About 4,800 poor farming households in Vietnam’s northern provinces of Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Nghe An, and Phu Tho will receive aid worth more than US$4.1 million from the Spain’s fund for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Vietnamese Government to increase incomes and employment opportunities. The information was given at a press briefing to introduce the “Green Production and Trade to Increase Income and Employment Opportunities for the Rural Poor” program on November 25. The program is aimed at increasing the sustainable incomes of raw materials growers and processors, and rural crafts and furniture producing households and enterprises, as well as improving policies and regulatory frameworks at the provincial and national levels for the pro-poor promotion of handicrafts and furniture production. Scheduled to be implemented over the next three years (2010-2012), the program is expected to contribute to the completion of the MDGs, the reduction of poverty, the implementation of gender equality, and the sustainable environmental development. (vovnews.vn Nov 25)
