Policy response for disadvantaged groups during the COVID-19 pandemic: Vietnam experiences

The COVID-19 pandemic is recognized as a global health concern and will affect human life in every aspect (Anant and Rajasekharan, 2020; Wang et al., 2020). Disadvantaged groups are at higher risk of physical and mental health issues (Inter-Agency Standing Committee [IASC], 2020; Qiu et al., 2020). Under the Communist Party and the Government’s leadership, Vietnam has initially achieved success in preventing and controlling COVID-19 (Minh, 2020). In addition to clinical care and the public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic (Nam et al., 2021), the Vietnamese Government issued Directive No. 15/CT-TTG to distribute a relief package worth 62.000 billion VND (2.6 billion USD) for disadvantaged groups in communities (Vietnam Television, 2002). People in communities have greatly appreciated this relief package due to its trait of human compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam (Hoa, 2020). This article aims to share the Vietnamese Government’s experiences in the policy response to support disadvantaged groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the relief package.

First is the rapid policy response. From 1 to 15 April 2020, every household, village, commune, district, and province in the whole country would go into self-isolation (An, 2020). Social distancing has affected the lives and jobs of the people, especially for vulnerable groups and those who are employed in the informal and unorganized sectors (Anant and Rajasekharan, 2020). Because of this, on 9 April 2020, the Vietnamese Government issued Resolution No. 42-NQ/CP on measures to support people who are facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Government Office, 2020). On 24 April 2020, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed Decision No. 15/2020/QD-TTG to implement policies to support people in challenging conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Ministry of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs [MOLISA], 2020e). On 29 April 2020, the Minister of MOLISA signed Decision No. 474/QD-LDTBXH to establish a Steering Committee to implement the policies (MOLISA, 2020c). The Steering Committee was under the leadership of the Minister of MOLISA, with the participation of the Deputy Minister of Ministries such as the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, the State Bank of Vietnam, and the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam (MOLISA, 2020c). The Vietnamese Government and related ministries’ policy response was relatively rapid to support disadvantaged groups impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it also shows a multi-sectoral approach in responding to quick policy in Vietnam.

Second is the priority policy for disadvantaged groups in communities. According to the view of the Party and the State of Vietnam, the target subjects of the national social security structure are people with meritorious services to the revolution, social protection beneficiaries (the elderly, persons with disabilities, children with particular circumstances, etc.), and the poor (Dung, 2021). Currently, the social security structure in Vietnam has six main components: active labor market policies and programs; social insurance policies; health insurance policy; social policies for people with meritorious services to the revolution; social assistance for vulnerable groups; and policies and programs to help the poor (Huu, 2012). Making the policy for disadvantaged groups during the COVID-19 pandemic has been based on Vietnam’s welfare structure and political stance. Table 1 presents seven types of target subjects receiving support from the Government package with a maximum support period of 3 months (Kylie, 2020).

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Table 1.

Types of target subjects receiving support from the Government package.

No.	Types of target subjects	Support level
1	Employees who are temporarily postponed the labor contracts	1.8 million VND (76.9 USD)/person/month
2	Employers in financial difficulties and paid the employee suspension allowance	Loan from the Vietnam Social Policy Bank with zero interest rate over 12 months
3	Individual business households that have a tax return of under 100 million VND (4.270 USD)/year who have temporarily suspended their business	1 million VND (43.6 USD)/household/month
4	Employees whose labor contract/employment contract has been terminated but are not eligible for unemployment benefits; employees who do not have a labor contract (freelance) and lose their job	1 million VND (43.6 USD)/household/month
5	People with meritorious services to the revolution	500,000 VND (21.8 USD)/person/month
6	Social protection beneficiaries	500,000 VND (21.8 USD)/person/month
7	The poor and near-poor households	1 million VND (43.6 USD)/household/month

The Prime Minister’s Directive No. 15/CT-TTG pays attention to disadvantaged groups such as people with meritorious services to the revolution, social protection beneficiaries, and the poor and near-poor households. Moreover, it supports the target groups at high risk of falling into difficult circumstances such as losing their jobs or being unemployed (Vietnam News, 2020). Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the support would go to the right people, especially disadvantaged groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic (Vietnam News, 2020). This approach is consistent with key functions of social work at this time, such as ensuring that the most vulnerable are included in planning and response (International Federation of Social Workers [IFSW], 2020).

Third are the social work core values in this policy. It is understood that each person has different circumstances and the policy seeks to allocate the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equitable outcome for all during the COVID-19 pandemic (The George Washington University, 2020). Specifically, the level of support varies between target groups in this study. Moreover, this policy’s social work core values include service, social justice, dignity, and worth of the person (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2017). The COVID-19 relief package is considered a type of emergency support service to meet the disadvantaged groups’ needs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The disadvantaged groups may face problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as unemployment, poverty, discrimination, and so on (Electronic Newspaper of the Vietnamese Communist Party, 2020). Therefore, this target group needs assistance to access resources, services, opportunities, and information, such as the COVID-19 relief packages to address inequality and other social justice issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders in Vietnam respected the fundamental dignity and worth of the disadvantaged groups and treated each individual with care and respect. Thus, this policy focused on human rights, taking people as the central subject of the development process. It made the human being the main participant and beneficiary of development through the COVID-19 relief package (The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1986).

Finally, this is a policy of openness and transparency. Stakeholders in Vietnam are responsible for the implementation of this policy to support target groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. MOLISA is in charge of developing the criteria to identify the target groups to be subsidized by the COVID-19 relief package. Meanwhile, the local government has disseminated this package widely to the people, especially the community’s disadvantaged groups. Besides, the local government created a list of beneficiaries and made it public so that the entire population was aware of the COVID-19 relief package. Each resident would be able to ensure the highest fairness in the community (MOLISA, 2020d). The Vietnamese Government announced several key messages regarding the national relief package’s distribution, such as ensuring the transparency of the distribution and making sure that there would be no fraud (Vietnam News, 2020). These messages call the whole nation to be transparent to support disadvantaged groups in communities. MOLISA announced a hotline through Call Center 111 to clear any doubts about the distribution of the relief package for disadvantaged groups affected by the COVID-19 pandemic from 1 May to 1 August 2020 (MOLISA, 2020b). People could report any cases of corruption at the grassroots level to the Call Center. Moreover, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung emphasized close supervision, transparency, and publicity in communities to avoid corruption when implementing the policy (Thang, 2020). At all levels, the Vietnamese Fatherland Front is responsible for the direct and comprehensive supervision of the distribution of relief (MOLISA, 2020a).

To sum up, we have described the policy response for disadvantaged groups during the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam. The rapid, rational, and democratic formation and implementation of special relief packages to specific target groups are the biggest lessons learned from our study. In addition, the core values of social work should be incorporated in the policies to promote the disadvantaged groups’ rights and solve inequality in society.