The Month for Children 2010, themed “Creating equal development opportunities for children,” was launched at a ceremony in the Red river delta province of Ninh Binh on May 8.

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and the provincial authorities joined a large number of representatives from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), mass organisations and 12 regional cities and provinces at the ceremony.

Deputy PM Trong said children are the nation’s future, therefore, the Party and State have reserved the best things for them. After almost 10 years of implementing the campaign “For the future of children,” a range of targets in terms of health care, physical and educational training have been achieved, Trong said.

However, the deputy PM said, in many regions, especially in remote and mountainous areas, children are still facing difficulties, lacking entertainment facilities, and even suffering sexual and labour abuses.

There are now some 4.5 million disadvantaged and poor children nationwide who have yet access to health, educational, cultural and social services, he stressed.

To improve care for children, Trong asked Party committees, local administrations and mass organisations at all levels to work out suitable action plans to provide children with the best services, both materially and spiritually.

At the ceremony, representatives from UNICEF, mass organisations and businesses presented gifts to disadvantaged children and those from poor families who recorded outstanding study achievements.

The Xuan Truong and Xuan Thanh construction companies, both from Ninh Binh province, granted 1 billion VND and 200 million VND, respectively, to the National Fund for Vietnamese Children. The Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company and other enterprises donated 110 million VND./.