(BGDT) - Over the past years, Party committees, authorities, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations at all levels have continuously joined hands and mobilized all resources to help the poor, near-poor and people in difficult circumstances improve their housing so that they can work and produce with peace of mind and gradually escape poverty.

The power of unity

According to the results of the review of poor and near-poor households (according to the multidimensional poverty standard applied for the period 2022-2025), the whole province still has more than 17,900 poor households, accounting for 3.81%; near-poor households are more than 19,700 households, accounting for 4.2%. Among them, there are many cases of housing difficulties.

Leaders of the Provincial Red Cross Association and delegates started building a house for Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa in Nghia An village, Nghia Phuong commune (Luc Nam) in May 2023.

To help the poor settle down, in 2022, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels and member organizations in the province supported the construction and repair of 1,586 "Great Unity" houses, gratitude houses, charity houses, and humanitarian houses for poor, near-poor, and extremely disadvantaged households (1,243 new houses, 343 houses repaired) with a total amount of nearly 35 billion VND.

Member organizations of the Vietnam Fatherland Front supported the construction and repair of 459 houses of gratitude, charity, and humanitarian houses... worth nearly 11.6 billion VND. Typical examples include: the Red Cross Society (RCS), the Women's Union (WU), the Farmers' Association, the Provincial Federation of Labor, and the Veterans' Association...

According to statistics from the Movement Committee (Provincial Fatherland Front Committee), 30% of the funding to support the construction of “Great Unity” houses comes from the community. In many places, the “Turnkey” program is even implemented (full support for building the entire house for households that cannot afford it).

Tan Yen District is a unit with high results in supporting the construction of "Great Solidarity" houses every year. Ms. Duong Tuyet Lan, Chairwoman of the District Fatherland Front Committee, said: "Support for the construction and repair of houses for poor and near-poor households is always a priority for the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels in the district. In the past two years, the whole district has supported the construction and repair of 218 houses; worth more than 6.3 billion VND, exceeding the set plan".

Depending on the conditions, each locality has its own creative approach, but all aim towards the common goal of eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses for the poor. Yen Dung district implements the “Turnkey” program; Viet Yen district People’s Committee has a project to support poor households with housing.

Joining hands in the work of poverty reduction and ensuring social security in the province, over the years, the Provincial Red Cross Association has coordinated with authorities at all levels and sectors to grasp humanitarian addresses. From there, it mobilized people from all walks of life, agencies, units, businesses, and philanthropists to support improving the living conditions of people in difficult circumstances. In 2022, the Provincial Red Cross Association at all levels inaugurated and handed over 25 Red Cross houses. Since the beginning of the year, the Association at all levels in the province has mobilized support to build 38 Red Cross houses.

Building dream homes

With the support of organizations, groups and philanthropists, many new houses have been completed. In the hot weather of June, the family of Ms. Pham Thi Lan (born in 1995) in Kim Son village, Thuong Lan commune (Viet Yen) can rest assured in their new house, paved with ceramic tiles and covered with cold corrugated iron. This "warm house of love" was supported by the District Women's Union in coordination with the Commune Women's Union with 32.5 million VND and many working days to build. The project is about 70 m2 wide and was just handed over at the end of November 2022.

It is known that Ms. Lan’s family is in difficult circumstances. She, her husband and two children previously lived in an old house built of bamboo, the plaster was peeling off. Ms. Lan herself was in poor health and often sick.

Ms. Lan said: “My family’s old house was roofed with cement sheets, had a dusty ground floor, and was swelteringly hot in the summer. Thanks to the help of the government, departments, and organizations, my family has a spacious house. This is a great motivation for my husband and I to work with peace of mind, develop the economy, and raise our children to adulthood.”

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan (born in 1968), in Dong Can village, Ngoc Van commune (Tan Yen) is a poor household. Her husband is serving a life sentence. Her son Lai Van Tan (born in 2000) is the only hope of the family, having a traffic accident in 2019 while studying at university. Due to lack of treatment, he suffered from muscle atrophy in both legs, could not walk, and needed someone to take care of him.

Currently, Ms. Loan and her children are living in a house that was built with the help of relatives but has not been completed due to lack of funds. Sharing these difficulties, in early June, the District Red Cross Association mobilized the Thien Tam Fund, calling on benefactors to support Ms. Loan's family with 70 million VND to continue completing the house, have more capital to make a living, and soon stabilize their lives.

In 2022, the Red Cross Society at all levels in Tan Yen district mobilized funds to build 7 Red Cross houses with a total value of more than 1 billion VND, supporting 806 households in difficult circumstances with an amount of nearly 4.9 billion VND.

Ms. Giap Thi Hien, President of the Tan Yen District Red Cross Association, said: “In order to provide timely and appropriate support, the District Red Cross Association regularly coordinates with grassroots associations to grasp the situation and call for and mobilize businesses and philanthropists to support. Such concern and sharing contributes to helping many people escape poverty and develop the economy.”

According to Mr. Trinh Huu Ban, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee, in recent years, the results of mobilizing support for building houses for poor, near-poor and especially disadvantaged households in Bac Giang province have always been high; the rate of poor households has decreased annually. To achieve these results, the Fatherland Front Committees at all levels have actively promoted the purpose and significance of the "Great Unity" house building program in many forms.

In the coming time, the Fatherland Front at all levels will continue to review and correctly assess the current housing situation, economic conditions, classify subjects, and specific support levels. Strengthen inspection and supervision of the mobilization of resources to support the construction of "Great Solidarity" houses to ensure transparency, democracy, and avoid waste.

In 2023, the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee allocated 5.1 billion VND from the Provincial Fund for the Poor to support the construction of 150 "Great Unity" houses for poor households in 8 districts: Son Dong, Yen The, Luc Nam, Luc Ngan, Hiep Hoa, Tan Yen, Yen Dung, Lang Giang; the support level is 30 million VND/house (for Son Dong district alone, it is 50 million VND/house).

Article and photos: Thu Thuy

Help the poor renovate their homes

(BGDT) - In recent years, Hiep Hoa district (Bac Giang) has mobilized many resources to support the construction and renovation of houses for the poor. Through meaningful work, it has contributed to helping the poor have more conditions to stabilize their lives and escape poverty.

Rules of the 2023 Journalism Contest on Rapid and Sustainable Poverty Reduction

In order to promote information about the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's and the province's policies and laws on poverty reduction, the Bac Giang Provincial Journalists Association in coordination with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs organized a press contest on rapid and sustainable poverty reduction, preventing re-poverty and preventing the emergence of new poor households on the province's mass media.

Hiep Hoa: Diversifying approaches, sustainable poverty reduction

(BGDT) - Implementing the National Target Program on Sustainable Poverty Reduction for the 2021-2025 period, Hiep Hoa district (Bac Giang) has deployed many effective methods, thereby contributing to gradually reducing the rate of poor households in the area.