VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam launched an action month for children as a way to celebrate the International Children's Day yesterday, June 1, in northern Hung Yen Province.


"We want to create a safe, friendly and healthy environment for children," said Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan at the opening event.


The initiative aims to improve public awareness around the need to protect and care for children, who are the future of the country.


"Children need to grow up in a safe and healthy environment, which also means their families, schools and society must be free of violence," Ngan added.


A number of school-based violence cases reported recently have raised alarm in authorised agencies from the central level to localities. Ngan believed families should also be more responsible in caring for children's safety. To prevent school violence, parents were advised to take part their children's life, and teachers not only taught knowledge but also provided examples of how to be good citizens for the country, she said.

Students to be trained in coping with natural disasters

Vietnamese students are expected to be provided with more skills to cope with natural disasters under an agreement signed yesterday by the Ministry of Education and Training and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ha Noi.

The agreement took effect yesterday and is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2013.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Tran Quang Quy said Viet Nam had a tropical monsoon climate, and was located near one of five areas where the biggest storms were seen.

Therefore, each Vietnamese student needed to be educated not only on environmental protection and climate change but also on skills to actively cope with and survive natural disasters, he said.

Country Representative of UNICEF Viet Nam Lotta Sylwander said that education, even in emergency cases, was a right of every child.


"Poor, homeless and underprivileged children are often abused and mistreated. Therefore, local authorities should strictly fine those who abuse them," Ngan said. She added that everybody needed to take responsibility by informing authorised agencies if any violations of abuse or mistreatment of children were found.


Under the 2001-10 national child protection regulations, the rate of underprivileged children who received care went up 75 per cent. The number of children who get financial support is now 500,000, double what it was in 2001.


However, there are still children living without basic services such as health care and education nationwide.


The General Statistics Office revealed that there were over 23 million children nationwide, accounting for over 27 per cent of the Vietnamese population. It was forecast that the number would be up to 30 per cent by 2020.


VietNamNet/Viet Nam News