User:Williamjiang0816/Poverty in Vietnam

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As in many other developing countries, hunger and poverty in Vietnam has existed for a significant amount of time. Until the 1920s, most of the Vietnamese population still lived under the poverty line. However, thanks to the political and economic reform in 1986 and the government's commitment, the status of poverty and hunger in Vietnam has been significantly improved. From one of the poorest countries in the World with per capita income below US$100 per year, Vietnam is now a middle income country with per capita income of US$1,910 by the end of 2013. Thereby, the poverty rate decreases gradually from 58 percent in 1993 to 28.9 percent in 2002, 14.5 percent in 2008 and 12 percent in 2011. About 28 million people are estimated to have been lifted out of poverty over approximately two decades. The 2014 Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report ranked Vietnam 15th amongst 81 nations suffering from hunger, with a GHI of 7.5 compared with 27.7 in 1990 (country with extremely alarming (GHI ≥ 30), alarming (GHI between 20.0 and 29.9) or serious (GHI between 10.0 and 19.9) hunger situation. Achievements in poverty reduction and hunger eradication have been highly appreciated by the international community and viewed overall as successful in furthering economic development. However, Vietnam still has many tasks ahead in fighting against poverty and hunger, particularly for vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities, and the disabled.

Economic growth
Maintaining high economic growth is essential to underpin further rapid reductions in poverty. The high and sustainable growth is the pre-condition to create employment, improve income and create resources needed to implement well-being and social-safety programs. The high economic growth from 2000 to 2010 was regarded as a substantial cause of poverty reduction and hunger eradication.

Governmental programs
The high political determination and commitment of the government in fighting against poverty and hunger play a critical role. In the last two decades, many policies have been promulgated with huge governmental funds. The most prominent program is the socio-economic development program for the most vulnerable communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas, also shortly referred to as the 135 program. The program's target is to:


 * Promote production and increase the living standard for ethnic minority households;
 * Develop infrastructure and develop essential public services in the localities such as electricity, schools, health clinics, small irrigation systems, roads, clean water providing systems;
 * Enhance the people's awareness for better living standards and quality of life.

In its phase I (1998 – 2005), the program invested VND 9142 billion (US$ 571 million) from the governmental fund for 1870 extremely difficult communes. The program's phase II (2006 – 2010) continued to cover 1879 communes with a total budget of US$1 billion.

Assistance from the international community
As an under-developed country, Vietnam had been prioritized to receive Official Development Assistance (ODA) from international organizations and developed countries such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations and the European Commission. Over the last decades, these organizations have provided millions of dollars to invest in infrastructure, human resource development, and public administration reform. For example, in the period of 1993–2001 a total of US$17.5 billion was pledged to the Government of Vietnam, with annual pledges remaining at a constant level in the order of US$2.2 billion each year. From this amount, the total value of signed ODA is around US$14 billion, with actual disbursements estimated to be US$9 billion.