Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs

The Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs (Vietnamese: Bộ Dân tộc và Tôn giáo), formerly Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA; Vietnamese: Uỷ ban Dân tộc, lit. 'Ethnic Committee'), is a government ministry in Vietnam that exercises the functions of state management on ethnic minority affairs nationwide. The committee is headed by a chief. The current Chief of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs is Hầu A Lềnh, appointed in April 2021.^[1]

Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs

Bộ Dân tộc và Tôn giáo (Vietnamese)
Agency overview
Formed	3 May 1946
Preceding Agency	Department of Ethnic Minority (1946–1955) Central Sub-Committee of Ethnic Minority (1955–1959) Committee of Ethnic Minority (1959–1987) Central Commission of Ethnic Minority of the Communist Party (1979–1992), Office of Mountain Region and Ethnic Minority (1990–1992) Committee for Ethnic Minority and Mountain Region (1992–2002) Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs (2002–present)
Type	Ministry-level Agency
Jurisdiction	Government of Vietnam
Headquarters	39 Doi Can Street, Lieu Giai Ward, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi
Annual budget	319.630 millions VND (2018)
Agency executives	Hầu A Lềnh, Chief of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Deputy Chiefs of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs Nông Quốc Tuấn Phan Văn Hùng Lê Sơn Hải Hoàng Thị Hạnh Y Thông
Website	ubdt.gov.vn

Departments

• Department of Policies on Ethnic Minority
• Department of Ethnic Minority Affairs for the Northwest Region (Local Affairs Department I)
• Department of Ethnic Minority Affairs for the Central Highlands (Local Affairs Department II)
• Department of Ethnic Minority Affairs for the Mekong Delta (Local Affairs Department III)
• Department of Propaganda
• Department of Ethnic Minorities
• Department of General Affairs
• Department of Legal Affairs
• Department of International Cooperation
• Department of Organisation and Personnel
• Department of Finance and Planning
• Committee Inspectorate
• Committee Office
• Institute for Ethnic Minority Affairs
• Training Institution for Ethnic Minority Officials
• Digital Transformation Centre
• Ethnicity Magazine
• Ethnicity and Development Newspaper

Current leadership

• Minister, Chairman: Hầu A Lềnh, Central Committee member
• Deputy Minister, Vice Chairman:
  • Y Vinh Tơr, Central Committee alternate member^[2]
  • Y Thông
  • Nông Thị Hà

List of Ministers

No.	Name	Term	Ethnicity	Position
1	Hoàng Văn Phùng	1946–1955	Tày	Director of Ethnic Minorities Department
2	Bùi San	1955–1959	Kinh	Head of the Central Ethnic Minorities Subcommittee
3	Chu Văn Tấn	1959–1960	Nùng	Head of the Central Ethnic Committee, Chairman of the Government Ethnic Committee
4	Lê Quảng Ba	1960–1976	Tày	Head of the Central Ethnic Committee, Chairman of the Government Ethnic Committee
5	Vũ Lập	1976–1979	Tày	Head of the Central Ethnic Committee, Chairman of the Government Ethnic Committee
6	Hoàng Văn Kiểu	1979–1982	Tày	Head of the Central Ethnic Committee, Chairman of the Government Ethnic Committee
7	Hoàng Trường Minh	1982–1989	Tày	Central Ethnic Committee School
8	Nông Đức Mạnh	1989–1992	Tày	Central Ethnic Committee School
9	Hoàng Đức Nghi	1992–2002	Tày	Minister, Chairman of the Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas
10	Ksor Phước	2002–2007	Jarai	Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee
11	Giàng Seo Phử	2007–2016	Hmong	Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee
12	Đỗ Văn Chiến	2016–2021	Sán Dìu	Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee
13	Hầu A Lềnh	2021–present	Hmong	Minister, Chairman of the Ethnic Committee