Hanoi (VNA) – The People’s Committee of Hanoi launched the Month forthe Poor and Social Welfare in 2020 at a ceremony held at the Hanoi Opera onOctober 6.

The ceremony was attended by Politburo member and Secretaryof the municipal Party Committee Vuong Dinh Hue, Minister of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, Vice President and General Secretary of theVietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Central Committee Hau A Lenh, and Chairman ofthe municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh.

At the event, the Fund for the Poor of Hanoi received over 28.2billion VND (1.2 million USD) from a number of organisations and individuals. Theorganising board also honoured 90 organisations, businesses and individuals whohave made great contributions to the city’s social welfare activities, andinaugurated 90 Great Unity houses in celebration of the capital city’s 17thParty Congress and the VFF’s 90th traditional day.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, President of the VietnamFatherland Front Committee of Hanoi Nguyen Lan Huong said that 2020 is adifficult and challenging year for Hanoi and Vietnam at large due to impactcaused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, with the motto of “No poor people left behind,” theall-level Fatherland Fronts of the capital city have actively disseminated andencouraged local people to continue supporting its Fund for the Poor.

In the first nine months of this year, the municipal Fundfor the Poor raised over 15 billion VND. Thanks to the mobilised capital,nearly 400 Great Unity houses, including 90 inaugurated this time, have beenbuilt, thousands of poor households have gain access to preferential loans, andhealthcare services.

She appreciated valuable support by offices, organisationsand individuals, and called for continued assistance for the municipal Fund forthe Poor as well as social welfare programmes.

Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anhaffirmed that over the past times, the capital city has paid special attentionto directing and allocating resources for the implementation of povertyreduction and social welfare policies.

Implementing the national target programme on sustainablepoverty reduction, Hanoi always follows closely policies of the Party CentralCommittee, the Government and the Prime Minister; has proactively made andissued specialised social policies and prioritised resources to promptly andfully carry out social policies and support rapid and sustainable poverty reduction.

As of late September 2020, the number of poor households inthe capital city accounted for only 0.4 percent. Of note, 12 districts, namelyBa Dinh, Cau Giay, Tay Ho, Thanh Xuan, Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da, Nam TuLiem, Ha Dong, Dong Anh, Gia Lam and Hoai Duc, reported no poor households,with Cau Giay and Hai Ba Trung also having no near-poor households.

Together with policies of the municipal People’s Committee,the Fatherland Fronts at all levels have carried out a lot of substantial activitiesto care for and support poor households, people living in difficultcircumstances and policy beneficiaries.

Thanks to the Fund of the Poor, poor people have had firmhouses, had tools and capital for production and business, had stable jobs, andgained access to health care. Specially, in the first nine months of 2020, thecapital city promptly supported local people affected by the COVID-19 pandemicand issued many support policies to help them in disease prevention and lifestabilisation.

The city leader said that one of key tasks of the 17thmunicipal Party Congress is to harmonise economic growth with culturaldevelopment, promote social progress and equality, conduct social governanceeffectively, increase social welfare and the living conditions of local people,and reduce the gap between urban and rural areas.

At the launching ceremony, Secretary of the municipal PartyCommittee Vuong Dinh Hue presented gifts to seven underprivileged households inthe city./.