Continue to promote measures to enhance child protection

On June 19, 2023, Comrade Nguyen Long Bien, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, signed and issued Document No. 2460/UBND-VXNV of the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to provincial departments, branches and sectors and People's Committees of districts and cities on continuing to promote measures to strengthen child protection in the province in the coming time.

The document stated: In recent times, with the attention and direction of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the drastic participation of the entire political system at all levels, the work of protecting and caring for children in the province has achieved positive results: the system of guiding documents has been gradually completed; children in particularly difficult areas, ethnic minority areas and children living in poor and near-poor households have access to services and conditions for play and entertainment that ensure safety and sustainable development.

However, recently, child abuse cases have tended to increase, greatly affecting the psychology, physiology and physical health of children; violating the provisions of the law on child protection. In the first 6 months of 2023, there were 03 cases of child sexual abuse in the province, the number of children who died from drowning was 13, an increase of 6 children compared to the same period in 2022 ... leaving serious consequences for children and families, causing outrage in public opinion. Most recently, in Bao An ward, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city, a tragic drowning incident occurred, killing 03 sisters in the same family, very heartbreaking.

In the above situation, to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of children, especially to minimize the harm to children due to violence, abuse, and drowning in 2023 and the following years. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has the following opinion:

1. Heads of provincial departments, branches and sectors, Chairmen of People's Committees of districts and cities focus on directing and implementing synchronously, drastically and effectively tasks and solutions on preventing and combating violence and child abuse, focusing on the following contents:

- Continue to strictly implement Directive No. 69-CT/TU dated April 16, 2020 of the Provincial Party Standing Committee on strengthening the leadership of Party committees in the work of preventing and combating child abuse and drowning in the province; Plan No. 3126/KH-UBND dated September 3, 2020 of the Provincial People's Committee on implementing Decision No. 1863/QD-TTg dated December 23, 2019 of the Prime Minister approving the National Action Plan on preventing and combating violence and child abuse for the period 2020-2025 in Ninh Thuan province; Plan No. 5334/KH-UBND dated October 5, 2021 implementing Decision No. 830/QD-TTg dated June 1, 2021 of the Prime Minister approving the Program "Protecting and supporting children to interact healthily and creatively in the online environment for the period 2021 - 2025"; Plan No. 4197/KH-UBND dated August 15, 2021 of the Provincial People's Committee implementing the Program on preventing and combating child accidents and injuries for the period 2021-2030; Official Dispatch No. 1575/UBND-VXNV dated April 17, 2022 on strengthening the prevention of accidents and injuries and the prevention of child drowning and documents directing the work of preventing and combating child abuse, violence and drowning of the Provincial People's Committee.

- Based on the assigned functions and tasks, integrate and include them in the socio -economic development plans of each sector and locality. Urgently develop a specific plan to effectively implement the work of preventing child abuse and drowning in accordance with the functions, tasks and actual conditions of the locality and unit (organize implementation with specific, realistic, synchronous solutions and allocate resources to implement children's rights), resolve urgent issues related to the work of preventing and combating child abuse, and regularly inspect and handle problems arising in the process of implementing solutions to prevent and combat child abuse.

Children visit and participate in summer activities at the vineyard in Thai An (Ninh Hai). Photo: Van Ny

- Strengthen propaganda on mass media; widely propagate among people, educational institutions, schools, especially for parents, direct caregivers of children and family members to promote the responsibility of caring for, nurturing, educating, protecting the life, body, health, and privacy of children; improve knowledge and skills needed to protect children from violence, abuse, and drowning; guide people in the community on the responsibility to detect, report, and denounce acts of violence and child abuse.

2. Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs:

- Deploy and guide the People's Committees of districts, cities and the Provincial Social Work Center to implement child protection measures at three levels (prevention, support, intervention) of the 2016 Law on Children.

- Coordinate with relevant sectors and units to strengthen propaganda and promotion of the National Child Protection Hotline 111 and the provincial child support and consultation hotline (18008079). Direct the Provincial Social Work Center to proactively coordinate and be ready to connect with the National Child Protection Hotline 111 in consulting, supporting and intervening in cases of child abuse and violence.

- Preside over and coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications, press and media agencies in the province, relevant units and People's Committees of districts and cities to promote propaganda and education on ethics, lifestyle, behavior and exemplary responsibility of adults in the family; guide families, educational institutions, schools and children on knowledge and skills to protect children, prevent violence, abuse and drowning of children, especially preventing the situation of parents, relatives and caregivers of children from harming the life, health, spirit and dignity of children; disseminate legal provisions on child protection. Regularly inspect and examine the implementation of children's rights and policies and laws on preventing violence and child abuse in the province.

3. Department of Education and Training:

- Develop proactive measures to prevent child sexual abuse from occurring in schools and educational institutions.

- Strengthen propaganda and prevention of child sexual abuse; pay attention to education and equipping children with knowledge about gender, helping them identify, have skills to prevent and protect themselves from abuse, and boldly denounce those who commit sexual abuse.

- Closely coordinate with families and parents in managing children to effectively prevent and stop child abuse and drowning, especially during summer vacation.

- Integrate education on sexual abuse prevention skills into after-school activities, weekly activities, homeroom activities, and education council meetings. Integrate into Civic Education and Biology subjects; organize competitions to learn about children's rights, games, etc. to convey knowledge on preventing and combating child sexual abuse in particular and child protection in general to staff, teachers, and students in schools.

4. Provincial Police, Provincial People's Court, Provincial People's Procuracy:

Coordinate in directing, receiving, and promptly and strictly handling cases of violence and child abuse; strictly handle agencies, organizations, and individuals who conceal, fail to report, or denounce acts of violence and child abuse, or are irresponsible in handling cases of violence and child abuse.

5. Propose the Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations:

Strengthen supervision of law enforcement on child protection, propagate and mobilize union members, association members and the whole society to actively participate in child protection and care; promptly detect and denounce acts of violence and child abuse, especially child sexual abuse.

6. People's Committee of district and city:

- Pay attention to inspection, review, timely detection, and elimination of risks of injury, drowning, and other safety risks in each locality as well as in households, schools, and classrooms. Develop proactive measures to overcome, prevent, warn, and remind parents and guardians of children to closely monitor their children; guide families to take proactive measures to prevent and ensure the safety of children, and prevent children from falling into injury, drowning, especially during the summer.

- Strengthen inter-sectoral coordination in directing and implementing the work of preventing accidents, injuries and preventing children from drowning. Organize inspections and supervision of compliance with legal regulations on preventing accidents, injuries and drowning for children; direct and clarify the responsibilities of heads of agencies, organizations and local authorities for cases of child deaths due to accidents, injuries and drowning; strictly and promptly handle violations of children's rights. Mobilize the participation of mass organizations and people in detecting, monitoring and warning of areas at risk of drowning for children.

- Prioritize the allocation of resources to ensure intervention and support for children when they are victims of violence and abuse; Direct agencies and functional units to enhance the responsibility for inter-sectoral coordination in child protection at all levels, especially the district-level Child Protection Steering Committee and the commune-level Child Protection Standing Group to participate in grasping the situation of children and children in special circumstances in the area, promptly detect cases of children at risk of violence and abuse, especially children living in families with divorced or separated parents, parents working far away or having people involved in social evils to develop effective preventive measures.

- Coordinate with relevant agencies to promptly and effectively receive and process information, reports, and denunciations of risks and acts of violence and child abuse, and intervene and support children when they are victims of violence and abuse.

Request units and localities to urgently and seriously develop implementation measures to ensure timeliness and effectiveness; report periodically every 6 months, annually and suddenly (if any) through the Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs to synthesize and report to the Provincial People's Committee for direction.

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