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For Vietnam's Poor, Access To Relief Aid Key To Joining Re-Opening Economy

VOA News

   Vietnam has received favorable recognition worldwide forcontaining the
   spread of the novel coronavirusand reopening thenation'seconomy, but
   that good news issmall comfortfor TranThiHien, who collects scrap metal
   she can resell for cash.

   After the government announced a pandemic relief fund, she applied two
   times butsays shehas yet to hear back. Some suggested the reason for
   the delay is becauseshe had to apply in her hometown. Otherssurmisethat
   she was not in the eligible age range.

   Hien, 43, said the process was "too complicated" but held out hope.

   "The government's support package is really a savior for independent
   workers like me," she said.

   Even for a place like Vietnam, which reported zero coronavirus deaths
   and 349 cases, the pandemic hit the economy hard, with the impact
   falling hardest on laborers who liveon meager subsistence wages. While
   white-collar employees could work at home or take paid days off in
   lockdown, those in the informal sector, such as Hien,mustshow up and do
   physical work if they're going to afford food and housing.

   Supportersof the pandemic relief fundwant to prevent a disconnect
   between the lofty goals of the aid package and the impact on citizens,
   particularly those in most need. Organizations, from Oxfam in Vietnam
   to the Pioneer Network for Ethnic Minority Voices, have stepped up with
   what they call "hotlines." They compile feedback from people such as
   Hien and send it to labor and provincial agencies distributing the aid,
   as authorized in the state regulation, Decision 15/2020-TTg.

   Nguyen ThuGiang,executive director of Migrant Labor Action Network, or
   M.net, saidshe wants to help government agencies so they "can promptly
   compare, check and respond to people's opinions, and at the same time
   make adjustments to policies or implementation methods, ensuring that
   Decision 15/2020-TTg is implemented, in a transparent and effective
   way."

   The relief fund is worth close to $2.7 billion, though the ruling
   Communist Party has also tapped sister organizations to mobilize
   donations and volunteers, from the Youth Union to the Vietnamese
   Fatherland Front. Authors of a study of Vietnam's COVID-19 response
   inSustainability,a science journal, noted that the prime minister
   called on citizens to help "combat" the disease.

   "Responding to this call, one can easily see many images of bank
   transfer to the Vietnamese Fatherland Front on social media of
   Vietnamese people to support the government in the combat," the study
   said. "On a larger scale, many enterprises, regardless of their size,
   also contributed to the national combat by donating their products such
   as masks, rice or milk, by donating their hotels for isolation
   wards--or most popularly--by donating cash."

   Anti-poverty advocates are working to get as much of the aid money as
   possible to the most vulnerable in society. Oxfam in Vietnam said it is
   focused on the unemployed and the working poor, such as those who
   worked without contracts or were put on leave without payduringthe
   pandemic. It also targets migrant workers such as Hien, who moved to
   the capital,Hanoi,from the nearby province of NamDinh. Many rural
   dwellers relocate to cities for better workopportunities butcan't
   access social services because they are not registered with local
   authorities.

   Oxfam in Vietnam said it set up a hotline for the relief fund so that
   "no one is left behind."

   "This initiative will create more opportunities for people to
   conveniently and confidently send feedback, from which the local
   government will have accurate, timely and quality information to
   provide better services,"BabethNgoc HanLefur, Oxfam in Vietnam
   director, said.

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