Committee: United Nations Development Program

Country: The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Agenda: Global goals 2030: No poverty and Zero hunger

Located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a developing country that had struggled with long periods
of poverty in the past. It was not until after the Fall of Saigon—according to World Bank
Vietnam (2021), that the economic reformation policy “Đổi mới" launched in 1986 brought
poverty rates down from 70% to 6%. Assuredly, most Vietnamese are currently middle-class or
“comfortable”, but 86% of those living in poverty are ethnic minorities 1 due to a multitude of
constraints2. Furthermore, the recent 2021 COVID Delta Variant wave across Asia pushed many
into destitution, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, forcing a citywide lockdown and prompting a
majority to return to their hometowns due to financial issues.

Vietnam achieved the UN’s Millennium Development Goal by halving its poverty rate in 2005,
10 years before the deadline set in 2015 through many of its policies 3. The Hunger Eradication
and Poverty Reduction Program (HEPR) and The National Targeted Program for Poverty
Reduction (NTPPR) focused on 2 indispensable variables to eradicating poverty: health
insurance and education for rural poverty-stricken areas, along with the World Bank
partnership which successfully helped 1.5 million natives join the middle class 4. Regarding the
recent and ongoing COVID outbreak, the government has issued financial incentives for those
meeting set eligibility criteria. Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP stated 12 policies concerning the
benefits of laid-off employees and employers, totaling US$1.13 billion. Under Resolution No.
68, unemployment benefits range from US$65/month to US$161/month along with the
cancellation of compulsory Social Security fees. Additionally, pregnant employees and
employees with quarantined children receive an additional US$43/person. 5

Eradicating poverty is inherently a difficult task, as cross-country differences in the market and
price levels demand flexible adaptations from humanitarian aid providers 6. Nevertheless, local
and international organizations are taking small steps to eradicate extreme poverty (under
US$1.90/day) by 2030. For instance, the United Nations called for US$730 million for
humanitarian aid in Afghanistan in 2019 due to war and drought 7, as many civilians were
severely poverty-stricken. Moreover, in 2019, the Norwegian Government allocated US$4.59
billion to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals by the UNDP, emphasizing on SDG

1 The World Bank. “The World Bank in Vietnam”. 2021, https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/vietnam/overview

2 Quyen, N. H. "Reducing rural poverty in Vietnam: issues, policies, challenges." Mekong Development Research Institute, Written for the Expert Group Meeting on
Eradicating Rural Poverty to Implement the. Vol. 2030. 2019.
3 Hoang Van Minh, Juhwan Oh, Luu Ngoc Hoat, Jong-Koo Lee & Jennifer Stewart Williams. “Millennium Development Goals in Vietnam: Taking Multi-sectoral
Action to Improve Health and Address the Social Determinants”, Global Health Action. Vol. 9, no. 1, 2016.
4 Wong, K. “Policies That Help Alleviate Poverty in Vietnam”. 2020, https://borgenproject.org/alleviate-poverty-in-vietnam/
5 Samuel, P. “Vietnam Issues Support Package for Employers, Employees Hit by Fourth Wave: Resolution 68”. 2021,
https://www.vietnam-briefing.com/news/vietnam-issues-support-package-for-employers-employees-hit-by-fourth-wave-resolution-68.html/
6 Roser, M. Ortiz-Ospina, E. “Global Extreme Poverty”. 2013, https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty
7 Reuters. “U.N. seeks more emergency aid for Afghanistan as poverty grows”. 2020, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-aid-idUSKBN1ZQ1Z0
No Poverty and Zero Hunger along with US$54.53 million specifically for vulnerable groups 8.
Other NGOs include Action Against Hunger and BRAC based in Bangladesh are also contributing
to eradicating poverty by providing humanitarian aid to over 45 nations and over 100 million
people globally 9.

In Vietnam, as aforementioned, most natives of ethnic minority heritage live in poverty due to
lack of education and job opportunities. The first step is to ensure quality education in rural and
mountainous areas, maintain enrollment until secondary grade and offer remedial programs to
adults and children to ease their educational transition—as well as Vietnamese language
proficiency. Education should also constitute nutritional, financial management and commercial
loans community programs. The Vietnamese government also needs to improve labor activity
and invest in job infrastructure and increase mobility in traveling from rural areas to urban
cities10. Regarding agricultural development, solutions include developing markets with fit
agricultural demands, and impose inclusive policies concerning use of land and forestry.
Internationally, there requires more thorough and peaceful coordination between nations to
agree on efficacious plans that are applicable to national interests and general needs.

To encapsulate, all nations need to be devoted to contributing to joint efforts internationally to

eradicate poverty, as each nation is pivotal to policymaking. Vietnam has had a success story in
eradicating poverty even in war-time conditions, but little attention is currently given to the
suffering of ethnic minorities in rural areas; ergo extensive measures are to be taken to
ascertain Vietnam, if not global poverty is completely non-existent by 2030.

8 Norway in the UN. “NOK 1.4 billion increase in aid budget”. 2019, https://www.norway.no/en/missions/UN/news/news-on-development-and-humanitarian-
efforts/nok-1.4-billion-increase-in-aid-budget/
9 Vachharajani, N. “5 NGOs aiming to end poverty and hunger”. 2019, https://borgenproject.org/five-ngos-aiming-to-end-poverty-and-hunger/
10 Quyen, N. H. "Reducing rural poverty in Vietnam: issues, policies, challenges." Mekong Development Research Institute, Written for the Expert Group Meeting
on Eradicating Rural Poverty to Implement the. Vol. 2030. 2019.