Various activities will be held across the country in response to the Day for the Poor in Vietnam (October 17) and an action month for the poor.

Accordingly, an action month calling for the joint efforts of the entire country to support the poor will be launched in Hanoi on October 17 by the Vietnam Father Front Central Committee.

Agencies, organisations, and inpiduals at home and abroad, who have provided significant support for the poor and the disadvantaged in their residential areas, will be honoured at the launch ceremony.

A range of activities will be held during the action month to honour exemplary districts, communes, and households who have recorded positive performances in poverty reduction, as well as encouraging further support from businesses, agencies, and inpiduals in order to help the poor.

The Ministry of Information and Communications will launch a text messaging campaign, in which people can send a text message to the National Humanity Portal at 1400 to donate 20,000 VND to the poor.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs will coordinate with ministries and sectors to organise a conference honouring outstanding localities and examples of poverty reduction for the 2016-2020 period, and an awards ceremony to grant press awards on the poverty reduction efforts.

More than VND 50 trillion (nearly USD 2.15 billion) was donated to the National Fund for the Poor and social welfare programmes in localities nationwide from December 2000 to September 2018.

The money has been used to build and repair nearly 1.5 million houses for poor households across the country and to implement thousands of projects and social welfare programmes targeting the poor.

VNF/VNA