On the morning of August 26, 2025, in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the national conference concluding the program and patriotic campaign titled “The entire nation unites to eradicate temporary and substandard housing.”

At the event, the government officially announced that Vietnam had achieved its target of eliminating all makeshift and dilapidated housing nationwide-an extraordinary feat completed five years and four months earlier than the initial plan.

“With a spirit of breakthrough, urgency, and boldness, we were determined to shorten the timeline, setting the goal of completing housing for those who contributed to the revolution by July 27, 2025, and to essentially eliminate temporary and substandard housing nationwide by August 31, 2025,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Implementing the Party’s directives and the State’s policies while promoting national tradition, Vietnam has for years carried out numerous housing programs for people with meritorious service and low-income households. However, by 2023, the country still had approximately 400,000 families living in precarious, unsafe housing.

Faced with this reality, the 8th Plenum of the 13th Central Committee issued Resolution 42, which aims to enhance the quality of social policy. A key target was to eradicate all makeshift and dilapidated housing by 2030 for poor and near-poor households, those affected by natural disasters and climate change, and especially for revolutionary contributors.

Under the leadership of the Party and the involvement of the entire political system-from central to local authorities, and all citizens-the government established a Central Steering Committee, drawing from the Ministry of Public Security’s experience. In coordination with the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the program was rapidly accelerated with bold action and constant refinement to meet its ambitious objectives.

In just one year and four months, the Central Steering Committee and localities launched a rapid, large-scale campaign. They mobilized more than 24.7 trillion VND (approximately 1.02 billion USD), with nearly half-12.3 trillion VND (over 500 million USD)-sourced from public contributions and social mobilization.

In total, over 334,234 temporary or unsafe homes were replaced with new, permanent ones built to the “three-solid” standard (solid roof, solid walls, solid foundation). A total of 12 standardized house designs were adapted to fit regional conditions.

The campaign also galvanized over 2.7 million volunteer labor days from more than 454,000 individuals, including soldiers, police officers, unions, and citizens.

According to evaluations, this was not merely a housing program-it was a nationwide movement of profound humanitarian value. It exemplified the Party and State’s major policy focus on public welfare and social equity, reinforcing the national goal of leaving no one behind.

The homes provided were more than just physical shelter. They offered people stability, safety, and dignity-helping families rebuild their lives, improve their economic status, and access better education and healthcare. This, in turn, laid the groundwork for sustainable poverty reduction and nurtured trust in government social programs.

Immediately after the campaign launched in early 2025, local governments established emergency steering committees, allocated funds, developed clear implementation plans, and tracked progress on each home under the motto: “Focus solely on solutions, never setbacks.”

Many provinces completed the work ahead of schedule. Ministries such as Public Security, National Defense, banks, businesses, and social organizations contributed materials, funding, and labor to accelerate progress and ease the financial burden.

The campaign’s resounding success showed what can be achieved when a nation unites behind a shared humanitarian cause.

Thai An