On Tuesday, Da Nang People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung met with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on Violence against Children, Ms Marta Santos Pais.

Ms Pais said she was very impressed by the great efforts made by the city authorities over recent years to ensure a healthy and safe environment for local children, especially those with disabilities.  In particular, the city’s Centre for Social Work has been playing a vital role in implementing local child protection programmes.

She pledged that she would act as a bridge to introduce the city’s child protection programmes and models to international friends, and hoped that Da Nang will become a child-friendly city in the near future.

Local children playing

In reply, Vice Chairman Dung highly praised UNICEF Viet Nam for its financial assistance to the city over recent years, and for its courses for training those involved in local child protection activities.

He also remarked that, as part of its socio-economic development strategies, the city always prioritises social policies benefiting local residents, especially teenagers and children.

Currently, over 2,700 of the city’s 220,000 children are from very poor families, whilst over 23,000 are at high risk of falling into special circumstances.  Included are the abandoned, disabled and sexually abused children, and those who are victims of toxic substances or do hard and hazardous work.

These figures were officially released on the same day at a consultative workshop on preventing violence against children.  Organised by the city’s Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the event was attended by Ms Pais and the Deputy Representative of UNICEF Viet Nam, Mr Jesper Moller.

It was reported that numerous action programmes and projects for combating violence against local children have been effectively implemented in the city.  They include the city’s ‘5 No’s, 3 Yes’s’ campaign and local programmes to help disobedient teenagers and juvenile offenders ‘turn over a new leaf’ by making a positive change to their characters and confidently reintegrating into the community.  These practical programmes have helped to raise awareness amongst local residents of maintaining a safe and violence-free environment for children to ensure their compressive development.

Addressing the workshop participants, Ms Pais said that local relevant agencies should work closely with schools and families to make sure that children always feel secure in their lives and are confident enough to report if they become victims of violence.

Representatives from the city authorities remarked that Da Nang would like UNICEF to continue providing funds for the city and assisting it in implementing policies and practical programmes for helping local children, with a focus on making plans for a project to make Da Nang a child-friendly city.