Half-a-million poor families in rural areas will receive housing supportunder a new proposal which the Ministry of Construction has submittedto the Government for approval.

The proposal, which requires18.4 trillion VND (1.15 billion USD) in funding, aims to improve thepoor's living standards and contribute to sustainable poverty reductionby making the target beneficiaries' homes resistant to storms andfloods. It specifies various types of support from the State budget forspecific groups of beneficiaries in the second phase of a State policyon housing support for the needy.

The money will be sourced fromcentral and local budgets, preferential loans and contributions fromthe whole community, including the target beneficiaries.

Underthe plan, each beneficiary household will receive cash ranging from5million VND to 14 million VND (nearly 240-660 USD), depending on thehousehold's specific situation and local conditions, as well aspreferential loans for building or upgrading the house.

Targetbeneficiaries are poor people who are not entitled to other housingsupport programmes which are being or will be carried out, such as thescheme on building flood-proof residential areas in the Mekong Delta,the resettlement programme for residents living in disaster-prone andpoor areas, and the building of flood-proof houses for poor people inthe central region.

Figures show that about 510,000 rural households have been facing accommodation difficulties from 2001 to 2015.

Accordingto the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the number ofpoor households in Vietnam has dropped from 22 percent of the totalnumber of households in 2005 to 7.8 percent last year.-VNA