Hanoi (VNA) - COVID-19 has had a seriousimpact on vulnerable households, especially those of ethnic minority groups, thosewith members working in the non-official sector, or those with immigrants,according to a report released at a workshop in Hanoi on July 23.
Jointly prepared by the UNDP, UN Women, and the Centrefor Analyses and Forecasting at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, thereport highlights the pandemic’s socio-economic influence on vulnerablehouseholds and businesses in Vietnam, with consideration also given to genderfactors.
It said the impacts led to an increase in temporarypoverty, especially in ethnic minority households.
It underscored that COVID-19 caused considerable declinesin revenue for both business households and micro, small and medium-sizedenterprises, forcing them to slow down operations and cut staff.
Addressing the workshop, Caitlin Wiese, UNDP Resident Representative inVietnam, highlighted that the objective of the joint assessment is to inform the Government’s response and recovery to COVID-19.
"This is the first assessment that brings evidence of COVID-19 impact on vulnerable households and businesses, simulates the impact on poverty, and captures information on early recovery," she said.
She stressed the importance of early, anticipatory, adaptive and agile actions of the Government combined with innovation of the people as key to the country’s initial success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and limiting its negative socio-economic impacts.
Dr Tran Toan Thang from the NationalCentre for Socio-economicInformation and Forecasting (NCIF) at the Ministry of Planning and Investmentsaid COVID-19 had a rapid and strong impact on the global and Vietnameseeconomy, while possibly triggering the greatest crisis in many decades, even moreso than the 2008 financial crisis.
Economic, trade, and investment have been interrupted,while the world financial market has become unstable and new economic andgeo-politic trends have emerged and been forecast to grow in the future, inparticular the reshaping of global supply chains.
Control of the pandemic still faces difficulties aroundthe world, while many countries may be subject to another outbreak due toopening their economy too early, he said.
He held that the prospects for economic growth in thesecond half of the year have been lowered dramatically, and stressed the needfor market broadening, investment promotion, and consumption encouragement as keymeasures to drive growth and contribute to the recovery process.
Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Chief Representative of UNWomen in Vietnam, said that if the consequences of the pandemic are not tackledcomprehensively, COVID-19 will leave severe health and socio-economic effects thatmay cause gender inequality and harm the outcomes of efforts over recentdecades to empower women.
She expressed a hope that the report’s assessments,with consideration given to gender factors, will contribute to the Government’sefforts in adopting solutions suitable to the specific demand of women and girls,while preserving and promoting achievements made in gender equality and women’sempowerment./.
Jointly prepared by the UNDP, UN Women, and the Centrefor Analyses and Forecasting at the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, thereport highlights the pandemic’s socio-economic influence on vulnerablehouseholds and businesses in Vietnam, with consideration also given to genderfactors.
It said the impacts led to an increase in temporarypoverty, especially in ethnic minority households.
It underscored that COVID-19 caused considerable declinesin revenue for both business households and micro, small and medium-sizedenterprises, forcing them to slow down operations and cut staff.
Addressing the workshop, Caitlin Wiese, UNDP Resident Representative inVietnam, highlighted that the objective of the joint assessment is to inform the Government’s response and recovery to COVID-19.
"This is the first assessment that brings evidence of COVID-19 impact on vulnerable households and businesses, simulates the impact on poverty, and captures information on early recovery," she said.
She stressed the importance of early, anticipatory, adaptive and agile actions of the Government combined with innovation of the people as key to the country’s initial success in containing the COVID-19 pandemic and limiting its negative socio-economic impacts.
Dr Tran Toan Thang from the NationalCentre for Socio-economicInformation and Forecasting (NCIF) at the Ministry of Planning and Investmentsaid COVID-19 had a rapid and strong impact on the global and Vietnameseeconomy, while possibly triggering the greatest crisis in many decades, even moreso than the 2008 financial crisis.
Economic, trade, and investment have been interrupted,while the world financial market has become unstable and new economic andgeo-politic trends have emerged and been forecast to grow in the future, inparticular the reshaping of global supply chains.
Control of the pandemic still faces difficulties aroundthe world, while many countries may be subject to another outbreak due toopening their economy too early, he said.
He held that the prospects for economic growth in thesecond half of the year have been lowered dramatically, and stressed the needfor market broadening, investment promotion, and consumption encouragement as keymeasures to drive growth and contribute to the recovery process.
Elisa Fernandez Saenz, Chief Representative of UNWomen in Vietnam, said that if the consequences of the pandemic are not tackledcomprehensively, COVID-19 will leave severe health and socio-economic effects thatmay cause gender inequality and harm the outcomes of efforts over recentdecades to empower women.
She expressed a hope that the report’s assessments,with consideration given to gender factors, will contribute to the Government’sefforts in adopting solutions suitable to the specific demand of women and girls,while preserving and promoting achievements made in gender equality and women’sempowerment./.
VNA
