Vietnam's child labor rate is 4% lower than the global average.

This information was stated by Mr. Dang Hoa Nam, Director of the Department of Children, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs at the workshop "Preventing and reducing child labor against the law by 2024", on June 11.

The workshop was held for representatives of central and local ministries, branches, researchers and experts in the field of children to discuss and propose solutions to prevent and reduce child labor in violation of the law.

Workshop on "Prevention and reduction of illegal child labor by 2024" took place on June 11 (Photo: Gia Doan).

The workshop also contributed to the Month of Action for Children 2024 with the theme "Practical actions, prioritizing resources for children" and the International Day against Child Labor 2024. Speaking at the workshop, Director of the Department of Children Dang Hoa Nam said that Vietnam has about 1.7 million children participating in economic activities, accounting for 9.1% of the total number of children aged 5-17 nationwide. Of these, up to 1.1 million children are identified as child laborers, accounting for 58.8% of children participating in economic activities. "The rate of child labor (CL) in Vietnam is about 2% lower than the average rate in the Asia-Pacific region and 4.2% lower than the global rate," said Mr. Nam. The results of the survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the General Statistics Office show that, among child laborers, about 519,805 children were identified as doing heavy, toxic, and dangerous work - jobs that pose risks to the health, safety, and morality of children (accounting for 29.6% of children in economic activities and 50.4% of the total number of child laborers). Although the rate of children participating in economic activities who go to school has increased significantly, from 43.6% to 63% in the past 10 years, there are still 19,500 children (accounting for 1.1%) who have never been to school. Compared to the national average school attendance rate of 94.4%, only 50% of child laborers go to school. This rate is 38.6% lower than the group of children doing heavy, toxic, and dangerous work. "These are noteworthy figures for policy makers and also a significant challenge in ensuring children's rights in general and the rights of child laborers in particular," said Mr. Nam.

Director of the Department of Children Dang Hoa Nam (Photo: Gia Doan).

According to the leader of the Department of Children, there are still many challenges to overcome in order to effectively promote the achievements of gradually reducing child labor. The goal is to completely eliminate child labor in Vietnam in the coming time. Specifically, the whole country strives to reduce the rate of child laborers aged 5-17 to below 4.9% by 2025 and 4.5% by 2030. The leader of the Department of Children said that the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs and ministries, sectors and localities will continue to improve policies on preventing and reducing child labor in violation of the law, especially policies to supporteducation , vocational training and social security. In addition, the sector advocates strengthening the implementation of the Inter-sectoral Coordination Regulation; integrating the resolution of child labor in violation of the law in the child protection system with issues of poverty reduction and social security. The Ministry of State Management also wants to strengthen the system of child protection agencies to prevent and eliminate child labor in the direction of increasing coverage and focusing on children.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/ty-le-lao-dong-tre-em-cua-viet-nam-thap-hon-4-trung-binh-toan-cau-20240611174635953.htm