Vietnam and the United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) are jointlyworking in a study on drivers of violence against children with a viewto helping develop evidence-based policies for better child care andprotection.
This is part of a study that UNICEF began inthe middle of this year and will conduct over a three year period infour countries – Zimbabwe , Peru , Vietnam and Italy . Vietnamis the first to implement the study.
Speaking at aworkshop on December 20, Hartmut Pflortner, acting representative ofUNICEF, said that violence against children is a global issue, causinglong-lasting impacts on not only children and their families, but alsosociety and overall economic growth.
He noted that muchviolence affecting children remains invisible, expecting that such astudy by UNICEF, academics and national authorities will help determinecauses and solutions to reduce and end the problem.
Thestudy aims to find out which are key factors driving violence againstchildren, how the identified risk factors and explanatory variablesoperate on the ground, what are the processes for change and who isaffected by these changes.
Identifying and analysing howfactors –social, cultural, economic, legal, oganisational or policyresponses – interact to affect everyday violence in children's homes andcommunities will help identify causes to better develop nationalstrategies for childcare and interventions preventing violence.
Determiningthe causes of violence – focusing on girls and boys from very young ageto older adolescents – will contribute to comparative global andnational evidence bases on how change happens.
Chief of theChildren's Division under the Vietnam Institute of Family and GenderDang Bich Thuy said violence committed against children includedphysical, mental and sexual, as well as children witnessing domesticviolence and adults' ignorance of, and improper care, of children.
Thechange in the Vietnamese family structure, with increased divorcerates, single parent homes, poverty and unemployment, were among majorcauses for violence against children at homes.
Thuy addedthat improper understanding about child rights and a lack of parentingskills also increase violence against children.
DeputyMinister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said thatalthough Vietnam has made efforts to increase child care andprotection, it has yet to set up a proper child protection system fortimely prevention, detecting violations and offering assistance tovictims.
In industrial zones, low-income workers put theirchildren to poor-quality nurseries where a babysitter might be caringfor up to 20 - 30 babies.
"It's high time to harmoniseeconomic goals with social ones. Ensuring safe conditions for childrento develop their physical and mental health properly will help thecountry prosper in the future," he said.
Authorities areincreasing inspections of nurseries in the south and discussing thebuilding of additional nurseries, following the recent arrest of twobabysitters who were caught striking children.
A stillphoto from a video clip recently posted online shows Le Thi Dong Phuong,manager of the Phuong Anh childcare centre in HCM City 's Thu Ducdistrict, slapping a boy to make him eat his food.
Anotherbabysitter, Le Thi Thien Ly, was shown on the video as lifting a babygirl and threatening to submerge her into a large water drum unless shewould eat faster.
The two were arrested on December 17, butthe case has highlighted the need to address the shortage of childcarecentres in this extremely populated city, where it's difficult forlow-income workers to find an affordable and safe place to keep theirchildren.
In November, a babysitter caused the death of an 18-month-old, also in Thu Duc district, while forcing him to eat faster.
LeMinh Hoang, director of Dong Nai province's Department of Education andTraining, said there are about 700,000 workers living in the provinceand the demand for childcare is extremely high.
Accordingto statistics from the department, there are nearly 260 publickindergarten schools and 800 childcare groups. About 100 of them areunlicensed, due to lack of quality facilities, but they are stilloperating because of the high demand, according to education officialshere.
Do Minh Hoang, chief of the office at the HCM CityDepartment of Education and Training, said the department has asked thecity to issue new regulations on improving the quality of childcarecentres, especially in the industrial zones.
According toLe Hong Son, director of the HCM City Department of Education andTraining, the city needs to allocate at least 5,000 square meters ofland to build new childcare centres and kindergartens, especially toease the pressure on childcare centres in the urban area.
"Mycolleagues and I cannot believe such brutal things could happen," Sonsaid, referring to the case of the two babysitters. "We can't believe italso because the two babysitters had previously been trained inchildcare."
Nguyen Ba Minh, head of the Ministry ofEducation and Training's Pre-school Education Department, said theministry was also shocked at the news. The Ministry is now reassessingthe management of kindergartens across the country and planning to holdtwo nationwide conferences in HCM City and Hanoi to seek adviceof education managers and teachers to prevent further incidents.
Minhsaid this week that the city will dispatch staff to all nurseries, andespecially those that are privately run, for inspection.
HCMCity will also work to further encourage investment in buildingchildcare centres in industrial zones and work with the HealthDepartment and the Women's Union to increase awareness among parents andhelping them find licensed or public places for their children.-VNA
This is part of a study that UNICEF began inthe middle of this year and will conduct over a three year period infour countries – Zimbabwe , Peru , Vietnam and Italy . Vietnamis the first to implement the study.
Speaking at aworkshop on December 20, Hartmut Pflortner, acting representative ofUNICEF, said that violence against children is a global issue, causinglong-lasting impacts on not only children and their families, but alsosociety and overall economic growth.
He noted that muchviolence affecting children remains invisible, expecting that such astudy by UNICEF, academics and national authorities will help determinecauses and solutions to reduce and end the problem.
Thestudy aims to find out which are key factors driving violence againstchildren, how the identified risk factors and explanatory variablesoperate on the ground, what are the processes for change and who isaffected by these changes.
Identifying and analysing howfactors –social, cultural, economic, legal, oganisational or policyresponses – interact to affect everyday violence in children's homes andcommunities will help identify causes to better develop nationalstrategies for childcare and interventions preventing violence.
Determiningthe causes of violence – focusing on girls and boys from very young ageto older adolescents – will contribute to comparative global andnational evidence bases on how change happens.
Chief of theChildren's Division under the Vietnam Institute of Family and GenderDang Bich Thuy said violence committed against children includedphysical, mental and sexual, as well as children witnessing domesticviolence and adults' ignorance of, and improper care, of children.
Thechange in the Vietnamese family structure, with increased divorcerates, single parent homes, poverty and unemployment, were among majorcauses for violence against children at homes.
Thuy addedthat improper understanding about child rights and a lack of parentingskills also increase violence against children.
DeputyMinister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said thatalthough Vietnam has made efforts to increase child care andprotection, it has yet to set up a proper child protection system fortimely prevention, detecting violations and offering assistance tovictims.
In industrial zones, low-income workers put theirchildren to poor-quality nurseries where a babysitter might be caringfor up to 20 - 30 babies.
"It's high time to harmoniseeconomic goals with social ones. Ensuring safe conditions for childrento develop their physical and mental health properly will help thecountry prosper in the future," he said.
Authorities areincreasing inspections of nurseries in the south and discussing thebuilding of additional nurseries, following the recent arrest of twobabysitters who were caught striking children.
A stillphoto from a video clip recently posted online shows Le Thi Dong Phuong,manager of the Phuong Anh childcare centre in HCM City 's Thu Ducdistrict, slapping a boy to make him eat his food.
Anotherbabysitter, Le Thi Thien Ly, was shown on the video as lifting a babygirl and threatening to submerge her into a large water drum unless shewould eat faster.
The two were arrested on December 17, butthe case has highlighted the need to address the shortage of childcarecentres in this extremely populated city, where it's difficult forlow-income workers to find an affordable and safe place to keep theirchildren.
In November, a babysitter caused the death of an 18-month-old, also in Thu Duc district, while forcing him to eat faster.
LeMinh Hoang, director of Dong Nai province's Department of Education andTraining, said there are about 700,000 workers living in the provinceand the demand for childcare is extremely high.
Accordingto statistics from the department, there are nearly 260 publickindergarten schools and 800 childcare groups. About 100 of them areunlicensed, due to lack of quality facilities, but they are stilloperating because of the high demand, according to education officialshere.
Do Minh Hoang, chief of the office at the HCM CityDepartment of Education and Training, said the department has asked thecity to issue new regulations on improving the quality of childcarecentres, especially in the industrial zones.
According toLe Hong Son, director of the HCM City Department of Education andTraining, the city needs to allocate at least 5,000 square meters ofland to build new childcare centres and kindergartens, especially toease the pressure on childcare centres in the urban area.
"Mycolleagues and I cannot believe such brutal things could happen," Sonsaid, referring to the case of the two babysitters. "We can't believe italso because the two babysitters had previously been trained inchildcare."
Nguyen Ba Minh, head of the Ministry ofEducation and Training's Pre-school Education Department, said theministry was also shocked at the news. The Ministry is now reassessingthe management of kindergartens across the country and planning to holdtwo nationwide conferences in HCM City and Hanoi to seek adviceof education managers and teachers to prevent further incidents.
Minhsaid this week that the city will dispatch staff to all nurseries, andespecially those that are privately run, for inspection.
HCMCity will also work to further encourage investment in buildingchildcare centres in industrial zones and work with the HealthDepartment and the Women's Union to increase awareness among parents andhelping them find licensed or public places for their children.-VNA
