Article 1.- To approve the national target program on poverty alleviation in the 2006-2010 period, with the following principal contents:

I. The Program's objectives

1. General objectives: To speed up poverty alleviation and limit relapse into poverty; to consolidate the results of poverty alleviation efforts and create opportunities for households which have escaped from poverty to become well-off; to improve living and production conditions in poor and exceptional difficulty-stricken communes; to raise the quality of life of poor households and limit the widening of the gap in terms of income and living standards between urban and rural areas, delta and mountainous areas, and rich households and poor households.

2. Specific objective up to 2010:

a/ To strive to reduce the rate of poor households from 22% in 2005 to 10-11% by 2010 (to halve the number of poor households within five years);

b/ Incomes of poor households will increase by 1.45 times as compared with those of 2005;

c/ To strive for the target that 50% of exceptional difficulty-stricken coastal and island communes will get out of exceptional difficulties.

II. Beneficiaries of the Program

The Program targets poor people, poor households, exceptional difficulty-stricken communes and poor communes, with priority give to poor households with female heads, poor ethnic minority households and poor households of social policy beneficiaries (elderly people, disabled people and disadvantaged children).

III. The Program's implementation duration: From now to 2010.

IV. Major targets to be achieved by 2010

1. To basically build all essential infrastructure works as required in exceptional difficulty-stricken coastal and island communes.

2. To provide preferential credit loans to six million turns of poor households.

3. To conduct agricultural-forestry-fisheries extension, transfer techniques and provide guidance for 4.2 million turns of poor people to earn a living.

4. To exempt or reduce job-training fees for 150,000 poor people.

5. To grant health insurance cards for 100% of poor people for them to have their medical examination and treatment expenses covered by the Health Insurance Fund according to regulations.

6. To exempt or reduce school fees and contributions for 19 million turns of poor pupils, including 9 million of primary pupils.

7. To providing capacity-building training for 170,000 cadres engaged in poverty alleviation at various levels, of whom 95% are grassroots cadres.

8. To support 500,000 poor households to move out of makeshift shelters.

9. To provide pro bono legal aid to 98% of the poor in need.

V. Policies, projects and major activities of the Program

1. The group of policies and projects to create conditions for the poor to develop production and raise incomes, including:

a/ Policy on preferential credit for poor households;

b/ Policy on the provision of support in terms of production land to poor ethnic minority households;

c/ Project on agriculture-forestry-fishery extension and support for the development of production and trades;

d/ Project on support for development of essential infrastructure in exceptional difficulty-stricken coastal and island communes;

e/ Project on job training for the poor;

f/ Project on wide application of poverty alleviation models.

2. The group of policies to create opportunities for the poor to access social services:

a/ Policy on healthcare support for the poor;

b/ Policy on education support for the poor;

c/ Policy on dwelling house and clean water support for the poor;

d/ Policy on legal aid for the poor.

3. The group of capacity building and awareness raising projects:

a/ Project on building poverty alleviation capacity (including training of poverty alleviation cadres and communication activities);

b/ Supervision and evaluation activities.

VI. Solutions for implementation of the Program

1. To continue raising poor households' and poor communes' awareness about poverty alleviation and their will and determination to get rich; to raise the capacity poverty alleviation cadres; to heighten the responsibility of administrations at all levels and all branches for organizing the implementation of the Program; to increase the participation of people and enhance the supervision and evaluation of people-elected agencies, political organizations and mass organizations.

2. Funds for implementation of the Program;

The total fund for poverty alleviation is around VND 43,488 billion, including:

- The central budget: VND 12,472 billion (28.68%);

- Local budgets: VND 2,260 billion (5.2%);

- Community contributions: VND 2,460 billion (5.66%);

- International contributions: VND 296 billion (0.68%);

- Credit: VND 26,000 billion (59.79%).

a/ The fund directly allocated for the Program is around VND 3,456 billion, including VND 2,140 billion from the central budget, VND 560 billion from local budgets, VND 460 billion from community contributions and VND 269 billion from international contributions.

b/ The fund for the Program integrated into current policies (such as policies on credit, healthcare and education support, and support in terms of production land, dwelling houses and clean water for ethnic minority people) is around VND 40,032 billion, including around VND 10,332 billion from the central budget.

3. Mechanisms for the implementation of the Program:

a/ Mobilizing resources from various sources: Apart from around VND 12,472 billion allocated from the central budget, local budgets must reserve at least 1% of their total annual budget expenditures for the implementation of the Program; to mobilize contributions from enterprises, communities, households and individuals and call for international financial support from multilateral, bilateral and non-governmental organizations;

When allocating these funds, priority should be given to mountainous, coastal and island communes with a high poverty rate among eligible beneficiaries and high coefficient of difficulty.

b/ Creating conditions for the people to participate in formulating and implementing the Program in a democratic, public and transparent manner;

c/ The State shall directly support poor people in education and job-training expenses (exemptions and reductions of training expenses provided directly to learners or training establishments), and medical expenses (grant of health insurance cards);

d/ Further decentralizing the management of poor households and implementation of the Program to local administrations, especially commune-level ones;

e/ Conducting supervision and evaluation according to appropriate indicators set for each level. Supervision and evaluation shall be conducted by localities themselves in combination with monitoring, supervision and evaluation by ministries, branches, the National Assembly, People's Councils of all levels, independent advisory and scientific organizations, and supervision and evaluation by the community.

4. Organizing and directing the implementation of the Program

a/ To set up the Government's Steering Committee for the implementation of the national target program on poverty alleviation in the 2006-2010 period and the program on socio-economic development in exceptional difficulty-stricken communes in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the 2006-2010 period (Program 135, Phase II), with the participation of representatives of concerned ministries, branches, organizations and associations;

b/ To set up a Program Coordination Office to assist the Steering Committee, which shall be located at the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry; provincial-level Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Services shall act as the standing bodies to coordinate the implementation of the Program in localities.

VII. Assignment of the responsibilities to manage and organize the implementation of the Program

1. Responsibilities of ministries and central branches:

a/ The Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry, which is also the Program's standing body, shall:

- Assist the Government's Steering Committee in directing the implementation of the Program; assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in, elaborating five-year and annual plans on objectives, tasks solutions and funds for the implementation of the Program, and send these plans to the Planning and Investment Ministry and the Finance Ministry for synthesis and reporting to the Government; formulate mechanisms and policies for and guide the implementation of the Program; propose to the Prime Minister mechanisms to support households and communes which have escaped from poverty;

- Assume the prime responsibility for the execution of some projects on development of infrastructure in exceptional difficulty-stricken coastal and island communes, job-training for the poor, wide application of poverty-alleviation models; raising of poverty alleviation capacity; and monitoring and evaluation activities;

- Urge, inspect and supervise the implementation of the Program by ministries, branches, central agencies, provinces and centrally run cities.

b/ The Planning and Investment Ministry shall balance and allocate resources for the Program and coordinate with concerned ministries and branches in elaborating mechanisms and policies for the management and implementation of the Program;

c/ The Finance Ministry shall coordinate with the Planning and Investment Ministry in allocating budgets for ministries, branches and localities to implement the Program in accordance with the State Budget Law; assume the prime responsibility for guiding financial mechanisms applicable to policies and projects under the Program; coordinate with the Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Ministry in elaborating documents to guide, inspect and supervise financial expenditures for the implementation of the Program; and synthesize and settle the Program's funds;

d/ The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry shall direct and guide the implementation of agriculture-forestry-fishery extension projects and projects on production and trade development; coordinate with ministries and branches in directing investment in infrastructure for agricultural production and models of association between enterprises and poor households and communes;

e/ The Fisheries Ministry shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries and branches in, directing aquaculture models, guiding the construction of works for aquaculture development in exceptional difficulty-stricken coastal and island communes;

f/ The State Bank of Vietnam shall direct and inspect the Social Policy Bank's implementation of policies on preferential credit for poor households and social policy beneficiaries;

g/ The Committee for Nationalities shall direct the implementation of policies on provision of supports in terms of production land, dwelling houses and clean water for poor ethnic minority households and coordinate with ministries and branches in implementing policies toward ethnic minority regions;

h/ The Construction Ministry shall coordinate with the Committee for Nationalities and ministries and branches in directing and guiding the implementation of policies on provision of supports regarding dwelling houses and clean water for poor households;

i/ The Health Ministry shall direct the implementation of policies on healthcare support for the poor;

j/ The Education and Training Ministry shall direct the implementation of policies on education support for the poor;

k/ The Home Affairs Ministry shall direct the arrangement of poverty alleviation cadres at various levels;

l/ The Justice Ministry shall direct the implementation of policies on legal aid for the poor;

m/ Mass media agencies shall conduct communication to raise awareness about the Program's importance and significance; popularize good, creative and effective models and methods of poverty alleviation and the results of the Program, thus enhancing the responsibility for poverty alleviation.

2. Responsibilities of localities

a/ To mobilize resources and organize the implementation of the Program under the direction and guidance of the Government's Steering Committee and functional ministries and branches;

b/ To assign and decentralize the responsibilities for the implementation of the Program to branches and departments at each level on the principle of further decentralizing powers to, and raising the sense of responsibility of, the grassroots level;

c/ To direct the effective integration of the programs and projects implemented in localities; to regularly inspect and supervise the implementation of the Program and make annual reports.

3. Mobilizing the participation of mass organizations: To request the Vietnam Fatherland Front's Central Committee and the Front's member organizations to participate in the implementation of the Program; to continue raising "the Day for the Poor" Fund; to set up a network of "savings-credit groups," "mutual assistance groups" and credit funds for the poor and low-income earners; to widely apply effective poverty alleviation models.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO."

Article 3.- Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies and Government-attached agencies and presidents of provincial/municipal People's Committees shall implement this Decision.