Education programmes on child protection policies and laws launched

Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the Department of Child Affairs (sitting, left) and Chu Quang Hao, General Director of the Vietnam Post (sitting, right), recently signed a cooperation agreement on child protection.  Photo: VNA

A cooperation agreement on child protection was signed on November 24 between the Department of Child Affairs under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Vietnam Post.

The main objective of the deal is to strengthen coordination, direction and implementation of measures to protect children and prevent and combat child abuse, ensuring the realisation of children's rights and building a safe and healthy living environment for children's development.

Under the agreement, the two sides will coordinate to carry out education programmes on child protection policies and laws. They will spread knowledge and skills on child protection, child abuse prevention and control for post office staff, especially at the commune level.

The two sides will provide information on children's rights through the network of post offices, postal staff and commune post offices nationwide. They will also build a network of volunteers to protect children nationwide.

The national emergency hotline for child protection 111 will be announced nationwide.

The two units will work together to build a national database on children, support and maximise the strengths of each party to perform their tasks and bring benefits to society.

Vietnam was the first country in Asia and the second in the world to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1990.

The rate of casualties in under-five-year-old children has reduced by 75% in the past 30 years.

Vietnam has also eliminated many dangerous diseases thanks to vaccination such as polio and newborn tetanus.

The rate of children suffering from stunting due to malnutrition in Vietnam has also been cut by half.

Dieu Huong