Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung hosted a meeting with UNICEF Representative to Vietnam Silvia Danailov to discuss future cooperation plans between the Ministry and UNICEF. Minister Dao Ngoc Dung congratulated Danailov on her new position and expressed gratitude for UNICEF's ongoing support to Vietnam, particularly in initiatives focused on children, including various activities, programmes, and projects that the MoLISA has been involved in.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung praised UNICEF Vietnam's role as the leading United Nations agency and international organisation supporting child welfare work in Vietnam for over nearly 50 years. He especially highlighted UNICEF's timely assistance to children and families affected by Typhoon Yagi in several northern mountainous provinces.
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Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung receives UNICEF Representative to Vietnam Silvia Danailov. (Photo: MoLISA) |
For her part, Silvia Danailov expressed UNICEF's appreciation for the long-standing and effective cooperation with the MOLISA. She emphasised significant progress in building and implementing important policies and programmes for children in Vietnam, especially in strengthening child protection from violence and abuse, promoting holistic child development, improving social protection policies for children, and advancing social work and vocational training programmes for youth.
Silvia Danailov congratulated Vietnam on passing the Decree on Social Work, making the country one of the four nations in the region to professionalise the social work profession. This achievement is seen as a significant step forward in strengthening the social welfare system and ensuring better support for vulnerable populations, particularly children, in Vietnam.
Silvia Danailov, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, proposed several areas for future cooperation with the MoLISA. She informed Minister Dung about the upcoming 50th anniversary of UNICEF's presence in Vietnam and the 35th anniversary of Vietnam's ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which will be celebrated in June 2025.
UNICEF expressed its desire to collaborate with MoLISA to leverage these significant milestones to further promote children's rights, enhance the child protection system, and integrate child-focused strategies and targets into the national and local socio-economic development plans for the 2026-2030 period. Additionally, UNICEF emphasised the importance of accelerating the approval of a project document between UNICEF and the MoLISA aimed at advancing and safeguarding children's rights in Vietnam.
At the meeting, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung said that the protection, care, and education of children have always been a priority for the Vietnamese Party and State, achieving significant results in policy and legal system improvements as well as in practical implementation. The Minister reaffirmed that, under any circumstances, even during administrative restructuring, the protection and care of children remain a top priority.
Minister Dao Ngoc Dung expressed his hope that UNICEF will continue supporting Vietnam in implementing child-focused services with an emphasis on preventive measures. He suggested a comprehensive and coordinated framework for services that protect, care for, and educate children to ensure effective and synchronised integration.
To mark this important milestone, the Minister proposed the establishment of an organising committee and tasked relevant agencies with coordinating with UNICEF to develop a concrete plan for activities, ensuring practical and effective implementation without superficiality.
Regarding the "Protection and Promotion of Children's Rights in Vietnam" project, the Minister praised UNICEF's close cooperation during the project's previous phase.
In response, Silvia Danailov highlighted UNICEF’s readiness to support and work alongside the MoLISA in protecting children, advancing social work, enhancing social protection, and promoting comprehensive child development, ultimately aiming to improve the quality of life for children in Vietnam.
