Social development
The poor
Rent control law being ignored
The government is failing to enforce, or even make landlords and tenants aware of, the new rent-control law, even as rents begin to creep up in anticipation of garment workers receiving their annual wage raise next month, labour advocates say. The legislation, which went into effect ...
Ho Chi Minh City adopts poverty measures
The Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council has recently approved adoption of a multi-dimensional poverty measure in the city’s 2016-20 poverty reduction programme. It measures, besides income, also deprivation in terms of five basic needs — education, health care, employment and social insurance, living conditions, and ...
Government must help homeless: UN
The United Nations on 15 December called on the government to do more to protect its homeless after years of so-called street sweeps and a lack of social care have left destitute Cambodians vulnerable to health risks and violence. “Cambodia is growing fast economically, and the signs ...
EU gives boost to nutrition, food security in Xekong
The European Union is assisting the Laos Partnerships for Poverty Reduction and Women’s Empowerment Project in Dakcheung district, Xekong province, with a view to ensuring that children have access to nutritious food. As with other EU funded nutrition and food security projects in many provinces across ...
Poverty scheme moves to 2nd phase
The Pid Thong Lang Phra (doing good without any intention of getting anything back) royal programme seeks to secure the participation of educational institutions and private companies for its next five-year development plan to help address rural poverty. The project’s secretary-general MR Disnadda Diskul said the 2016-20 programme aims to tackle ...
Thai PM tells SRT to make mass-transit rail more affordable
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) on 14 December to make fares on new mass-transit rail lines affordable for the poor. Presiding over the start the test runs for the for the Purple Line between Bang Yai and Tao Poon, Gen Prayut said ...
Minister encourages food, drink safety following deaths
Minister of Health Mam Bunheng on 13 December asked the public to stop drinking rice wine and eating sick animals after 19 people died and 170 fell ill in Kratie province over the past month. Improperly fermented booze can contain methyl alcohol or methanol, which is harmful ...
Northwest residents struggle to escape from prolonged poverty
The level of poverty in the northwest region of Vietnam is 2.7 times higher than in the rest of the country. This was announced at a conference on 10 December to discuss rapid and sustainable poverty reduction measures in the six northwest provinces of Ha Giang, Cao ...
Taking on climate change in the dry zone
A UNDP project in the country’s dry zone aims to help villages weather climate change by improving access to water sources and food security. The project will be implemented in Shwebo and Monywa in Sagaing Region, Myingyan and Nyaung-U in Mandalay Region and Chauk in ...
Mining destroys local way of life
The mining of minerals has caused serious harm to the public’s environment, experts warned. A recent report presented at a workshop held by the People and Nature Centre (PanNature) and the Vietnam Mining Coalition showed that mining activities is a direct cause of hunger and poverty ...