Nguyen Thi Ha, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs made the statement at a workshop on the prevention and reduction of child labour and ensuring social security on the roadmap for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The workshop was co-organised on June 20 by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Ha said that children, who have to work early, will suffer from severe consequences, affecting their growth.

 Delegates at the workshop

Working early also hinders the children in accessing and benefiting from appropriate education, she said.

It impedes children in having a better future, making them lose their rights and negatively impacting socio-economic development, especially the quality of human resources in the future, she said.

Therefore, the Government of Viet Nam, in an attempt to reduce child labour, has been focusing on five groups of basic solutions.

The groups of solutions consist of general education universalisation; illiteracy eradication; policies to ensure equitable access to education for ethnic minority children, children with disabilities and children in poor households; strengthening social security policies; and poverty reduction, she said.

Ha also said that the prevention and reduction of child labour in Viet Nam has made remarkable progress over recent years.

The rate of child labour in Viet Nam is not high and it decreases year after year, she said.

The results of the national survey on child labour show that the percentage of children involved in working has decreased from 15.5 per cent in 2012 to 9.1 per cent in 2018. The rate of child labour in Viet Nam is two per cent lower than the average rate of child labour in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ha said, according to recent surveys and studies on child labour, there are three main causes behind the issue.

The first is that children were born in poor and vulnerable households.

Secondly, awareness of both parents and children about the value of learning to have a suitable job and suitable income in the future is still limited. 

Next, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed economic growth, affecting jobs and household incomes, so some children have to join the workforce as a way to cope with the situation.

Illustrative photo

In response to the situation, the Government has taken urgent action to limit the risks of increasing the number of child labour as a result of the pandemic by promoting cooperation with international partners; creating livelihoods for poor families; and assisting children at risk of becoming child labourers to access appropriate vocational education.

The efforts are testament to Viet Nam's commitments as a pioneer country of the Alliance 8.7 - a global partnership for eradicating forced labour, modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour around the world, she said.

Speaking at the workshop, Ingrid Christensen, director of the ILO Viet Nam, said that it requires close cooperation and coordination of all partners in society to solve the problem of child labour, especially protecting children from forms of hard, hazardous and dangerous labour.

She added that poverty reduction programmes and policies as well as vocational training opportunities for children, especially in rural areas, should be given priority to help households in reducing their risk of being affected by the impact of the pandemic, which leads to an increase in child labour.

Increasing investment in child protection systems, strengthening livelihood development and social security are key solutions, she said.

Also at the workshop, the participants discussed the results and messages of the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour and the Durban Call to Action on the elimination of child labour./.