Auditing accompanies accelerating sustainable poverty reduction

In order to speed up the disbursement process, the National Assembly issued Resolution 111/2024/QH15 allowing the implementation of a special mechanism in capital allocation, helping localities proactively adjust projects according to reality.

On March 25, the Auditing Newspaper organized an online discussion with the theme "Accelerating sustainable poverty reduction - The role of the State Audit", to assess the current situation and seek solutions to overcome difficulties in implementing the program.

Slow disbursement, many localities confused

According to the State Audit Office, in the 2021-2022 period, only VND9,526.1 billion was allocated to the program, accounting for 12.7% of the total budget. Notably, the disbursement rate was only 38.6%, of which investment capital reached 43.2%, but public service capital was only 29.9%.

Explaining the reason, Mr. Vu Van Tam - Head of the audit team of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021-2022 said: The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected the implementation progress, especially in the initial stage. In addition, the guiding documents were issued slowly, most of which did not take effect until July 2022, causing confusion in local implementation. In addition, the process of project preparation, appraisal and approval is prolonged due to the large and constantly changing list.

Mr. Vu Van Tam - Head of the audit team of the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021-2022 - Photo: VGP/HT

Sharing the same view, Mr. Pham Hong Dao - former Deputy Chief of the National Office for Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (formerly) said that some nutrition and housing support projects have not been allocated capital in time in 2022, leading to people not benefiting at the right time. In addition, the consolidation of the Program Steering Committee at all levels also slowed down the implementation progress.

There are some problems in the implementation process compared to reality. For example, the project on nutrition support as well as housing support has not been allocated capital in 2022, leading to beneficiaries not being able to benefit, even though they are subject to...

New mechanism helps to remove obstacles, audit increases transparency

In order to speed up the disbursement process, the National Assembly issued Resolution 111/2024/QH15 allowing the implementation of a special mechanism in capital allocation, helping localities proactively adjust projects according to reality. In addition, Decree 38/2023/ND-CP and Circular 55/2023/TT-BTC were also amended to address shortcomings in financial procedures.

On the advisory side, Mr. Pham Hong Dao emphasized the role of close supervision and thorough evaluation of feasible projects to prioritize implementation.

Localities need to strengthen coordination with the State Audit Office to promptly adjust programs, avoiding scattered and fragmented investment. At the same time, reviewing and improving the capacity of implementing staff is a key factor to ensure the program is on the right track.

"We need to continue to improve the capacity of staff implementing the program at the grassroots level, while strengthening coordination between levels to quickly resolve arising problems," said Mr. Pham Hong Dao.

Mr. Pham Hong Dao - former Deputy Chief of the National Office for Poverty Reduction, Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs (formerly) - Photo: VGP/HT

According to Mr. Vu Van Tam - Head of the audit team of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the period 2021-2022: The important change is the mechanism for transferring undisbursed capital to the following year, helping localities have more time to implement the project. However, Mr. Vu Van Tam also noted that although the mechanism is more open, localities still need to be more proactive in planning for effective capital use.

One of the issues of public concern is the risk of unsustainable poverty reduction, re-poverty and new poverty. According to the 2022 audit report, 10 out of 12 audited provinces achieved poverty reduction targets higher than the national average, but Khanh Hoa and Quang Nam provinces had lower results.

Mr. Vu Van Tam commented: The situation of falling back into poverty comes from many causes, including objective factors such as natural disasters and epidemics. However, it must also be recognized that a part of the population still has a mentality of relying on and waiting for the State's support policies.

To minimize this risk, the State Audit Office affirms that it will continue to closely monitor the use of resources, ensuring that investments are deployed on target and bring about real efficiency.

The goal of the Program by 2025 is that the multidimensional poverty rate will decrease by 1-1.5%/year, the ethnic minority poverty rate will decrease by over 3%/year, and 30% of poor districts and 30% of particularly disadvantaged communes will escape poverty.

Up to now, after more than 3/4 of the journey, we have achieved some positive results, but the first phase of 2021-2022 encountered difficulties due to the impact of Covid-19, slow capital allocation, unsynchronized policies and inadequate management.

"In 2024, with the synchronous participation of the entire political system, from the Government, the National Assembly, the Central Government to localities, especially the National Assembly's issuance of Resolution 111/2024/QH15 with 8 specific policy mechanisms for all 3 national target programs, at the same time, ministries, departments and branches have also actively revised policy documents that are still inadequate and not suitable for practice, along with the enthusiasm of local authorities at all levels, I believe that in 2025, we will successfully complete the content and goals set out by the Program", Mr. Vu Van Tam.

The representative of the State Audit Office said that improving auditor capacity and applying technology is an important step.

"This solution helps us quickly detect errors such as misallocation of capital, failure to use up central capital, or lack of counterpart funds, while saving time and human resources. In the last year of 2025 and beyond, auditing activities will contribute to ensuring that resources are used effectively and transparently, supporting sustainable poverty reduction," said a representative of the State Audit Office.

In recent times, the Government leaders have directed ministries, branches and localities to implement many key solutions to speed up progress such as: Reviewing and adjusting ineffective projects to focus resources on projects with high practical impact; increasing decentralization and delegation of authority to localities in approving and implementing projects, ensuring proactive management; applying technology in auditing and monitoring, helping to detect violations early and make timely adjustments; enhancing accountability of implementing agencies to ensure resources are used transparently and effectively.

According to the Government's direction, 2025 is the decisive year of the program, requiring strong participation of the entire political system. Therefore, localities need to coordinate closely with the State Audit Office to improve the effectiveness of supervision, ensuring that every dollar of investment brings practical benefits to the people.

Mr. Minh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/kiem-toan-dong-hanh-day-nhanh-tien-do-giam-ngheo-ben-vung-102250325175142619.htm