Vietnam Day for the Poor October 17: “Leave no one behind”

The message “For the poor - No one left behind” has become the guiding principle in all decisions of Tuyen Quang province. Each poverty reduction and social security program bears the mark of sharing, so that development is not only about speed but also about fairness and humanity.

Mong people in Can Ty commune skillfully make linen products, both preserving traditional crafts and increasing income.

Giving opportunities, sowing faith to escape poverty

From makeshift, leaky roofs to thousands of sturdy "3-hard" houses springing up throughout the villages; from small loans to big opportunities opening up in people's lives, Tuyen Quang is gradually realizing the goal of providing opportunities, sowing confidence in escaping poverty, helping people rise up and take control of their lives.

After more than 20 years of living in a dilapidated house with bamboo walls and palm-leaf roof, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuoi, in Minh Thanh village (Bac Quang commune), had a more difficult life when her husband suffered a stroke. With an income of only 4 million VND/month, she had to take care of her husband, raise her children, and save up to repair the house. “My husband and I once reluctantly refused 60 million VND from the government to build a new house, because we were afraid we could not afford the corresponding cost. But thanks to the government's efforts and the help of the people, the level IV house worth more than 100 million VND was completed, bringing endless happiness to the family,” Ms. Tuoi said.

From the end of 2024 to August 2025, the whole province has completed the goal of building and repairing 15,064 houses, with a total cost of nearly 800 billion VND. Of which, nearly 6,000 families are under the National Target Program (NTPP) for sustainable poverty reduction. Not only relying on the state budget, the province also mobilized the strength of the community when 7,993 "3-hard" houses were completed thanks to 425.67 billion VND from socialized sources and 104,070 working days of the people. This result shows that the movement "Joining hands to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses in Tuyen Quang province" is no longer an administrative task but has become a common mission of the whole society, affirming the outstanding effectiveness of poverty reduction and social security work in the locality.

Sturgeon farming opens up a new direction for economic development, increasing income for people in Nam An village, Tan Quang commune.

Speaking at the Conference summarizing the Program to eliminate temporary and dilapidated houses in 2025, Provincial Party Secretary Hau A Lenh affirmed: "With the starting point of a mountainous province, a large area, people's lives are still difficult, and resources are limited, completing the goal of eliminating 15,064 temporary and dilapidated houses in a short time is truly a miracle". This is not just a statistical number but a symbol of the will and spirit of great national unity, where the Party's will blends with the people's heart, where the government, businesses and people join hands to light up warm homes, fostering faith in a better life.

Along with the housing support program, Tuyen Quang province also implements many practical policies, from health insurance, legal aid, electricity policy, preferential credit or specific policies for extremely difficult areas to support households to escape poverty. Mr. Vu Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the Tuyen Quang Provincial Social Policy Bank branch, said: As of the end of September 2025, the total outstanding debt reached 10,543.3 billion VND, directly serving thousands of loan projects. In the period of 2021 - 2025, nearly 251,400 poor and near-poor households and policy beneficiaries will have access to capital, contributing to the development of livestock farming, production, job creation and improving the quality of life. Mr. Nguyen Van Dac, Co Ba village (Xuan Van commune) shared: “The preferential loan helped my family raise a herd of nearly 20 goats, opening up a new direction for the household economy. Thanks to that, my family has more motivation to rise up, determined not to let poverty return.”

The synchronous implementation of programs and projects to support production, create livelihoods and increase income for poor and near-poor households has shown clear effectiveness, affirming the feasibility and sustainability of poverty reduction policies. The poverty rate in the whole province has decreased by an average of 4.86% per year, expected to be only 18.83% by the end of 2025. Notably, many households such as the families of Giang Mi Mua, Hong Ngai A village, Thang Mo commune; Hau Mi Na, Na Poong village, Tat Nga commune; Luong Cong Han, Doi 5 village, Linh Ho commune... voluntarily wrote applications to escape poverty. This not only frees up resources for the state to support more difficult cases, but also creates a ripple effect in the community about the spirit of self-reliance to escape poverty.

Removing the "bottleneck" of sustainable poverty reduction

With a straightforward and honest perspective, Tuyen Quang province has pointed out the “bottlenecks” that slow down the process of sustainable poverty reduction. Among them, some policies, norms and procedures for implementing national target programs have not been guided in a timely manner or are still general, causing delays and difficulties in application. The overlap between national target programs has made the boundaries of funding sources and implementation responsibilities unclear.

In addition, the refrain of escaping poverty and falling back into poverty still weighs heavily on people’s livelihoods. In early September, the stilt house of Mr. Ma Van Phuong’s family in Tan Thanh village, Bang Hanh commune was completely burned down due to an electrical short circuit, causing a loss of more than 150 million VND. “After many years of struggle, my family has just escaped poverty, but now it has fallen into dire straits. The five mouths in the house depend on only one main worker, two adults are often sick, and two children are both school-age,” Mr. Phuong shared.

Not only Mr. Phuong's family, the whole province has an average of 6.6 households that escape poverty but there is 1 household that falls back into poverty or a new poor household. This shows that a part of the households only temporarily improve their lives, and are easily pushed back if they encounter risks, natural disasters or lack the ability to maintain income.

The Resolution of the 1st Provincial Party Congress, term 2025 - 2030, sets a target of reducing the number of poor households by an average of 3 - 4% each year. To achieve this goal, the province has proposed competent authorities to review and consolidate documents to overcome the overlap between national target programs, and at the same time issue specific and practical instructions for each component project. Along with that, the province continues to promote the conversion of appropriate crop and livestock structures, connect value chains, support people to access preferential loans, and at the same time strengthen the social security network for households prone to falling back into poverty. On the other hand, it encourages people to be self-reliant, self-reliant, change the mindset of relying on state support, contributing to the completion of the set poverty reduction target.

Article and photos: Thu Phuong

Source: https://baotuyenquang.com.vn/xa-hoi/202510/ngay-vi-nguoi-ngheo-viet-nam-17-10-khong-de-ai-bi-bo-lai-phia-sau-0fd47b7/