Child protection work boosted nationwide

Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs organised a workshop in Hanoi on March 14 to discuss child protection between 2016 and 2020.

According to Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the ministry’s Department of Child Protection and Care, the national programme on child protection began five years ago. As a result, relevant services and personnel systems have improved.

By December 2014, Vietnam had 1,539 and 2,765 child protection consultation stations in public places and at schools, respectively. Meanwhile, 418 support centres were established.

These facilities helped local authorities collect and analyse information on child violations, which leads to better assistance, Nam noted.

He also pointed to difficulties facing the programme in the last five years. The child protection system has only been piloted in 447 out of 713 districts in 43 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide. Most of these localities lacked resources and standards to run the system properly. Thus, their capacity to detect and prevent factors threatening local children remained low. There was also a low number of children in need of care receiving benefits. Approximately 250,000 children or under 10 percent of the needy received the state payments.

Participants said in the 2016-2020 period, the issues of child abuse and exploitation are likely to escalate due largely to rapid urbanisation.

They recommended implementing additional communication campaigns, increasing the child protection system’s coverage, and facilitating access to social services.-VNA