Vietnamese children’s voices heard

The Children’s Council model has helped Hanoi authorities and agencies understand aspirations and needs regarding the development of children, heard a recent event to review the Council’s operation in the city in 2017-2020.

The model also has served as an important representative for children of the city over the more than three years since its establishment.

Chairman of the Hanoi Council of the Ho Chi Minh Young Pioneer Organisation (HYPO) Ly Duy Xuan stressed that care, education and protection of children are for the sake of the country’s long-term benefit and the State and people must work to create optimal conditions for their comprehensive development.

Under the Prime Minister’s Decision 1235/QD-TTg dated August 3, 2015 on approving a programme on promoting children’s involvement in child-related issues, Hanoi is among five provinces and cities selected for the pilot of the Children’s Council model.

In the reviewed period, the municipal Children’s Council, set up with 41 members, arranged over 300 activities to garner children’s opinions at grassroots level and held five meetings at city level, with focus on tackling learning pressure, school violence, and child abuse in the community and cyber space, among others.

Members of the Council also joined regular training courses to improve soft and social skills so as to better fulfil their role.

Although the model is newly-launched, its members have exerted efforts to hold numerous practical activities. Many children’s opinions have been inscribed in Hanoi’s legal documents./.