According to its findings, the national multidimensional poverty (MP) rate was 5.71 per cent in 2023, with 1,586,336 poor and near-poor (PNP) households across the country.

The northern midland and mountainous region had the highest MP rate (18.20 per cent) with 587,952 PNP households. The Central Highlands came next with 195,795 PNP households (12.46 per cent).

The southeast region, meanwhile, took the lead in terms of poverty reduction with only 0.23 per cent of its households being poor or near-poor.

If near-poor households were excluded, Việt Nam had 815,101 poor households in 2023 (2.93 per cent), down 1.1 percentage points compared to 2022.

The northern midland and mountainous region had the largest poverty rate (11.29 per cent) with 364,681 households in need, followed by the Central Highlands (6.40 per cent) and the north central region and central coast (3.83 per cent).

Regarding poor districts defined by the Prime Minister's Decision 353 on the list of poor districts and extremely difficult communes in flatland, coastal areas, and islands between 2021 and 2025, there were 417,571 PNP households (47.94 per cent) in the districts, of which 311,981 were poor and 159,590 near-poor.

At the meeting to review the three-year implementation of the National Target Programme on Sustainable Poverty Reduction, Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Đào Ngọc Dung said poverty reduction efforts had gained some results, but the results were not sustainable in that many families slipped back into poverty after incidents like illness or loss of livestock.

He also underlined the slow progress of the programme, which can be attributed to the mindset of "over-reliance on the State's support". He called for the involvement and action of governments of all levels to effectively reduce poverty.

Phạm Hồng Đào, deputy head of the National Office for Poverty Reduction, said 2024 should be the time to review and revise poverty reduction programmes to ensure poverty rates meet the targets set by the National Assembly.

In 2024, the National Assembly assigned MoLISA the task of reducing the national MP rate by more than 1 per cent.

To this end, the ministry will continue to draft policies to provide those in need with conditional assistance, favourable loans and vocational training.

It will also offer opportunities to workers from impoverished households and ethnic minority groups to work abroad to raise their living standards.

Its support package also covers education, healthcare, accommodation, clean water, electricity and legal assistance. Social protection will be granted to those who are unable to work.

The ministry will also review and revise old poverty policies to avoid duplication and overlapping. The publication will serve as the basis for the implementation of poverty reduction and social welfare policies as of January 1, 2024. — VNS