Poverty reduction, better social welfare named as 2014 tasks

Poverty reduction, better social welfare named as 2014 tasks

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen underscored job creation, reduction of poor households and guarantee of social welfares as key 2014 priorities during a recent interview granted to the media.

She said more ethnic groups have enjoyed better lives thanks to a nation-wide campaign to eradicate poverty, saying that it has received warm acclaim from the United Nations and the world.

Chuyen, however, also admitted that the rate of nearly-poor households and those relapsing into poverty remains high, as much as 50 percent in some areas.

In order to resolve this, the ministry will do all it can to ensure basic social services like health care, education, housing and water supply, information, legal assistance, production development via incentives, vocational training, facilitation of agro-forestry-fisheries and infrastructure ramp-up.

Simultaneously, the sector will review and tailor policies on sustainable poverty reduction, especially in ethnic communities, while investing in key fields to avoid wastefulness.

Referring to vocational training, she said this will generate jobs for over 1.6 million workers with a focus on the poor, ex-soldiers and those displaced by construction projects. Up to 1.78 million will be recruited and undergo training, she said.

According to her, the ministry will raise allowances and adjust salaries for families of war heroes, offering 97 percent of them living conditions that are on par or higher than those in their residential areas. Better care will be given to those living in need along the way, she added.-VNA

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