The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs launched the 2018 action month for children, themed “For children’s safe and healthy living”, in the northern province of Phu Tho on May 27.

The campaign sets to promote the children’s rights to protection, respect and living in a safe and healthy environment in the digital era.

Addressing the ceremony, Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, who is also Chairwoman of the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, urged authorities at all levels, parents and teachers to raise their sense of responsibility and strengthen their coordination for the effective enforcement of the Law on Children and related regulations. 

She also asked them to work harder to prevent violence against children and together deliver acts of kindness to children from the bottom of their hearts. The good deeds should not be done during the action month but every day and everywhere, she stressed.

In her opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said education about knowledge and skills to protect children for family members, teachers, people who directly work with children and even children themselves is essential for effective child protection. 

Ha called for the better cooperation between authorities and state agencies in preventing and handling violence against children and child abuse as well as the provision of intervention for children suffering from violence and abuse.

At the ceremony, the National Fund for Vietnamese Children presented scholarships and gifts to 60 impoverished children to motivate them to overcome difficulties. A delegation from the fund also visited SOS Children’s Village in the provincial capital of Viet Tri and gave gifts to children here later the same day.

During the action month for children in 2018, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs will hold a series of events and activities to support children in need. It plans to organise children’s forums at different levels, entertainment activities, and free medical checkup events for the children and at the same time, provide those in need with scholarships and deformity correction surgeries. 

Meanwhile, the National Fund for Vietnamese Children will allocate more than 14 billion VND (616,000 USD) for activities to support about 5,000 children from difficult backgrounds across the country.

The action month aims to raise public awareness of a wide range of child-related issues through a number of messages, including For children’s safe and healthy living, Safe and healthy summer for children, Summer without child drowning, Listen to children with heart, protect children with actions, Calling 111 to report any acts of violence against children and child abuse, Using social media for the safe and healthy life of children and more.-VNA