The National Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee convened its 11^th plenary session in Da Nang on 9 October in preparation for the upcoming 6^th meeting of the 14^th legislature.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung addressing the session (Photo: VNA)

The committee will review the Government’s reports on the two-year implementation of the NA’s Decision No. 76/2014/QH13 on promoting sustainable poverty reduction by 2020, the realisation of the national target of gender equality in 2017 and the ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) with contents regarding employment, trade union and health care.

It will also mull over the draft law on prevention and combat of harmful effects of alcohol and the management and use of health insurance fund in 2017, among others, Mrs Nguyen Thuy Anh, Chairwoman of the committee, said in her opening remarks.

Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung reported that at the end of 2017, the rate of poor households in Viet Nam was 6.7%, down 1.53% against the previous year.

During the 2015-2017 period, the country’s poverty rate dropped 1.59% annually, exceeding the set target of 1-1.5%.

The number of poor households nationwide is expected to stand at below 6% by the end of 2018, down from 1-1.3% as compared with the figure recorded earlier this year.

Besides, the number of households falling back into poverty declined from 0.13% in 2016 to 0.1% in 2017.

However, there remain shortcomings in the work such as limited resources, unsustainable poverty reduction, especially in mountainous, ethnic minority-inhabited and natural disaster-hit areas and less attention of localities to poverty reduction.

Concluding the discussion, Anh lauded efforts of the entire political system in promoting sustainable poverty reduction by 2020.

The committee’s plenary session will go on until October 11.

(Source: VNA/ DA NANG Today)