DIRECTIVE No.37-TTg OF JANUARY 17, 1997, OF THE PRIME MINISTER ON ACCELERATING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STRATEGY ON POPULATION AND FAMILY PLANNING TO THE YEAR 2000

The implementation of the Resolution of the Fourth Plenum of the Party Central Committee (7th Tenure) on the population and family planning policy and the Strategy on Population and Family Planning to the Year 2000, which were approved in Decision No.270-TTg of June 3, 1993, of the Prime Minister, has over the past years brought about visible changes, both in awareness and materialization, to the work of population control and family planning, yielding encouraging results (including a decrease in the population growth rate compared with the previous years). However, the achieved results are not yet steadfast, due to the still widespread mentality of the population wishing to have many children and the traditional preference of boys to girls. A fast progress in this work is now more difficult to achieve than before since the target groups and their habitats are now harder to reach. Meanwhile, our country�s population which is already large is further burdened by a high birth rate. This affects in no small measure our socio-economic development and our efforts to improve the standard of living of the people of all strata.

In order for the population and family-planning work to achieve better results, creating favorable conditions for the successful implementation of the plan for socio-economic development to the year 2000 and the national industrialization-modernization program adopted by the 8th National Party Congress, the Prime Minister hereby instructs:

1. To concentrate efforts on achieving the plan for reducing the birth rate so that it shall have dropped to 1.5-1.6% by the year 2000 and attain the replacement level (averagely two children per couple in the whole society) by 2005 at the latest, and eventually stabilize the population size at the appropriate level.

All branches and levels must consider the realization of these targets one of their central tasks and focus their leadership on guiding their population and family planning agencies and other specialized agencies and units to mobilize the entire nation to well carry this task, regarding the implementation result as one of the criteria for evaluating and appointing personnel.

2. To achieve the above-mentioned targets, in the four years from 1997 to 2000, the following must be undertaken successfully:

a) To consolidate and perfect the system of organizations in population control and family planning from the center to the grassroots. The Government Commission for Organization and Personnel shall coordinate with the National Committee for Population and Family Planning and the related Ministries, branches and organizations, and the People�s Committees of the provinces and cities directly under the Central Government, especially the newly-detached provinces, to consolidate and perfect this system, paying attention to improving the quality of the contingent of officials and functionaries operating in the system. Not to assign personnel who have violated the population and family-planning policy since the issuance of the Resolution of the Fourth Plenum of the Party Central Committee (7th Tenure) to take charge of this work.

To pay special attention to the contingent of cadres in charge of population and family-planning work at communes and wards and collaborators in villages and hamlets so as to well carry out the work of education and mobilization and the distribution of non-clinical contraceptive instruments (those which do not require medical intervention) and monitor the progress of population and family-planning work.

b) To apply the mechanism of public allocation of the entire budget for population and family-planning work, allocating the bulk of it to the localities (96%, with 68% of which to the villages and local people), and to materialize it through contracts of responsibility. The National Committee on Population and Family Planning, the Ministry of Finance and the People�s Committees at all levels shall closely coordinate in reviewing the work so as to perfect it with a view to well managing and effectively utilizing State Budget investment in population control and family planning. To increase budget allocations to the grassroots and ensure that it reach the population; the population and family planning activities of the branches and levels must aim to serve the grassroots levels and stimulate their activities; and at the same time to mobilize contributions from the population to this work.

With regard to the management of foreign aid for population control and family planning, the Ministry of Planning and Investment shall coordinate with the National Committee for Population and Family Planning to study, and submit to the Government for approval a mechanism to utilize it most effectively for the targets of the national program for population and family planning.

With regard to the borrowed capital, the Ministry of Finance shall, together with the National Committee for Population and Family Planning, study ways to speed up the disbursement and put it into early and effective use.

c) To accelerate the communication work on population and family planning. The Vietnam Television, the Voice of Vietnam Radio and other mass media should maintain and improve the quality of the communication programs on population and family planning. The People�s Committees at all levels shall direct the communication agencies to design and realize local communication programs on population and family planning and, at the same time, relay Programs on Population and Family Planning of the central stations.

All levels, branches and people�s and social organizations should speed up communication activities directly addressed to the target groups, combine regular communication activities with campaigns of integrated communication and the provision of family planning services so as to achieve a vigorous change in the implementation of the programs for population and family planning.

The Ministry of Education and Training should better introduce into the schools educational programs on population and family planning with a view to shaping a steady consciousness of population and family planning among the young generations.

d) The Ministry of Health and the National Committee on Population and Family Planning shall create all favorable conditions to raise the quality of population and family planning services in the provision of clinical contraceptive measures at health stations.

To broaden the modes of providing non-clinical contraceptive measures (condom, pills, etc.) to every household through a system of population and family planning workers. Step by step to materialize the program of social marketing (selling at reduced prices) of contraceptive devices both to raise popular consciousness of using the devices and to stimulate the popularization of population and family planning work.

e) The Ministries and people�s and social organizations should coordinate with the National Committee on Population and Family Planning to review the policy documents so as to change those contents which do not conform to the population and family planning targets and policies. From now on, the Ministries and branches shall consult the National Committee on Population and Family Planning in the course of drafting regulatory documents related to population and family planning policy before submitting them for approval or issuance.

3. The National Committee on Population and Family Planning shall have to coordinate with the concerned agencies in drafting plans and programs of action, and maintain regular control on and review of the implementation of this Directive and report the implementation results to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister