People in Phieng Luong commune, Moc Chau district, Son La province grow Bat Do bamboo from the supported source. Illustrative photo: Tran Viet/VNA

The entire political system, sectors, levels and all classes of people are particularly interested in and focused on implementing this task with the set orientation being appropriate to the practical situation as well as meeting international standards on poverty reduction. In 2024, Vietnam continued to have positive results in poverty reduction.
Changing poor border communes
Muong Sai commune is more than 40km south of the center of Song Ma district (Son La province). Muong Sai has 12 villages, with more than 1,000 households and over 5,000 people, with 4 ethnic groups: Thai, Kinh, H'Mong, Xinh Mun living together. The road to Muong Sai is now much more convenient than in previous years thanks to the investment in construction of traffic; thanks to that, students can go to school conveniently, and people can transport agricultural products easily. Mr. Lo Van Loan (Thai ethnic) in Na Ho village happily said that his family's life has improved compared to before. Now, not only his household but many people in the village are thinking of ways to change the crop structure "to earn more income".
Lo Van Loan's thoughts are also typical of the will to escape poverty and rise up in Na Ho village. About 10 years ago, realizing that growing corn and rice did not bring much income and life did not improve, Lo Van Loan decided to choose longan trees with the potential to bring higher economic value, along with many favorable support conditions from the locality. In 2014, this Thai ethnic man planted more than 100 longan trees. However, due to spontaneous planting, the trees did not achieve optimal productivity, depending heavily on weather conditions. Some years the trees did not bear fruit or had small fruit, could not be sold, the product output was unstable, and prices fluctuated strongly.
“After receiving technical guidance from the staff on how to care for the trees, the productivity of my longan garden has improved significantly. Many households here have escaped poverty and have a comfortable life from selling longan,” Lo Van Loan recalled.
According to Mr. Lo Van Loan, after a period of growing longan trees, his family has researched and developed the product according to VietGAP process. All stages of care and fertilization are fully recorded in a diary. Thanks to this good method, the longan garden produces large, even and juicy fruits. Each year, he harvests dozens of tons of fresh longan, the selling price depends on the market. "In recent years, my family's life has improved significantly. I have built a new house, bought a truck and a car," Mr. Lo Van Loan boasted.
Discussing the poverty reduction journey of local households, Mr. Luu Van Cuong, Chairman of Muong Sai Commune People's Committee, said that this border commune also has many other models such as goat farming model, plum growing model... which bring about very clear results, helping to improve the economic life of poor and near-poor households.
“In 2022, the commune had over 300 poor households, accounting for 30%, but in 2023, the commune had only 99 poor and near-poor households, which means it has decreased to less than 10%. Many households in the commune have calculated to get rich and build big houses,” Mr. Luu Van Cuong emphasized.
Regarding the poverty reduction efforts in Son La, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Son La Provincial Party Committee Lo Minh Hung said that the implementation of the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction in the province for the period 2021 - 2025 has brought about changes and positive impacts on the socio-economic development of the locality, contributing to improving and gradually raising the living conditions of poor households, poor people, and ethnic minority households. At the same time, narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas.
In 2021, the poverty rate of the whole province was 21.66%, but by the end of 2024, it had decreased to 11.11%. During the same period, the poverty rate of ethnic minorities decreased from 21.34% to 10.9%. The poverty rate of poor districts decreased by an average of 5% per year. It is expected that by the end of 2025, the poverty rate of the whole province will decrease to about 8.1% and 4 districts will escape poverty.
Leave no one behind

Ms. Ca Thi Mong in Pang village, Chieng Den commune, Son La city takes care of her family's cows. Illustrative photo: Quang Quyet/VNA

Looking at the overall picture, Son La is one of the bright spots of the country in the journey of poverty reduction. The "change of skin, change of flesh" of many localities nationwide in recent times, especially in 2024, has vividly reflected the consistency, joint efforts, and consensus of the Party, State and people for the poor with the goal of leaving no one behind.
New poverty reduction policies and measures put forward by the Party, the State, the entire political system and localities increasingly focus on the goal of not only helping poor households have enough food and clothing but also ensuring that people have equal and full access to basic social services, meeting their minimum living needs in terms of health, education, housing, clean water, sanitation and information. A series of policies aiming at multidimensional, inclusive and sustainable poverty reduction have been deployed and implemented. In particular, the focus is on the National Target Programs on new rural construction, sustainable poverty reduction and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. From here, support the poor and poor households to overcome difficult circumstances, improve their quality of life according to the new multidimensional poverty standards.
As shared by Director of the Hanoi Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Bach Lien Huong, in recent times, the sector has focused on implementing many specific policies, especially on social security and improving the quality of life of the capital's people. In 2024, Hanoi achieved some outstanding results, such as creating jobs for more than 225,000 workers, exceeding the set plan by 36.9%, reducing the unemployment rate for more than 70,000 people, down 10% compared to 2023, the unemployment rate in Hanoi is 1.7%.
"Up to now, Hanoi has no more poor households, only 0.04% of near-poor households," Ms. Bach Lien Huong emphasized.
According to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, in 2024, the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has proactively coordinated with ministries, branches and localities to fully and promptly implement poverty reduction policies; allocate sufficient capital in 2024 for the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction to localities. In addition, it has advised the Government to organize a Program to support the elimination of temporary and dilapidated houses nationwide, which has so far mobilized over 5,000 billion VND; and become a founding member of the Global Alliance against Poverty (at the G20 Summit).
The estimated poverty rate according to the multidimensional poverty standard in 2024 will be below 1%; the poverty rate in poor districts will be about 26%; the poverty rate of ethnic minority households will be below 13.5%, meeting the target assigned by the National Assembly and the Government; 10 extremely disadvantaged communes in coastal and island areas will escape poverty and extreme poverty, and 1 poor district will escape poverty.
In the 2021-2024 period, the multidimensional poverty rate will decrease by about 4.2% (an average decrease of about 1.05%/year); the poverty rate in poor districts will decrease by an average of over 4%/year, and the poverty rate among ethnic minorities will decrease by an average of over 3%/year.
Emphasizing the achievements in the field of poverty reduction in recent times, Chairman of the National Assembly's Ethnic Council Y Thanh Ha Nie Kdam also affirmed: In the context of the country focusing on economic development, the encouraging achievements in poverty reduction have clearly demonstrated the sense of responsibility of the Party Committee, government, Fatherland Front, organizations, and people in poverty reduction, caring for the vulnerable, and the spirit of mutual love and affection.

Hanh Quynh