HANOI (ILO News) – Viet Nam’s social protection system needs further reform and strengthening towards realizing the goal of providing social protection for all in the country. This was one of the key take-aways of a consultation workshop co-organized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (ILSSA) in Hanoi, on 20 April, 2022.

Participants at the event, which was financially supported by the Government of Japan and the Government of Ireland, included representatives from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), several international partners such as UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, UN Women and the World Bank and the drafting committee for reviewing the implementation of the Party’s Resolution No. 15-NQ/TW on social policies which covers social security. They agreed that Viet Nam has made significant progress since 2012 when this resolution was issued.

It is necessary to "continue to place people at the centre of the development process”, said Vice Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Nguyen Van Hoi.

“Ensuring that social issues are managed and addressed by social policies should continue to be done in alignment with the country’s economic development,” he added. “It is important to consider investing on people through social policies, as this investment at the same time an investment in the sustainable development of Viet Nam."

Addressing the workshop, ILO Viet Nam Director, Ingrid Christensen, underlined that, for Viet Nam to continue progress towards a vision of providing social protection for all, it must continue to dedicate significant efforts and resources to the strengthening of its social protection system across many dimensions.

ILSSA Director Bui Ton Hien said that “the implementation of Resolution 15 has matched the expectations of the people of Viet Nam”.

“It has helped to drastically improve the perception about government officials and party members at all levels, when it comes to their commitment to formulating and implementing social protection and merits policies”, he added. “Resolution 15 has also underlined the key role social policies can play in the socio-economic development of the country”.
“Social protection reforms,” explained André Gama, ILO Viet Nam’s Social Protection Programme manager, “must be aligned with the reality of Viet Nam’s socio-economic context and build on the success of the progress made over the past decade.”

He added that such reforms should be designed and implemented around a set of principles shared by different UN agencies. These include:

• Greater coordination and alignment between different policies and interventions;
• A more gender sensitive and shock responsive social protection system;
• Designing policies and interventions based on a life-cycle approach;
• Ensuring social protection leaves no one behind;
• Make the policy making processes more participatory;
• Strengthened institutional capacity;
• Focus on universal/compulsory programmes;
• Increased implementation effectiveness.

The UN agencies present at the event confirmed and reinforced their commitment to support Viet Nam on the revision of the implementation of Party Resolution 15, as well as drafting a new Resolution to guide the country’s further reform towards making the goal of social protection for all a reality.