ILO Director-General praises Việt Nam’s efforts in elimination of child labour

We have to coordinate all ministries and agencies to popularise the convention and related domestic legal regulations among employees, employers, people, agencies and organisations.

Training courses will be needed for employees, employers, businesses, cooperatives, agencies and organisations, helping to raise their capacity in the fight against forced labour.

It will also boost cooperation with countries, international and non-governmental organisations during the implementation, which will be reviewed in 2025.

The rate of child labour in Vietnam is almost 2 percentage points lower than the average Asia Pacific rate, and over 4 percentage points lower than the global average.

The country's program has three core aims: to prevent and detect cases of child labour, and support and provide interventions for children engaged in and at risk of child labour; to raise awareness on child labour prevention and reduction; and to deliver training and capacity building on child labour prevention and reduction.

Bravo Vietnam! Let's fight against child labour!

The goal is to step up these efforts, in line with Vietnam’s commitments as a pathfinder country for Global Alliance 8.7 ̶ a multi-stakeholder partnership to eliminate child labour in line with sustainable development goal (SDG) target 8.7 to eliminate child labour.

Ministries, unions, localities and organizations must actively develop plans and solutions to better prevent and reduce child labour in line with their respective responsibilities.

Child labour not only poses reputational risks to Vietnam as an international trade partner and weakens the capacity of the future workforce of the country, it undermines the rights of children and reinforces cyclical poverty.

Today’s launch demonstrates the strong political will of Vietnam’s leaders to secure a better future for future generations.

Vietnam has committed to comply with international labour standards, including the eradication of child labour, as required by new-generation Free Trade Agreements.

The implementation of the National Programme will ensure that this commitment is applied in practice, facilitating Vietnam’s full integration into the global economy; this is crucial to the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

Child labour can be prevented through integrated approaches that simultaneously address poverty, deprivation and inequality, improve resilience and access to social protection services and quality education, and mobilize community support for respecting children's rights.

It is also important to promote regulations on working conditions for children of working age; promote social norms and public attitudes in opposition to child labour; incorporate child labour concerns into education plans; and push the private sector and civil society to act together to eliminate child labour.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries around the world, including Vietnam, to take instantaneous action to protect children from child labor and sustain national efforts to abolish it.

Nowadays, Vietnam has also laid the foundation for effective and sustainable action against child labour by ratifying International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and has gone through several revisions of national child labour laws to address remaining issues.

Remember that Vietnam was the first country in Asia and second in the world to ratify the United Nations’ International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Children are the future of society, they must have the opportunity to fulfill their full potential, not be exploited for their labour force and not be hindered by obstacles to learning, safe, healthy and educated children will build a better future for themselves and for the country.

The international community has highly appreciated the attention and direction of the Government of Vietnam in effectively implementing the prevention and elimination of child labour. He hopes that Vietnam will be a leading country in the region in preventing and eliminating child labour.

As can be seen, Vietnam’s child labor laws comply with the provisions of international conventions of which Vietnam is a member as well as those of which Vietnam is not a member.