8 years of implementing the Law on Children: Close cooperation, strong commitment - steady 'hands' to protect children

Efforts to reduce child labor recognized by the international community

June 12 is the World Day Against Child Labor. In 2024, the theme of this day is: "Join hands to act on our commitment: End child labor!" with the aim of mobilizing people to care and act together to eliminate this situation. The National Report on Child Labor in 2020 of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (formerly) shows that there are more than 1 million children participating in labor activities. Of these, the majority of children work in agriculture, construction and services. Children who have to work early are concentrated in rural and mountainous areas in the North, the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta, where economic conditions are less developed and access to education is limited. According to a report by the United Nations Children's Fund in Vietnam (UNICEF), the rate of child labor in rural areas is nearly 4 times higher than in urban areas.

To reduce child labor, Vietnam has issued many legal documents to improve the legal framework to protect children's rights and prevent this situation. The 2016 Law on Children and the 2019 Labor Code both have strict regulations on child labor. The 2016 Law on Children clearly stipulates children's rights, including the right to be protected from child labor and other forms of exploitation. The law also proposes strict measures to deal with violations of children's rights. The 2019 Labor Code completely prohibits the use of child labor under 15 years old, except for some light jobs that do not affect children's health and learning. For children from 15 to 18 years old, the law also has strict regulations on working hours, types of work and working conditions.

The Vietnamese Government has signed and ratified many international conventions on children's rights and child labor, such as Conventions 138 and 182 of the International Labor Organization (ILO). In addition, national programs such as the Program for Prevention and Reduction of Illegal Child Labor for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, are being implemented to reduce this situation, including measures to supporteducation , vocational training and improve living conditions for poor families. The Government has also implemented many educational support programs for poor children, especially in remote areas. Every year, thousands of poor students, students in difficult circumstances, and orphans are granted scholarships and tuition support to help them have the opportunity to continue their studies...

It can be said that over the past three decades, Vietnam has achieved many achievements in poverty reduction, thanks to which the rate of child labor in Vietnam is 2% lower than the average of the Asia-Pacific region. A series of projects have brought positive results in preventing and reducing child labor such as: Technical assistance project to enhance national capacity to prevent and reduce child labor in Vietnam (ENHANCE) implemented by ILO in coordination with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (former) in 3 localities: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang, nearly 6,000 children have been supported in education and vocational training, 1,600 households have been supported to improve their livelihoods...; The Ministry of Education and Training , together with the (former) Ethnic Committee, coordinated with UNESCO to implement the "We Can" project in the provinces of Ha Giang, Ninh Thuan, and Soc Trang. More than 16,000 ethnic minority students have continued their studies and 4,500 parents have become more aware of the importance of education... Vietnam's efforts in reducing child labor have been recognized by the international community, with positive assessments from the ILO.

Need to fully understand children's rights and responsibilities in protecting and caring for children.

However, in addition to the achievements, reality also shows that there are still many limitations in the work of reducing child labor in Vietnam. For example, it is very difficult to monitor the informal sector. Child labor mainly occurs in the informal economic sector, such as small-scale production facilities, households and craft villages, making detection and control difficult. In particular, these jobs are often not officially recorded, leading to a lack of accurate data to build appropriate policies.

Information on child labor on the occasion of World Day Against Child Labor 12/6/2024. (Source: UN)

The staff, especially at the grassroots level, is still lacking in numbers and limited in capacity in detecting and intervening in child labor cases. This leads to many cases not being handled promptly, affecting the effectiveness of prevention programs. A part of the population, including parents and employers, is still not clearly aware of the harmful effects of child labor and the importance of education. This leads to children being forced or voluntarily participating in labor to support their families. And especially the limitations in the legal system and policies. Although Vietnam has issued many legal documents related to child labor prevention, implementation still faces many difficulties due to the lack of effective monitoring mechanisms and loose coordination between sectors and localities... Meanwhile, 2025 is a milestone year to complete the 8.7 initiative to contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 8 and move towards eliminating child labor in all forms, of which Vietnam is one of the 15 pioneering countries in Asia.

From the practice of child labor, looking back at the journey of nearly 8 years of implementing the Law on Children in 2016, we can see that there are bright spots such as: the system of children's rights has been expanded and specified; discrimination and stigmatization of children have been prohibited; the role of organizations representing the voices and aspirations of children has been enhanced; the responsibilities of the National Assembly, the Government, ministries, branches, localities, families and society in ensuring the implementation of children's rights have been clearly defined...

But there are still gaps that need to be filled. According to many child experts, although the Law on Children clearly stipulates children's rights, its implementation is still difficult due to the lack of an independent and effective monitoring mechanism to ensure that children's rights are fully implemented. The allocation of budget and resources for child protection programs and services is still limited, failing to meet actual needs, especially in remote areas. Coordination between agencies and organizations in child protection work is not close, leading to low efficiency in preventing and handling cases of child abuse, violence against children, child labor, etc.

And just like the limitations in preventing child labor in particular, when implementing the Law on Children in general, a part of the people, including officials, civil servants, and public employees, are not fully aware of children's rights and responsibilities in protecting and caring for children, leading to the implementation of children's rights not receiving due attention. From that, it can be seen that promoting communication on children's law is very important.

According to the ILO, on November 22, 2024, more than 300 workers, employers, leaders and trade union officials attended a communication forum on preventing and reducing child labor jointly organized by the ILO and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor in Tien Giang.

Workers were educated through SCREAM (supporting children’s rights through education, arts and communication) activities, including quizzes, videos, songs and skits on the topic of preventing child labor. These methods not only provided knowledge but also encouraged active participation, created an engaging atmosphere and had a profound impact on the audience. Participants were deeply inspired. A guest from the Dak Nong Women’s Union said: “This is the first time I have attended such a good communication event. I have learned a lot from this event.”

Following the forum in Tien Giang, a series of similar events were held in Dak Nong, Thai Nguyen and Tuyen Quang provinces to promote commitment to ending child labour through providing knowledge and empowering workers, employers and leaders, promoting the urgent need to protect children’s rights and futures.

It can be said that practice shows that implementing policies for children and commitments must go hand in hand with action, and besides investing resources, it is also indispensable to pay attention in the right place and at the right time. This requires continuous and long-term efforts from many sides, including the Government, ministries, departments, sectors, communities, families and the children themselves. Only with close cooperation and strong commitment can Vietnam achieve the goal of protecting children and ensuring a bright future for the younger generation.

Hoa Bui

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/8-nam-thuc-thi-luat-tre-em-hop-tac-chat-che-cam-ket-manh-me-doi-tay-vung-chac-de-bao-ve-tre-em-post549527.html