Difficulties remain in children abuse prevention, settlement

Hanoi (VNA) – More than 4,900 children were abused in 2017, 2018 and the first six months of 2019, 80 percent of them suffered from sexual abuse, according to Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) Nguyen Thi Ha.

She was addressing a conference in Hanoi on November 1 to give guidelines for the implementation of the Prime Minister Decision on conducting children support programmes and gather ideas on a national action plan to prevent and combat violence against children in the 2020-2025 period.

Ha said that there are still loopholes in dealing with children abuse cases, especially against boys, adding that children and their parents still lack of necessary skills to prevent children violations and abuse.

The official noted that currently, about 5 million children in Vietnam are living in poverty.

Ha underlined the need to design comprehensive national action programmes in the field and focus resources on the implementation of short-term and long-term measures to solve the problem.

The MoLISA has collected ideas from ministries, sectors and localities on a draft national action plan to prevent and combat violence against children in the 2020-2025 period, she said.

Lesley Miller, UNICEF Deputy Representative in Vietnam, lauded the country’s commitments to integrate the development of children in their first years into the National Action Programme for Children, as well as efforts in supporting families to provide children with better nutrition, education and sanitation.

Currently, the UNICEF is working with the MoLISA and relevant agencies and localities to pilot a programme to ensure comprehensive development of children in the provinces of Dien Bien, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, she said.

The project aims to give parents better understanding on children’s health and help them access community support, while providing children with basic services in physical and mental health care, she said./.