Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh received the Director of UNICEF East Asia-Pacific region.

On the afternoon of November 26, at the National Assembly House, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh received the Director of the East Asia -Pacific Region of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Chairwoman and Vice Chairwoman of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam-UNICEF cooperation relationship, which is also the 35th anniversary of Vietnam's participation in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

At the reception, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly congratulated and thanked UNICEF and the Committee on the Rights of the Child for always accompanying and effectively supporting Vietnam in the work of protecting and caring for children.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly highly appreciated UNICEF as one of the extremely important development partners, having made many practical contributions to the care, education and protection of Vietnamese children over the past decades; and acknowledged UNICEF's close coordination in the process of Vietnam implementing policies and guidelines on children.

Regarding the results of cooperation over the past time, the Vice Chairman of the National Assembly sincerely thanked UNICEF for actively supporting Vietnam in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, implementing the expanded vaccination program for children and providing emergency support to areas affected by natural disasters, storms and floods...

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly also appreciated UNICEF's close and effective cooperation with the specialized committees of the Vietnamese National Assembly.

Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Thanh received Ms. June Kunugi, UNICEF Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific. (Photo: Minh Duc/VNA)

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly affirmed that the field of child care, protection and education is a top priority in Vietnam's development policy; emphasizing that in 2025 alone, the Vietnamese National Assembly has sharply increased the budget allocated for child care and protection, notably the policy of universalizing preschool education, exempting tuition fees for children in public schools and supporting non-public students; at the same time, investing in the construction of 248 boarding schools in border and difficult areas.

The Vice Chairman of the National Assembly said that the Vietnamese National Assembly continues to pay attention to children's work in the legislative process, informed about the expected plan to pass laws on education and occupations and the policy of strongly increasing the budget to implement the National Program related to children.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. June Kunugi, UNICEF East Asia-Pacific Regional Director, expressed her deep condolences for the losses that the Vietnamese people have suffered due to natural disasters in recent times.

She said UNICEF has been present in Vietnam since 1975 and has always accompanied in emergency relief activities, supporting communities to overcome the consequences of natural disasters.

Discussing the results of child protection and care, Ms. June Kunugi highly appreciated Vietnam's strong commitment to health care, nutrition, clean water, environmental sanitation and child protection. Ms. June Kunugi expressed her hope that the 2024 Law on Juvenile Justice will be effectively implemented.

In the context of the world facing many new challenges such as economic and financial fluctuations, climate change, migration and population aging, the Regional Director said that Vietnam is currently a typical model in the world and welcomed Vietnam for always putting children at the center of development strategies and policies. She also congratulated the Government of Vietnam on approving the Action Plan to implement the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.

At the meeting, Ms. Sophie Kiladze, Chairwoman of the CRC Committee, said that the Committee is developing a Joint Statement on promoting the role of parliaments in implementing and monitoring children's rights; and proposed to increase experience sharing between national parliaments.

The CRC side expressed its impression of the budget allocated for children's work in Vietnam in recent times; committed that the CRC is ready to coordinate and support Vietnam in implementing policy priorities to ensure children's rights.

In the coming time, the Vice President of the National Assembly and UNICEF leaders hope that the two sides will continue to accompany and coordinate closely, increase resources and provide technical support for Vietnam to successfully implement sustainable development goals, including the protection and care of children, especially children in difficult circumstances, children in remote areas and ethnic minorities, support children's education, and train high-quality human resources to serve the socio-economic development process of Vietnam.

Ms. June Kunugi, who has made important contributions to children in Vietnam since her time as a UNICEF communications officer in the 1990s, is now the Regional Director for East Asia and the Pacific.

She has made active contributions and support from the Regional Office to Vietnam, especially in responding to recent storms and floods.

Ms. Sophie Kiladze, President of CRC, and Mr. Philip D. Jaffé, Vice President of CRC, are child rights experts with extensive international experience in supporting Vietnam in realizing children's rights./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/pho-chu-tich-quoc-hoi-nguyen-thi-thanh-tiep-giam-doc-unicef-khu-vuc-dong-a-tbd-post1079532.vnp