-reduction programme is its sustainability."
Truong Thi Mai, chairwoman of the National Assembly Committee on Social Affairs, asked ministries to share information on poverty-reduction campaigns.
"Most of the projects focus on infrastructure development. While the disbursement rate was very high, projects to directly help the people escape poverty moved at a snail's pace," Mai said.
She added that the Government should apply different sets of criteria for poor households in the plains and mountainous regions.
"There cannot be one criteria applied to all," she said.
Le Quang Binh, chairman of the Committee on National Defence and Security, said that it was important to ensure that the best use is made of the limited funds available.
"Instead of investing in 2,850 communes and 25,000 hamlets as at present, we should invest in several hundred communes in a year and then scale up the next year," Binh said.
Ha Hung, vice chairman of the Council of Nationalities, said more funding should be made available to tackle poverty in remote regions.
"Because of the low investment capital, in many communes if they want to build a road they have to give up their wish of having a health care centre or an irrigation project," Hung said.
The report concluded that the Government should continue to invest in socio-economic development in the programme's third phase from 2011-15.
The second phase of Programme 135 was implemented in 1,946 communes.
The meeting was chaired by National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong.
Amended
Members of the National Assembly Committee discussed the amended Trade Unions Law yesterday in Ha Noi.
According to Dang Ngoc Tung, President of the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, the law, which has been in place for the last 19 years, has been crucial to the proper functioning of the union.
However, he said some articles of the law were no longer relevant.
Tung said the amended law would consist of six chapters and 34 articles.
The NA Legal Committee's report supported the amendments to the law, saying that it was essential to amend the law during the country's process of industrialisation and modernisation.
The report also said that it was crucial to accurately define the role and tasks of a union to ensure the rights of officials and workers.
Tran The Vuong, chairman of the Ombudsman Committee, said the work of the unions should be reviewed to better serve the workers.
Meanwhile, Vuong said the trade union should be supported by the employers. He said the union should work for a harmonious, stable and developed relationship between employers and employees.
Vuong and deputy Truong Thi Mai, chairwoman of the NA's Social Affairs Committee, said that about 50 articles relating to the Trade Union Law were also mentioned in the Amended Labour Code.
According to Mai, about 3,000 strikes occurred over the last 10 years – none of them legally.
Under current regulations, workers have the right to strike when industrial action is organised by their local trade unions or their representatives in the case of enterprises which do not have a union.
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