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At a press briefing on the afternoon of April 28, Nguyen Thi Tu Thanh, Deputy Head of the Local Government Administration Office under the Ministry of Home Affairs, outlined new details on a policy to consolidate hamlets and neighborhood units. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been assigned by the Prime Minister to lead the drafting of a Decree regulating the organization and operation of hamlets and neighborhood units, as well as the regime for people working in non-professional roles.
Thanh said the topic is directly related to grassroots organization and operations, adding that the decree drafting process has been studied carefully. She noted that, alongside the consolidation policy, the ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies to report to competent authorities.
The ministry’s overall direction is to streamline the leadership structure and reduce the number of hamlets and neighborhood units, while ensuring the approach remains aligned with the scale, practicality, and characteristics of each region. The draft decree is intended to support smoother grassroots operations, make implementation easier, and reduce the direct management burden on commune-level authorities.
Thanh also said the draft decree is designed to preserve provisions that remain appropriate and to study adjustments to better match the new social scale at the commune level, workload, and related policies. The objective is to encourage non-professional staff to work with greater peace of mind and improve the quality of grassroots tasks.
She further linked the policy to broader requirements to streamline the state apparatus, use resources efficiently, and align with local budget constraints. When an official policy is issued by competent authorities, the Ministry of Home Affairs said it will continue to provide specific guidance on the content.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, in the second quarter of 2026 it will continue to advise on streamlining internal organizations of ministries, central agencies and provincial departments, as well as streamlining public service units and state-owned enterprises under the ministry’s leadership and governance.
The ministry also said it will focus resources and accelerate the removal of obstacles to effectively implement the two-tier local government model. In addition, it will propose to competent authorities to conduct a one-year evaluation of the implementation of the rearrangement of administrative units at all levels and the operation of the two-tier local government.
MOIA said it will evaluate the implementation of devolution and decentralization, comprehensively review regulations on devolution and decentralization, propose adjustments, and recommend that the Government amend related decrees to ensure synchronization, coherence, and feasibility during implementation.
The briefing also referenced Resolution 105/NQ-CP dated 8/4/2026, which issued the Action Plan implementing Conclusion 210-KL/TW of the Party’s 13th Central Committee on continuing to build and strengthen the organizational structure of the political system. The Government’s action plan includes items related to merging hamlets and neighborhood units in the near future.
Under the resolution, the Government requires MOIA to lead and coordinate with relevant agencies to complete legal regulations and guidelines, and to monitor consolidation of hamlets and neighborhood units in communes and wards, as well as the regime for non-professional workers in hamlets and neighborhood units, to meet requirements under new circumstances.
Specifically, MOIA is tasked with proposing the issuance of a Decree on the organization and operation of hamlets and neighborhood units and on certain regimes and policies for non-professional workers in hamlets and neighborhood units, with completion targeted in the second quarter of 2026.
Separately, MOIA said it will study and propose building a self-management model in hamlets and neighborhood communities consistent with the consolidation, submit it to the Politburo and the Secretariat, and provide implementation guidance, with completion targeted in Q3 2026.
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