Directive No. 13/2007/CT-TTg on strengthening the implementation of the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 47-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2005 of the Politburo on continuing to intensify population and family planning policies

DIRECTIVE

Regarding the strengthening of the implementation of the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 47-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2005 of the Politburo on further intensifying population and family planning policies

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More than one year has passed since the implementation of the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 47-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2005 of the Politburo on further intensifying population and family planning policies (issued under Decision No. 09/2006/QĐ-TTg dated January 10, 2006 of the Prime Minister). Under the leadership and guidance of Party committees and governments at all levels, and with the cooperation of relevant sectors and social organizations, work on population and family planning has achieved significant results: the rapid increase in population has been mitigated, birth rates have continued to decline and are approaching replacement levels; the quality of the population has gradually improved.

However, the implementation of the Government's Action Program still lags behind requirements; the reduction in birth rates is not yet stable and there is a potential risk of a rapid increase in population; the quality of the population has not received adequate attention.

To strengthen the implementation of the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 47-NQ/TW dated March 22, 2005 of the Politburo on further intensifying population and family planning policies, the Prime Minister issues the following directive:

1. Relevant Ministries, Sectors, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities:

a) Continue to comprehensively implement tasks and solutions to achieve the population and family planning goals set out in the Government's Action Program, particularly the goals for 2010; focusing on directing the implementation of the main tasks and solutions as follows:

 - Further enhance propaganda, mobilization, and education activities with appropriate forms and contents suitable for different target groups, in line with economic and social conditions and cultural characteristics of each region; concentrating on densely populated areas with high birth rates, regions with high third-child and above birth rates, remote and extremely difficult regions, making each couple voluntarily adopt a family size of one or two children and participate in activities to improve population quality.

 - Mobilize more participation in population and family planning work from social organizations, private sector entities, and the general public.

 - Allocate corresponding resources to effectively implement population and family planning work.

b) Ministries, sectors, and localities, based on their assigned functions and tasks, urgently complete the assigned tasks under Decision No. 09/2006/QĐ-TTg dated January 10, 2006 of the Prime Minister; while developing plans to monitor, urge, and inspect the implementation of this Decision.

Ministries, agencies equivalent to ministries, government agencies, and People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities that have not yet developed and issued action programs as stipulated in the Government's Action Program need to urgently issue them in the third quarter of 2007.

Ministries and sectors responsible for drafting and submitting proposals as stipulated in the Government's Action Program need to urgently submit these proposals which were supposed to be submitted in 2006 but have not yet been submitted, in the third quarter of 2007.

2. The National Committee for Population, Family and Children:

a) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and other related agencies to submit the Draft Law on Population to the Government in the third quarter of 2007;

b) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Vietnam Social Security to submit a plan for implementing social insurance for population, family, and child officers at commune, ward, and town levels to the Prime Minister in the third quarter of 2007;

c) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and other related agencies to submit a comprehensive proposal to improve the quality of the Vietnamese population to the Government in the fourth quarter of 2007;

d) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Health and other related agencies to effectively direct the provision and improvement of the quality of family planning services; continue to effectively implement integrated campaigns of propaganda, mobilization, and service provision for family planning and reproductive health care in rural, remote, and difficult regions and densely populated areas with high birth rates, regions with high third-child and above birth rates; develop a strategy for contraceptive product security and improve the logistics management system for contraceptive products from central to local levels to proactively serve the population and family planning program.

3. The Ministry of Planning and Investment shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the National Committee for Population, Family and Children to strengthen the integration of population and family planning content and targets into economic and social development programs; and enhance efforts to mobilize international resources to support population and family planning work.

4. The Ministry of Finance shall take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the National Committee for Population, Family and Children to allocate sufficient funds to effectively implement population and family planning work.

5. Provincial People's Committees under the central government:

Focus on directing and organizing the effective implementation of the contents of the Government's Action Program at the local level.

Provinces with higher population growth rates than the national average and those that have not yet reached replacement levels need to focus on directing efforts to achieve this goal by 2010 at the latest.

6. Ministers, Heads of agencies equivalent to ministries, Heads of government agencies, and Chairpersons of provincial and centrally governed city People's Committees are responsible for enforcing this Directive.

The National Committee for Population, Family and Children shall monitor, urge, and report annually to the Prime Minister on the results of the implementation of this Directive.

This Directive takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette./.