Social security in Viet Nam

Many vulnerable workers still do not have access to social protection.

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Expanding the coverage of the current social protection system is a pressing issue in Viet Nam. While pursuing a path of enhanced market integration and robust economic growth based on the rapid structural change, the country also faces the possibility of more frequent and intensive economic, social and environment risks. Growth and integration will create new opportunities for wealth and job creation, but there will also be those who do not benefit.

One of the greatest challenges in the coming years will be to find ways to take advantage of these prospects while protecting the poorest and most vulnerable people against the threats to their living standards and their access to basic social services. Moreover, strengthened social protection measures will be critical as the Government strives to further reduce poverty. Farming-oriented, rural households are among the most impoverished and disadvantaged groups in Viet Nam. New groups of the poor could also emerge due to economic shocks, limited or curtailed natural land resources and the loss of wage employment because of state-owned enterprise reform or the impact on export industries from global market instability.

Improving social protection in Viet Nam to ensure the most vulnerable in society – including the poor, ethnic minorities, women, youth and workers susceptible to the adverse impacts of market reform and integration – and enhancing policies along with capacity for full implementation and operationalization of the unemployment insurance system will be a priority for Viet Nam during the coming years. In order to meet this goal, ILO, through its programmes and projects as well as social protection-related researches and analyses is helping Viet Nam to review and improve social insurance system, particularly unemployment insurance, enhance capacity of social partners to implement active labour market policies, develop new savings and microinsurance products, and contribute to implementation of national social protection strategy.