Effectively using State-funded support resources in recent years, Son La province has introduced various policies on socioeconomic development, hunger eradication and poverty alleviation to support ethnic minorities, and attained impressive achievements.
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Son La province is home to 12 ethnic groups, and is constituted by nearly 85% ethnic minorities. Over the past time, the province has utilized government-backed investment support programs for the construction of mountainous infrastructure in order to create a driving force for local socio-economic development. As a result, ethnic minorities have significantly improved their livelihoods.
Some localities have effectively implemented programs and projects with the active participation of ethnic minorities and mountainous people.
As a highland district, Thuan Chau is home to six ethnic groups namely the Thai, Mong, Kinh, Kho Mu, Khang, and La Ha. The implementation of ethnic affairs strategy in the district over the past time has positively helped give a clear facelift to rural areas of ethnic minorities. A typical example is Project 2 - Program 135 of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction. Carrying out this program in 2013-2020, Thuan Chau district invested, built, repaired and upgraded 164 infrastructure items with a total budget of VND196.5 billion. The program supported fertilizers and maize varieties for production in ethnic groups and applied new farming models such as fish farming, cow farming, apiculture and pig farming.
Facilitated by central and local policies, Thuan Chau district’s healthcare is good thanks to well-invested medical facilities. Ethnic minorities, poor and near-poor people have access to health insurance which is well managed by local authorities. The district has properly invested in schools with well-furnished teaching and learning equipment. In addition, Thuan Chau district has implemented programs and policies on poverty reduction in a timely, effective and right manner, making important contributions to local production development, stability and improvement of people's living standards. By 2020, multidimensional poverty was slashed to 28.5%, a decrease of 20.4% from 2015.
The budget of Program 135 for Yen Chau district from 2020 to date has reached VND12.7 billion, which is spent on building and maintaining traffic, electricity and school systems for local people. In many places, authorities at all levels have accompanied people in labor and production to help them overcome difficulties and rise out of poverty sustainably.
Mr. Lu Van Chung, Head of Ethnic Minority Affairs Office, Yen Chau district, Son La province, said that from the results of support policies for ethnic minorities, poor communes in the district have gradually created the basic premise for localities to make clear changes in all aspects and helped realize poverty reduction and new rural construction goals. Many minority households have learned to apply science and technology to production and intensive farming to increase crop productivity and actively restructure production toward commercial production to escape poverty. Thus, the poverty rate has significantly declined over the years. Many infrastructure works have been built to give a facelift to the countryside; helped improve education, training and healthcare for people.
Other localities in Son La have also effectively carried out programs and policies to support ethnic minorities. In addition to economic support policies, they have paid special attention to education, health care and culture in ethnic minority areas. Up to now, all mountainous communes where ethnic minorities are living have enough school systems at all levels from kindergartens, and primary schools to junior high schools. All poor communes have classes for students to study. Furthermore, cultural conservation and promotion for ethnic minorities are always important to the province.
Mr. Luong Van Toan, Deputy Director of Son La Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, said, thanks to ethnic minority programs and policies, Son La province has very effectively reduced poverty rates. Ethnic minorities are leading a better life day by day, enjoying better education, healthcare and social security. Local essential infrastructure system has been increasingly upgraded.
Source: Vietnam Business Forum
Vietnamese
October 2024
Hanoi