Some 43 million people, or roughly 45% of Vietnam’s population, have emerged from poverty thanks to the government’s sound policies. This staggering figure was prescribed in the new report “15 Years Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Vietnam” co-launched last week by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations in Vietnam. The report, highlighted by State President Truong Tan Sang at last week’s UN Sustainable Development Summit in New York, reflects the challenges and lessons during the past 15 years of implementing and monitoring the MDGs in Vietnam. Sang said Vietnam has been including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in national strategies and programmes which always centre round people. UN?Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced the belief that as one of the eight nations taking the lead in carrying out the “One UN” initiative and also standing out in the MDGs realisation, Vietnam will successfully achieve the SDGs by 2030. According to the report, one of the most important factors in the success of MDGs in Vietnam was a high-level political will and commitment. For a poor and low-income country like Vietnam, in order to attain sustainable development, it was crucial to promote economic development in combination with enhanced social progress, while improving people’s living conditions and income, and maintaining environmental protection as a central concern. Based on these firm goals, Vietnam could effectively implement the MDGs, in particular, the goal to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. UN resident co-ordinator and UNDP resident representative Pratibha Mehta stated at the launch that “Vietnam is among the best-performing nations on poverty reduction. Among the eight MDGs, Vietnam has achieved impressive results, surpassing the target set out in MDG1 on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The country has achieved this MDG target before the deadline.” “We congratulate Vietnam for outstanding progress on the MDGs and in particular the MPI, for co-ordinating the process for the past 15 years,” she said. According to the report, during 1993-2008, expenditure-based poverty fell from 58.1% to 14.5%. The%age of citizens on the national poverty line fell further to 14.2% in 2010, and again to 8.4% in 2014. The MPI said that the depth of poverty throughout Vietnam had also improved, showing significant improvements in the living standards of the very poor. For example, the%age of households with permanent housing increased almost three-fold, complemented by annual increases in the living space per person. In 2012, the electricity grid was extended to almost every commune in the country, and accessed by 97.6% of the total population. In 2012, water and sanitation conditions were extensively upgraded from the early 2000s. Specifically, the 2002-2012 period saw increases of 13%age points for access to hygienic water and 22.3%age points for access to a sanitary toilet. “In terms of asset ownership, motorbikes, telephones, and colour TVs have become commonly owned by almost every family by 2012, yet 10 years earlier, these assets were generally considered expensive goods by a large part of the population,” said the report. “Increasing possession of durable goods in every category over the 10-year period confirms the remarkable improvement in national living standards.” MPI Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Dung ascribed the achievement largely to the result of strong economic growth, phased and managed trade liberalisation, as well as poverty reduction policies targeted directly at disadvantaged groups. Dung said poverty reduction targets had been approached in a comprehensive and pragmatic manner. From the early 2000s, Vietnam has set out a range of national targeted programs focusing on poverty reduction, covering essential aspects of living conditions, as well as improving public services and social safety nets. (www.vir.com.vn [1] Sept 29)
