Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – More than 4,900 children wereabused in 2017, 2018 and the first six months of 2019, 80 percent of themsuffered from sexual abuse, according to Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalidsand Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Thi Ha.
She was addressing a conference in Hanoi on November 1 togive guidelines for the implementation of the Prime Minister Decision onconducting children support programmes and gather ideas on a national actionplan to prevent and combat violence against children in the 2020-2025 period.
Ha said that there are still loopholes in dealing withchildren abuse cases, especially against boys, adding that children and theirparents still lack of necessary skills to prevent children violations andabuse.
The official noted that currently, about 5 million childrenin Vietnam are living in poverty.
Ha underlined the need to design comprehensive nationalaction programmes in the field and focus resources on the implementation ofshort-term and long-term measures to solve the problem.
The MoLISA has collected ideas from ministries, sectors andlocalities on a draft national action plan to prevent and combat violenceagainst children in the 2020-2025 period, she said.
Lesley Miller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Vietnam, lauded thecountry’s commitments to integrate the development of children in their firstyears into the National Action Programme for Children, as well as efforts insupporting families to provide children with better nutrition, education andsanitation.
Currently, the UNICEF isworking with the MoLISA and relevant agencies and localities to pilot aprogramme to ensure comprehensive development of children in the provinces of DienBien, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, she said.
The project aims to giveparents better understanding on children’s health and help them accesscommunity support, while providing children with basic services in physical andmental health care, she said./.
VNA
