Da Nang (VNA) – The NationalAssembly (NA) of Vietnam coordinated with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to hold a meeting in thecentral city of Da Nang on December 18 on realising challenges posed forVietnam in the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The event is part of a conference themed “TheNational Assembly and sustainable development goals”.

A wide range of issues were discussed at themeeting, such as climate change adaptation, poverty reduction and elimination,food security guarantee, sustainable agriculture development, gender equality,and female and youth empowerment.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources andEnvironment Vo Tuan Nhan said that Vietnam is considered one of the countriesbearing the most brunt in terms of climate change impact. According to Vietnam’sclimate change research, if the sea level rises by one metre in the late 21stcentury, about 10-12 percent of its population will be directly affected andthe country could lose around 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

Therefore, Vietnam will face a lot of significantchallenges in the implementation of SDGs on climate change, he said, addingthat Vietnam has to realise its goals on emissions reduction as committed from2021 while still maintaining high economic growth. 

In addition, climate change in Vietnam hasbecome more complicated and unpredictable, unraveling quicker than predictedand impacting heavily on the people and climate change-sensitive sectors.

The use of water and the development ofhydropower plants for countries in the upper part of the Red River and MekongRiver have been exerting great impact on Vietnam, especially in the MekongDelta. These have been exacerbating the effects of climate change by increasingfloods, droughts and salt water intrusion, Nhan said.

Realising these challenges, the Party, NationalAssembly and Government of Vietnam have promulgated many important policies tocope with climate change.

Vietnam has been consistent in improving itsinstitutions, policies and laws to actively respond to climate change, promotegreen growth, and reduce carbon emissions.

The Government has issued a national action planon implementing the UN agenda 2030 for sustainable development; a resolution onthe sustainable development of the Mekong Delta in adaptation to climatechange; a target programme and national strategies on climate change and greengrowth; and a plan to implement the Paris agreement in Vietnam.

Vietnam also has gained important outcomes inpoverty reduction thanks to the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam;the regular directions of the National Assembly and Government; and the jointefforts of all sectors and society, according to Deputy Minister of Labour,Invalids, and Social Affairs Le Tan Dung.

He cited that the rate of poor householdsthroughout the country reduced from 58 percent in 1993 down to 7 percent in2017. Essential infrastructure in poor districts, communes and ethnic minority-inhabitedregions have been improved, as well as the locals’ living standards andassessment of social services.

Vietnam’s achievements in this field have beenrecognised by the international community. The UN evaluated Vietnam as one ofthe countries with the most impressive poverty reduction accomplishments duringthe implementation of the organisation’s Millennium Development Goals.

Besides the positive outcomes, challenges inpoverty reduction and social welfare still lie ahead, especially in therealisation of the SDGs on poverty elimination through 2030, the official said.

Specifically, the speed of poverty reduction isuneven and unsustainable, particularly in the northern mountainous and CentralHighland regions.

Ethnic minority households accounted for 52.66percent of the total number of poor households nationwide, according tostatistics in 2017. The average income of ethnic minority households was equalto just 40 percent of the national average.

To further the achievements that Vietnam hasgained in poverty reduction and social welfare, the country will continuereviewing and supplementing policies in the field; focusing on supportingproduction development; increasing incomes for poor households; and helpingneedy people gain access to social services, healthcare, education,accommodation, clean water, information, and infrastructure development.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture andRural Development Le Quoc Doanh, agriculture plays an important role in Vietnamin ensuring food security for nearly 95 million people, as well as livelihoodsfor nearly 65 percent of the country’s population living in rural areas, makingup 15.34 percent of the GDP.

Vietnam exported a variety of agro-forestryproducts in 2017 worth 36.52 billion USD, and the figure is projected to hit 40billion USD in 2018. There are 10 groups of commodities having the annual exportturnover of 1 billion USD or more, with fruit, cashew nuts, coffee, shrimp and timberproducts registering export values of more than 3 billion USD. Vietnamese farmproduce are now sold in 180 countries and territories around the world. Vietnamranks second in the Southeast Asian region and 15th in the world in exportingagriculture products.

However, the agriculture sector has been facedwith a lot of difficulties and challenges in ensuring food security andsustainable development, Doanh said, adding that small-scale production remainsa major challenge to realising the country’s targets of modernisation andindustrialisation, as well as increasing the quality of agriculture productsfor nearly 102 million people in 2025, and 107 million people in 2030.

The complicated development of climate changehas exerted negative impact on agricultural production and threatened foodsecurity, not to mention the increasingly scarce land, labour and capitalsources. This requires long-term strategies to mitigate damage, Doanh said.

To address difficulties, the ministry will focuson restructuring the agriculture sector, reforming growth models, and buildingnew rural areas towards developing high-tech, clean and organic agriculture inassociation with the processing industry and sales of agriculture products.

The ministry will boost the transfer andapplication of high technology to create breakthroughs in the productivity andquality of animals and plants; ensure food safety and hygiene; and increase thecompetitiveness of the sector, Doanh said.

President of the Vietnam Association for the Protectionof Children’s Rights Nguyen Thi Thanh Hoa said that in recent times Vietnam hasgained positive outcomes in implementing the SDGs on children, women and genderequality. 

Vietnam continues to use 20 percent of the Statebudget spending on education. All children under six years old are granted freehealth insurance cards. The rate of malnourished children has been reduced to13.1 percent. 

Women make up over 48 percent of the labourforce in Vietnam, with 31.6 percent of business owners being female. The currentrate of female National Assembly deputies in the ongoing 2016-2021 term is26.71 percent, 2.62 percent higher than the previous tenure.

The Government has promulgated a number ofprogrammes and projects to promote gender equality, including considerationover reducing the retirement age gap between men and women.

In the coming time, Vietnam will fine-tune itslegal system and policies for child protection, Hoa said. –VNA