Poverty of the Ethnic Minorities in Vietnam

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS

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POVERTY OF THE ETHNIC MINORITIES IN VIETNAM:

SITUATION AND CHALLENGES

17th September, 2015

Abstract

This paper examines the poverty of the ethnic minorities in the poorest areas in Vietnam. We find that the ethnic minority now constitute more than a half of the poor population, though they account for around 14.5 percent of the population. Although economic reform has brought remarkable progress in poverty reduction in Vietnam, the scale and depth of ethnic minority poverty in Vietnam presents one of the major challenges to development in these areas. The minorities lower living standards result from the complex interplay of overlapping disadvantages, which start in utero and continue until adult life. This suggests an awaking alarm for the focus on provision of basic infrastructure and public services emphasized in most of the current policies and programmes for ethnic minorities.

Table of Contents

Introduction        1

Chapter 1. Poverty Profile of the Poor Ethnic Minorities        2

1.1.        Generals of poverty        2

1.2.        Poverty in Vietnam as an ethnic phenomenon        4

1.3.        Inequality: the ethnic minorities lagging behind        7

1.4 Other facts of poverty in the extremely difficult communes        9

Chapter 2. Aspects of public services and challenge for the poor ethnic minorities        13

2.1        Less access to basic infrastructure        13

2.2        Ethnic minority education issues        15

2.3        Employment, incomes and mobility problems        17

Chapter 3. Recommendations for Future Policies and Programs        20

3.1  Continue to develop necessary infrastructures        20

3.2 Enhancing social welfare for the poor and ethnic minorities        22

3.3 Improve capacity management officials on poverty reduction in the areas of ethnic minorities        22

3.4 Enhancing micro-credit for the poor and ethnic minority        24

CONCLUSION        25

REFERENCES        26

List of tables and figures