(HBO) – The Hoa Binh provincial People’s Committee held a ceremony on May 27 to launch the Action Month for Children 2023, themed "joining hands to minimise harm to children”. The event was attended by Nguyen Van Toan, Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee and head of the province’s steering committee for implementing the child protection programme; officials of the provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, departments, sectors, organisations, and localities; representatives of the ChildFund and World Vision organisations, agencies, and businesses; along with 200 outstanding children of Hoa Binh.

There are more than 321,000 children under 16 in Hoa Binh province, including nearly 3,000 with special disadvantages and 54,000 at risk of falling into a particularly disadvantaged situation.

Over the past years, local authorities have consistently paid attention to child protection, care, and education through the issuance and timely implementation of many policies and practical activities, thus obtaining many significant results. However, Hoa Binh is still facing numerous difficulties and challenges in child care and protection.

The Action Month for Children 2023, themed "joining hands to minimise harm to children”, is carried out in the whole province in the spirit that all children have the right to live and grow in a safe, healthy, and friendly environment and be protected from assault and discrimination; the best benefits for children must be given the top priority during the issuance of socio-economic development decisions; and investing in child protection means investing in the entire society, human development, and sustainable national development.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Standing Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Toan, who is also head of the province’s steering committee for implementing the child protection programme, asked departments, sectors, organisations, and localities in Hoa Binh to step up communications to encourage people to comply the Party’s guidelines and the State’s policies and laws on child protection, care, and education, especially the Law on Children; hold many discussions and forums to listen to children’s opinions and take timely actions; review and have a good grasp of statistics about children to ensure that all local children can benefit from social security policies; and continue raising donations to the provincial Fund for Children in 2023.

At the event, more than 30 agencies, units, and businesses donated over 1 billion VND (42,600 USD) to the provincial Fund for Children.

On this occasion, five collectives and nine individuals were granted certificates of merit from the provincial People’s Committee in recognition of their major contributions to child protection and care in 2021 and 2022.

The Fund for Children and the Fund for Promoting Education of Hoa Binh province presented gifts and scholarships to 80 underprivileged children with good academic results, including 30 under the care of the provincial Social Work Centre and the provincial Fund for Children. Thirty-four children with particularly disadvantaged backgrounds received bicycles as gifts from the National Fund for Vietnamese Children, the Bao Viet Nhan Tho Corporation, and the provincial Fund for Children./.