Ms. Pratibha Mehta, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam
(VOVworld) - Vietnam has been acknowledged internationally for its progress in fulfilling most of the Millennium Development Goals set in the UN’s 15-year roadmap. Its highlight achievement is “Eradicating extreme poverty” ahead of schedule. But in spite of Vietnam’s remarkable progress there is still much work to be done. So where should Vietnam concentrate its efforts in the 500 days left to reach its MDGs? Here’s an assessment by Ms. Pratibha Mehta, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Vietnam.
1. What do you think about MDG efforts in Vietnam in the past few years?
Thank you very much for the opportunity. I think Vietnam since the adoption of the MDGs has shown tremendous progress itself. It is one of very few countries in the world which is on track of achieving almost all the MDGs. Its performance was very much highlighted in 2010 in the general assembly on the MDG summit. I think everyone recognizes it – the tremendous achievements Vietnam has made in reducing income poverty from gross 58% in 1993 down to just 10% in 2013. This is tremendous progress for any country in such a short period of time. In addition, it has made progress on other MDGs as well, though there’s still lots more to be done. The progress made since the adoption of the MDGs is recognized by everyone around the world.
2. Vietnam has achieved MDG 1 on “Eradicating extreme poverty”. Do you think it is the goal where Vietnam has achieved the most? And is extreme poverty the same as income poverty?
When we measured on MDG1, we are essentially measuring income poverty and on that Vietnam has done extremely well, which is now 11% but the measure of poverty keeps changing. In Vietnam, HCM City and Hanoi is actually reviewing the poverty line which has to be adjusted to make it credible poverty line we can measure. When we talk about poverty, in addition to income poverty, we also take into account other parameters like health, education, and the well-being of the person. A person is not poor only if he or she doesn’t have income. He or she can be poor if they are not taken care of. So now when we talk about poverty in Vietnam, we very much focus on the multi-dimensional nature of poverty that includes income, health, education for both girls and boys, men and women, those participating in the workforce. So it is more than income poverty.
3. Vietnam has become a lower middle income country. But Vietnam is very concerned about the risk of people falling back into poverty. What would be your recommendation for addressing this problem?
Vietnam is now a lower middle income country after its transition in 2010 to a middle income country. There are domestic issues as well as domestic development. And also some of the communities live in very remote areas. Vietnam should accelerate its progress on reforms to boost the domestic economy, to promote the private economic sector which is extremely important in contributing to the groups which are in need of poverty reduction. Vietnam can focus on innovations to reduce and invest in the values of geography which is how to reach communities who live in the mountains, how to reach communities living in remote areas, how to deliver services to these communities who are not easily accessible. So service delivery innovations are very important so that all the population can be reached in Vietnam. To systematically plan efforts to accelerate progress not just on MDGs but on other development goals as well. Vietnam is facing some challenges but there are also many opportunities. It should capitalize on the opportunities and remove the barriers that affect development progress.
4. It is time to accelerate our efforts. What do you think Vietnam should focus on in the next 500 days?
First of all is the unmet goals or targets on HIV/AIDS, a number of actions can’t be taken, to increase access of people affected by HIV/AIDS to treatment. VIETNAM should do lots more in removing the stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS. It should also prepare a sustainability strategy because, as a middle income country, Vietnam will receive less and less ODA. So the government needs to be prepared when donors withdraw their funding, especially from HIV/AID programs, how the government continues its effort. For all that, it is feasible and doable and there 500 days left to step up action on these areas. Similarly, for access to water and sanitation Vietnam has a strategy. That is a national strategy and now Vietnam needs to step up the implementation, focusing on the rural areas where there are most problems in terms of access to safe water and sanitation. Also on the environment, Vietnam has adopted a new environmental law quite recently and its implementation is quite important to ensure that the number of environment violations are reduced. There is a legal framework in place for complaints and recalls. There are a number of actions that can be taken in these 500 days.
5. As in many other countries, economic and budgetary constraints may affect Vietnam’s MDG efforts. What is the UN doing to help Vietnam reach its goals?
We are working with the government of Vietnam on a number of researches and analyses to see how Vietnam can continue to get development financing even after donors leave the country. And there are many alternative ways of accessing development financing. Vietnam is quite well positioned to access, for example, climate financing. Vietnam is the only country right now which is working on UN-REDD (the UN collaborative program on Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries) and is now assuming more national responsibilities for it. And it is recognized by other countries. We are working with the government in understanding this better in coming up with strategies and building capacity for the country to access alternative development financing. It’s very important for Vietnam to examine all possible ways to get more money into the country. Secondly we will start preparing our next UN One plan very soon. The plan will focus on supporting the government in implementing the post-2015 development agenda. We, as the UN, have been supporting the government in south-south cooperation in working with other countries in developing new partnerships with other countries, experience sharing from both sides: Vietnam has a lot to share with others and Vietnam can also learn a lot from other countries. The other external partners are also right now discussing even if they phase out, how they can still keep an engagement.