[child-rights] CRC 32nd Session: Review of report by Viet Nam

UNITED NATIONS
Press Release
22 January 2003
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xxxxxxxxxxCOMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD REVIEWS REPORT OF VIET 
NAMxxxxxxxxxx

The Committee on the Rights of the Child considered today a second
periodic report of Viet Nam, hearing a Government delegation describe
legislative and practical reforms taken over the past decade to
improve the situation of the country's children.

Le Thi Thu, Minister and Chairperson of the National Committee on
Population, Family and Children of Viet Nam, who introduced the
report, said that since 1993, when the Committee reviewed Viet Nam's
initial report, the country had undergone profound political,
economic, and social changes, many of them intended to aid in the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Responding to questions put by Committee members, the Government
delegation said among other things that increased investment had been
made in social and educational programmes for children; that
compulsory primary education had been extended to 94 per cent of
Vietnamese children; and that steps were being taken to reduce a high
rate of infant mortality, especially in rural and remote regions.

The Committee's formal concluding observations on the report of Viet
Nam will be issued towards the end of its three-week session, which
concludes on 31 January.

Other members of the Vietnamese delegation were Le Van Bang, Vice
Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ngo Quang Xuan, Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of Viet Nam to the United Nations Office and other
organizations in Geneva; Le Do Ngoc, Director of the Family
Department; Nguyen Trong An, Deputy Director of the Children
Department; Dang Nam, Deputy Director for Communication and
Education; Cao Thi Thanh Thuy, Deputy Director for International
Cooperation of the Committee on Population, Family and Children;
Truong Trieu Duong, Minister Counsellor, and Nguyen Thiep,
Counsellor, of the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam in Geneva; Le Hoai
Trung, Deputy Director, and Ta Van Thong, Deputy Director of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Nguyen Cong Hong, Deputy Director of the
Ministry of Justice; Nguyen Thi Hoang Lan, from the Government
Office; and Ha Thi Lan Anh, a representative of Vietnamese Children.

Viet Nam, as one of 191 States parties to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, must present periodic reports to the Committee
on national efforts to implement the treaty.

The Committee will meet in private session Thursday to continue its
consideration of draft concluding observations on country reports
already reviewed this session. At 10 a.m. Friday, it is scheduled to
take up a second periodic report of the Czech Republic (document
CRC/C/83/Add.4).

Second Periodic Report of Viet Nam

The report (document CRC/C/65/Add.20) reviews steps taken to
implement provisions of the Convention since the submission of Viet
Nam's initial report in 1993. The report covers such areas as civil
rights and freedoms, family environment and alternative care, basic
health and welfare, education, leisure and cultural activities, and
special measures.

It states that over the years, Viet Nam has undergone positive and
comprehensive changes that have had a great positive impact on the
population, including on children -- the result of effective
implementation of the "correct policy of renewal" -- "doi moi" --
initiated by the Sixth National Congress of the Communist Party of
Viet Nam in 1986. The policy has led to considerable political and
socio-economic, cultural and civil achievements and has created
favourable conditions for the implementation of the Convention.

Implementing child rights is one of the focuses of human rights in
Viet Nam, the reports states. A National Programme of Action for
Children has played an important role in national and local
socio-economic programmes and decision-making, and has been carried
out in smooth coordination with international cooperation programmes,
especially those of UNICEF, and other programmes of action of social
bodies and mass organizations.

Presentation of Report

LE THI THU, Minister and Chairperson of the National Committee on
Population, Family and Children of Viet Nam, said that since 1993,
Viet Nam had undergone enormous and profound changes in all
political, economic, and social fields, these had had a great impact
on implementation of the Convention. The comprehensive "doi moi"
process had been further accelerated, yielding significant
achievements and living up to the expectations of the Vietnamese
people. As a result, the process had received the strong support and
active participation of the entire Vietnamese people and had been
highly appreciated by the international community.

The Vietnamese economy continued to achieve sustained and relatively
high growth, Ms. Le said. The country's average Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) had increased by 7 per cent annually; new progress had
been made in agricultural restructuring; high growth had been
registered in the fishery, industry, export and services sectors; and
inflation was under control.

Ms. Le said in spite of economic difficulties, Viet Nam had managed
to allocate in its national budget and to mobilize resources from
people and various economic sectors for the development of education
and training, science and technology, culture, health care,
protection of environment, and the addressing of social issues.
Universal primary education had been achieved and illiteracy
eradicated in 2000. The rate of poor households had been reduced to
16 per cent in 2001 and to 14.3 per cent in 2001 and 2002. Greater
attention was being paid to the protection and care of children.
Programmes had been established on education and training, poverty
alleviation, employment, and reproductive health care for mountainous
communes and ethnic minorities; and remote and poor areas had been
given priority for investment.

Ms. Le said the Vietnamese economy still had many weaknesses,
including low competitiveness and efficiency and a low pace of
economic restructuring. Cultural and social development had not yet
met new requirements. Urgent social issues had not been fully
addressed; the unemployment and underemployment rates remained high;
social evils and crime had not yet been rolled back; and traffic
accidents were on the rise.

Viet Nam had continued with greater efforts to harmonize the
Convention with national legislation, Ms. Thu said. National
legislation relating to the rights of the child had been amended. The
spirit of the Convention had been imbued in the drafting and revising
process of such fundamental laws as the Penal Code, Criminal
Procedures Code, Labour Code and Law on Marriage and Family. The
rights of the child had been reinforced through more provisions in
the country's legal system. Great efforts had been made to create a
child-friendly legal system.

Ms. Le said the Government was cooperating with other countries and
international organizations to provide more resources for the
realization of national goals for children. To assist in achieving
the goals set in the National Programme of Action for Children
(2001-2005), the Government had signed a cooperation agreement with
the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Over 400 foreign
non-governmental organizations had implemented projects focusing on
children. Many foreign governments also had provided Overseas
Development Assistance (ODA) for the implementation of child rights.

HA THI LAN ANH, a child speaking on behalf of Vietnamese Children,
said she was happy that things had changed in her country, and that
the views of children were now being heard. She had represented her
country's children during the United Nations General Assembly Special
Session on Children. Over the last five years, Vietnamese children
had been able to participate in programmes and decisions concerning
them. She reminded Vietnamese authorities that Vietnamese children
still needed further improvements in the health sector, particularly
in relation to safe drinking water, prevention of traffic accidents
and protection against HIV/AIDS.

Discussion

Committee Experts raised numerous questions under the main subjects
of general measures of the implementation of the provisions of the
Convention and the legal definition of children in Viet Nam.
Questions were posed on such issues as participation of children and
NGOs in the preparation of the report; monitoring of the
implementation of the Convention; allocation of funds for the
realization of child rights; the number and kind of complaints lodged
by children concerning their rights; the involvement of the private
sector in the implementation of child rights; the support provided to
disabled children; and the implementation of child rights in remote
and mountainous regions.

Responding, members of the Vietnamese delegation said among other
things that the National Committee on Population, Family and Children
monitored and coordinated activities dealing with children. The
Committee had 10 departments and branches in all regions. The
Committee had also participated in the amendment of laws concerning
children.

Vietnamese children had benefited from the economic stability and
growth of the country, as more services had been made available to
them, the delegation said. Social services were more accessible to
children and to population at large. Health-care services had been
made available to disadvantaged children. The implementation of the
"doi moi" reform policy had been beneficial to children in all
spheres, including in the promotion and protection of child rights.
The renewal policy had ensured equal access to social services in all
regions. However, such equality had not yet been realized in rural
areas, and the Government had to intensify its efforts in those
regions.

The National Committee in 2001 had received 927 complaints of
violations of child rights, the delegation said. The recommendations
formulated by the Committee to the competent authorities had been
accepted to resolve the complaints. The Committee also continued to
collect complaints in the provinces and other remote areas.

In addition to assistance received through international cooperation,
the Government had allocated significant amounts of money for the
implementation of the rights of the child, the delegation said.
Children were also the main beneficiaries of social investments made
by the Government. The authorities in 2001 had distributed US$85
million to NGOs working in the promotion and protection of child
rights. And UNICEF had allocated significant funds each year for
child protection in the country.

Children in Viet Nam were informed of their rights through various
mechanisms, the delegation said. Mass media awareness-raising
programmes had been carried out on regular basis, and schools were
providing education on the rights of the child. NGOs were also
instrumental in disseminating information on the provisions of the
Convention. The Government had expanded counselling centres for
children with the view to guiding them on issues concerning their
rights. The reform policy had provided new opportunities and
challenges for the children of Viet Nam.

Committee Experts went on to raise questions under the main issues of
general principles of the Convention; civil rights and freedoms; and
family environment and alternative care. The questions focused, among
other things, on the right to life, survival and development; the
national plan for road safety; the high rate of abortion (40 per cent
of pregnancies); respect for the opinion of the child in courts; the
right not to be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment; measures concerning children without parental
care; the situation of street children; the clearing of Agent Orange,
the gas sprayed by the United States during the war against Viet Nam;
the provision of education in minority languages; the fate of 150,000
orphaned and abandoned children; and the promotion of domestic and
international adoption.

Members of the Vietnamese delegation said, among other responses,
that the effort to universalize education had yet to cover some parts
of mountainous and remote areas. However, 94 per cent of Vietnamese
children were attending compulsory primary schools. The policy on
eradication of illiteracy had been strengthened by several measures.
UNICEF had contributed significant assistance to the Government in
its efforts to implement educational programmes for children.

Viet Nam was frequently devastated by typhoons and floods, and these
natural disasters had a negative impact on the rights of the child,
the delegation said. Besides measures against natural disasters, the
Government had taken steps to protect children from road accidents
and drowning, particularly in the Mekong River Delta. The causes of
such incidents had been investigated and appropriate measures taken
to remedy the situation. The Ministry of Labour had also carried out
programmes to reduce child mortality from accidents. One-third of the
country's accidents affected children, and the number of victims was
high.

The "orange gas" sprayed by the United States against Viet Nam during
the war between the two countries still affected some newborn
children, the delegation said. The people of Viet Nam were still
feeling the damage and devastating environmental effects of the gas.

The country's 1995 Civil Code regulated child adoption and the
nationality issues of citizens married to foreigners, the delegation
said. Ten thousand children had been adopted since the new law
entered into force. Many of the children had adopted by French
families; the next most frequent country of adoption was Sweden. The
adopting families fully complied with the conditions for adoption set
by Viet Nam. These included visits to the adopted children by
representatives of Viet Nam. Viet Nam was not yet a party to the 1993
Hague Convention on inter-country adoptions.

Corporal punishment against a child was considered a crime, the
delegation said, and educational campaigns had been launched to
change attitudes on corporal punishment.

The administration of the juvenile justice system had still to be
strengthened to deal properly with the children in conflict with the
law, the delegation said. The Government was eager for international
assistance in that area.

Because of a decline in the traditional "extended families" system
and the growth of the nuclear family system, some children might lack
support in the event they were deprived of a parental environment,
the delegation said. A survey had shown that one-parent families,
particularly headed by women, were on the rise. The Government had
been working to reinforce the family and to improve the situation of
children, who were the first to be affected by breakdowns in the
family structure.

Committee Experts went on to pose numerous questions under the main
subjects of basic health and welfare; education, leisure and cultural
activities; and special protection measures. The questions focused,
among other things, on the situation of disabled children; regional
disparities in education; the high rate of school dropouts;
participation of children in cultural activities; mobile libraries
for children living in remote areas; the promotion of breastfeeding;
and the connection between dropouts and child labour.

Responding, the members of the Vietnamese delegation said among other
things that the Government was making efforts to close the existing
gap in education between regions. Incentives were provided for
teachers who volunteered to be transferred to remote and ethnic
areas, thus allowing them to receive higher salaries. Many schools in
the remote areas were no longer "bamboo-schools" -- they had been
rebuilt through the restructuring programmes introduced by the
Government. Teaching was provided in minority languages; and the
number of universities in minority regions had increased to five.

Before 1988, the rate of birth registration was 70 per cent; now it
was more than 90 per cent, the delegation said. A lack of staff for
birth registration still did not allow for registration of all new
births.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), breastfeeding was a
problem in the country, the delegation said. In order to reduce child
malnutrition, the Government had encouraging mothers to breastfeed
their children. Thus the practice was increasing for children under 4
months of age.

Infant mortality was high in Viet Nam, the delegation said. The rate
was still higher in the remote areas and in regions where medical
stations were far away. Deliveries in remote regions were carried out
at home, with resulting risks to newborn children.

There were no children under 18 years of age employed in State
enterprises, the delegation said. The private sector was subjected to
State labour inspections in attempts to prevent child labour.

Preliminary Concluding Remarks

GHALIA MOHD BIN HAMAD AL-THANI, the Committee Expert who served as
country rapporteur to the report of Viet Nam, said she had enjoyed
the discussion with the members of the delegation, who had provided
new information on the situation of children in the country. The
second periodic report had shown that further measures had been taken
to implement the Convention. Some work still had to be done so that
Vietnamese children could fully realize their rights. The State party
should be encouraged to take further action to allow children to
participate in activities concerning them.

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