Resolution No 68/NQ-CP, issued on May 9, 2024, lays out crucial tasks for the Government’s action plan in implementing Resolution No 42-NQ/TW of the 13th Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam. Resolution No 42 aims to drive innovation and enhance the quality of social policies, ensuring they align with the demands of nation-building and protection in the new era.

The resolution clearly outlines the content, primary goals, completion status, and assigns duties to ministries, sectors, and localities. Additionally, it sets forth precise goals, tasks, and solutions to be achieved by 2030.

Improving State management capacity

One of the tasks and solutions proposed by the action plan is to improve the capacity and efficacy of social policy’s State management. Ministries and localities must review current mechanisms and policies, continue to improve the legal system on social policies to ensure unity, synchronisation, feasibility, and in accordance with goals, tasks and solutions mentioned in the Resolution No 42-NQ/TW in every stage of the country's development and approaching international standards.

Gender equality and the sustainability of social measures must also be guaranteed. The minimum living standard is the benchmark for social policy requirements and has to be published annually.

Ministries and localities have been tasked with streamlining, strengthening decentralisation, upholding individual duties, and reorganising the State management apparatus of social policy from the central to the grassroots level.

They also need to strengthen their supervisory function, advance openness, transparency, and accountability, and provide favourable conditions for citizens to receive social policies. They should also intensify administrative reform.

Public satisfaction and trust must act as criteria to evaluate the performance of agencies, organisations, officials, civil servants and public employees.

Ministries and localities must also enhance supervision, inspection, examination and periodic evaluation while implementing the resolution; and strictly handle law violations, fight against corruption and negativity.

They must strengthen citizen reception and resolve complaints and denunciations in implementing social policies.

Flexible, diverse and universal social insurance system

The action plan highlights the need to create a flexible, diverse, multi-layered, modern, internationally integrated social insurance system that covers the entire workforce.

It also highlights the innovation in voluntary social insurance policies and the expansion of State funding assistance to farmers, the impoverished, low-income individuals, and workers in the informal sector.

The major goals of unemployment insurance should be to support career change training, enhance the efficacy of job introduction and consulting for jobless individuals, and provide skill development and job maintenance for employees.

As per the plan, the Government aims to establish a social support service network for children, older individuals in underprivileged conditions, people with disabilities, victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence.

A team of professional social workers will be assembled by ministries and localities, who will also connect and promote legal aid activities in social security programmes and policies; and encourage prevention, identification, early intervention, and timely support for individuals facing life's challenges.

They will complete the social support system to tend to people's material and spiritual needs, assisting them in overcoming challenges brought on by the effects of social and economic crises, natural disasters, diseases, and other risks.

The highest standard of benefits and special allowances will be extended to those who have rendered outstanding services.

Another task is to continue to care for the material and spiritual lives of people with meritorious services, especially those in remote areas, areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, and people facing difficulties in life.

The level of subsidy standards and preferential allowances will be set at the highest level among social preferential policies.

For individuals and their families who qualify for meritorious services, the Government will give priority to health care, housing assistance, education, training, employment, loans, production development, and social service access. It will also make sure that these individuals and their families have a living standard that is at least as high as the average for the community in which they live.