Vietnam children victimized by globalization, says group
Children in Vietnam are becoming more vulnerable to exploitation,
trafficking, prostitution and the drug trade as external influences on the
communist nation rise, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said
yesterday.
Yasuyuki Norbera, the ILO's Asia-Pacific regional director, said that
while Vietnam has done better than many of its neighbours in reducing
child labour, its transition to a market economy has thrown up new
challenges.
"The increasing openness of the country to external economic and social
influences has raised the spectre of new forms and patterns of
vulnerability for Vietnam's children," he said.
Norbera also blamed their vulnerability on the rise in internal migration
and the growing numbers of displaced families living on the fringes of
cities, often necessitating the entire family, including children, working to
survive.
"They can now be found in informal work arrangements that are arduous,
poorly paid, unsupervised and unregulated. They are also more
vulnerable to trafficking, prostitution, and the sale and use of drugs," he
said.
His comments were made at the launch of a 30-month US-funded project
aimed at preventing and halting child labour in Vietnam in partnership
with the government.
"The project aims to strengthen the capacity of government, mass
organizations and civil society in addressing the problems of the worst
forms of child labour through prevention, protection and the removal of
children from dangerous work and their rehabilitation," he said.
Government figures show that the number of child workers between the
ages of 6 and 17 declined from 8.2 million in 1992 to 6.3 million in 1998
out of Vietnam's 80 million population.
Robert Porter, deputy head of the US embassy in Vietnam, praised the
government's efforts over the past decade to reduce child labour but said
much still remains to be done.
"These children work long hours, sometimes away from home under
exploitative, socially unjust or hazardous conditions with little or no pay,
and are deprived of their right to health, education and future
development."
Vietnam begun 'doi moi', or its shift from a centrally-planned to a market
economy, in 1986. It ratified the ILO's convention on Prohibition and
Immediate Action on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in November
2000.
Agence France Presse - February 19, 2003.
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