More than 24,000 violations have been committed against children across the globe, including recruitment into armed forces, abduction, sexual violence, deprivation of basic needs, attacks on schools and hospitals-- and even murder.

To tackle this, Canada has launched a set of 17 principles focusing on child protection in peacekeeping, incorporating all stages of a conflict.

"These principles are motivated by an understanding that preventing the use and recruitment of child soldiers is not peripheral to UN peacekeeping, but rather it is critical to achieving overall mission success and setting the conditions for lasting peace," said Richard Arbeiter, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations.

He was speaking at an event last week, organized by the Permanent Mission of Canada, and included guest speakers from Watchlist, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Canadian Defense Academy (CDA), and the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).

"In June, Canada's Minister of National Defence announced the establishment of the Roméo Dallaire Centre of Excellence for Peace and Security, within the Canadian Defence Academy," Dr. Simon Collard- Wexler, First Secretary, Political Affairs, at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, told IPS.

The Centre's initial focus, he said, "will be to support our forces' implementation of the Vancouver Principles".

Canada will also be providing the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative with a contribution of over $1 million over five years "to conduct research and identify lessons learned and best practices regarding the prevention of the recruitment and use of child soldiers."

Over 40% of the worlds armed forces use children and are known to be fighting in at least 14 countries around the world. Children are vulnerable because they are easier to manipulate than adults, do not require pay, and their cognitive sense of danger is low. They also might become soldiers due to societal pressure and are led to believe that volunteering will provide security.

"The Vancouver principles identify key ways that peacekeeping can contribute to and enhance efforts to end child recruitment," said Adrianne Lapar, Program Director at Watchlist.

When asked what role Watchlist will have, going forward, Lapar told IPS: "Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, which represents a network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), will continue to push governments and the United Nations to improve programs and policies to protect children in armed conflict."

"We would like to see more governments endorse the Vancouver Principles, along with the Paris Principles and Commitments and the Safe Schools Declaration, as a mutually enforcing package of commitments to protect the rights of children in war," she added, but noted that "commitments mean nothing until they are put into practice".

"For that, we urge governments to integrate these principles into their military doctrine, trainings, and operating procedures. They need to ensure accountability of their forces for any violations of children's rights; this includes investigating any allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeepers, holding those responsible to account, and providing reparations and support services to survivors."

So far, over 89 countries have endorsed the Vancouver principles. With that in mind, peacekeeping workers need to be equipped and trained appropriately as well.

"Peacekeepers have an important role in ending and preventing child recruitment, as well as other grave violations against children in armed conflict" Lapar said at the panel discussion, adding that "often times, they may be the first to identify children associated with armed forces or those at risk of being recruited."

Thus, peacekeeping forces are extremely beneficial, coupled with the principles. However, to do that, Lapar noted "they need to mandate directives and appropriate training to do so effectively."

She pointed out that the Vancouver principles illustrate this very sentiment. However, there are other tools than can be used to help combat child recruitment.

"The first Vancouver principle highlights the importance of integrating child protection provisions including the prevention of child recruitment into all peacekeeping mandates." Lapar stated.

"By clearly articulating appropriate child protection tasks into peacekeeping mandates, the security council can bolster the protection of the children and enable efforts to end and prevent recruitment and other grave violations," she elaborated.

She pointed out Principle 15 which examines the use of sanctions against those that use and recruit children. That said, sanctions are a tricky maze to maneuver.

When asked about ensuring that the sanctions would harm the targeted parties and not the civilians, Lapar said: "I want to reiterate that sanctions are just one of many tools available to the Security Council and UN Member States, to put pressure on perpetrators who commit child rights violations and to deter future violators."

"They should be used as a last resort, after other measures have failed, and carefully considered, with attention to the context and potential impacts on civilian populations, to avoid causing greater harm," she added, pointing out that "there are a number of Security Council sanctions regimes in place already, but only some of these include among their designation criteria grave violations against children, including the recruitment and use of children, targeting children, and attacks on schools and hospitals."

"And yet we need to do more as children continue to be excluded from most peace discussions around the world," Lapar pointed out.

Indeed, as since 2016, children have been used in hostilities by both armed and non-armed groups in at least 18 conflicts, and 27 countries operating "military schools, where children, as young as 15 are deemed members of the armed forces and thus are compelled to enlist upon graduation.

"Children should be protected and never recruited and used in war," Lapar concluded.

There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries. They live in all geographic regions and represent 5000 different cultures. These people are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to others yet are being forced to give up their ways of life.

In Latin America, for example, 40% of all indigenous peoples now live in urban areas – they account for 80% of those populations in some countries. Globally, they represent 5% of the world's population, yet account for 15% of all of those in poverty.

Indigenous people speak an overwhelming majority of the world's 7000 languages. These languages are extensive and complex systems of knowledge that are central to their identity, their cultures, worldviews and expressions of self-determination.

Tragically, many indigenous languages are under threat, as we lose one of these languages every two weeks. According to UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, 230 languages went extinct between 1950 and 2010. Today, a third of the world's languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers left.

The 9th of August commemorates the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. This year's theme will focus on the current situation of indigenous languages around the world, aiming to highlight the critical need to revitalize, preserve and promote indigenous languages to safeguard the life of indigenous cultures for future generations.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc launched the national labour productivity movement during a conference held in Hanoi on August 7. 

According to data released by the General Statistics Office (GSO), the labour productivity in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia was 13.7, 5.3, 2.7 and 2.2 times higher than that of Vietnam in 2018.

The mining sector recorded the highest labour productivity while agro-forestry-fisheries posted the lowest, only about 38.9 percent of the whole economy’s. 

The GSO attributed it to small economic size, outdated machinery, limited workforce quality and poor management of resources. 

However, the PM said the labour productivity remains low but increases steadily over years. 

In order to raise labour productivity, he outlined six major orientations, including refining socialist-oriented market economy mechanism, improving State governance and national competitiveness, promoting shift of labour structure to quality services, reforming finance-banking, accelerating reform in State and private sector, attracting foreign direct investment in priority fields, and integrating into the global economy. 

Six tasks include refining mechanisms to effectively tap resources, improving the effectiveness of labour market in both supply and demand, attracting talents at home and abroad, enhancing education quality which should be considered the top national policy in the new situation while paying attention to investing in science-technology. 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was assigned to collect feedback at the event to devise laws to submit to the PM for consideration. 

Concluding the event, the leader said improving labour productivity is an important task that needs involvement of the entire political system, business community, and contingent of scientists, researchers and managers./.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the World Bank (WB) on August 7 jointly launched a knowledge-sharing programme to assist policymakers in Vietnam with developing new models of care services for the elderly as Vietnam’s population is aging at a pace faster than any of its regional peers.

The first activity under this new program was a learning seminar in Hanoi where 40 government officials from various line ministries, including Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and Vietnam National Committee on Aging participated to gain a better understanding of the nature of the issues and challenges of eldercare the country is facing.

“Rapid population aging in Vietnam will have significant economic, social and fiscal implications,” said Ousmane Dione, WB Country Director for Vietnam, adding the country needs to start preparing for an ageing society now by developing a comprehensive and financially sustainable health and social care service system that can provide the elderly with the care they need.

“Over the past decade, JICA has been supporting Thailand to develop Community-based Integrated Care Model while adopting to the local context,” said Tetsuo Konaka, JICA Vietnam Office’s Chief Representative.

“We believe that by utilising experiences and lessons learned from Thailand and Japan, Vietnam can learn how to develop and implement an effective care model for elderly people,” he said.

At the seminar, experts from Japan and Thailand shared their experiences and lessons learnt in designing policies and institutional arrangements with proper attention to the associated fiscal impacts.

Based on current demographic trends, Vietnam’s elderly population will double from 7 percent to 14 percent of the total population – the threshold for a country’s population to be considered aged – in about 17 years. In comparison, it took Singapore and Thailand 22 and 20 years, respectively, to reach this threshold. Vietnam is projected to become an aged society around 2035.

Like many other countries, family members, particularly women, have been the de facto care-givers for older adults in Vietnam. However, as the family structure evolves and the needs of elders become increasingly complex, there is an imperative for interventions to go beyond the household level to be effective.

To facilitate a transition to a new eldercare model, Vietnam needs to address major structural bottlenecks including limited access to essential medical and social care services as well as weak collaboration across relevant sectors (health, social, and finance, among others).

The joint programme will be implemented in three phases from August 2019 to 2020.

Following the seminar, there will be a study tour to Thailand to enhance the learning for participants and promote South-South learning. The last phase will focus on internalizing key learnings from the study tour, synthesise these learnings into policy recommendations and develop a service model./.

Sword lake - the heart of Hanoi

More measures are set to be taken by Hanoi authorities in the time ahead to improve the local population quality.

According to the municipal Department of Health, the city achieved the population and family planning targets set for 2018, including the birth rate reduced by 0.17 per mille from the previous year to 15.13 per mille, the number of third children born down by 0.1 percent, and the sex ratio at birth down to 113 males per 100 females.

While the prenatal screening rate reached 76 percent of the pregnant women, the newborn screening rate rose to 84.1 percent. Hanoi also carried out hearing screening for more than 193,390 cases, thalassemia screening for 7,500 cases and congenital heart defect screening for almost 35,360 cases.

Head of the sub-department for population and family planning Ta Quang Huy noted that in the first half of 2019, about 49,380 babies were born in Hanoi, up 2,786 from the same period last year. Among these, 3,820 were at least the third child in their families, rising by 252. The sex ratio at birth was 110.9 males per 100 females.

Meanwhile, the prenatal screening rate approximated 81 percent of the pregnant women, and that for the newborn surpassed 84 percent.

He said that Hanoi has stepped up communication activities and the provision of population-related services in all the 30 district-level localities, involving 547 out of the 584 communes, wards and townships.

Refresher courses have been held to improve population workers’ knowledge about reproductive health care and family planning. Relevant units have also increased examining the management of contraceptive methods in all the district-level localities.

Additionally, a number of plans have been implemented to help promote population quality, including those on prenatal and newborn screening, health care for the elderly, developing Hanoians’ strength and stature, and engaging the private sector in the provision of birth control methods and family planning services.

However, there remain a number of difficulties facing the city, including high sex ratio at birth, partly due to the rapid population growth. In many cases, cadres or civil servants who are familiar with the State’s policies and laws are those giving birth to a third child, Huy noted.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Health Hoang Duc Hanh, who is also deputy head of Hanoi’s steering board for population and family planning affairs, said the city has applied many population-related models like those caring for reproductive health of adolescents and youth, and those providing premarital consultation and medical check-ups.

Relevant agencies and organisations have also worked to popularise knowledge about reproductive health, family planning and gender equality to workers in industrial parks and women of reproductive age.

In face of the existing difficulties, he stressed the need for more measures to be carried out to improve population quality.

In 2019, the local health sector will work to reduce the birth rate by 0.1 per mille and the number of third children born by 0.1 percent year on year. Meanwhile, it will also take actions to raise the number of old people receiving regular health check-ups by 0.6 percent.

Localities and relevant agencies will also step up dissemination and consultation provision to boost public awareness of population quality and sex ratios at birth, especially among the groups with the high risk of having a third child, the official noted.

Hanh added to help narrow down the gender gap at birth, authorities have also been ordered to enhance inspection and examination of private health facilities to ensure that they seriously comply with legal regulations on population, including not practicing prenatal sex selection.

Refugees at a camp in Europe

ASEAN is deeply concerned about children’s situation in armed conflicts despite certain progress, head of Vietnam's permanent mission to the UN Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy said on behalf of the grouping at an open debate held by the UN Security Council on August 2.

He said the UNSC’s adoption of various resolutions on the issue reflects the consensus, commitment and resolve of countries, but the international community needs stronger consensus in order to turn commitment into specific and meaningful actions.

ASEAN welcomes the contributions made by the UN Secretary General Special Representative and the Monitoring and Reporting mechanism , and advocates cooperation in a constructive spirit among the UN, related countries and sides in conflicts, Ambassador Quy said.

He affirmed that ASEAN has always attached importance to promoting efforts to ensure children’s rights in armed conflicts both at national and regional levels, citing the bloc’s moves in the filed such as the ASEAN Dialogue on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the annual dialogue between the ASEAN Commission on the Rights of Women and Children and the UN Secretary General Special Representative on Violence against Children.

The Vietnamese diplomat took the occasion to underline Vietnam’s consistent stance of giving priority to promoting and ensuring children’s rights.

As a country suffering from many wars, Vietnam treasures the value of peace and is deeply aware of the need for a comprehensive strategy to address the roots of conflicts, in which education plays an essential role in equipping children with necessary knowledge and fostering compassion and the love of peace in their heart, he said.

Quy noted that Vietnam is the first country in Asia and the second in the world to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

During its first tenure in the UN Security Council in 2008-09, Vietnam worked closely with other countries to adopt Resolution 1882 on children and armed conflicts.

He affirmed that Vietnam will continue to join hands with the international community in efforts to protect children in armed conflicts.

At the debate, the UN Secretary General Special Representative Virginia Gamba said in the updated report on children and armed conflicts that serious violations continued with more than 24,000 cases in 2018, up more than 1,000 cases from the previous year. The number of children killed or maimed last year reached a record high.

More than 80 countries participated in the debate, demonstrating the international community’s attention to the issue. The countries appreciated the organisation of the debate on the 30th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 10th anniversary of the UNSC’s first resolution on the issue and the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1882 condemning the killing, maiming of and sexual violence against children.

Countries noted that despite efforts made, serious violations continue and even increase in many areas at an alarming rate. They urged the UNSC to intensify efforts to prevent and address armed conflicts as well as promote post-conflict reconstruction, while sharing their stances and experience for better protection of children.

Russia won’t be the first to deploy INF-banned munitions and will act only in response to potential US actions, President Vladimir Putin has said, warning that the US decision to withdraw risks an “unrestricted” arms race.
“The unilateral withdrawal from the INF treaty by the US, destruction of one of the basic documents on arms control, based on an imaginary pretext, has seriously complicated the situation in the world, [and] created fundamental risks for everyone,” Putin said on Monday.

The decision to ditch the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty will hark back to other accords on strategic nuclear weaponry and non-proliferation, Putin cautioned. If the system crumbles, it will give way to an arms race and world-wide “chaos without any rules, restrictions, and laws.”
Moscow, however, will not rush to develop land-based, intermediate-range missiles after the demise of the treaty. Russia will only act if the US proceeds with actually designing this weaponry, according to Putin. Potential deployment of any such missiles will only happen in response to Washington’s actions, he added.

  Most Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, Vice Chairman of the VBS’s Executive Council and head of the Vietnam Buddhist Academy, speaks at the press conference to introduce the festival.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) will work together to organise a blood donation and organ donation registration festival at the Vietnam Buddhist Academy in Soc Son district of Hanoi on August 4.

Speaking at a press conference on August 2, Most Venerable Thich Thanh Quyet, Vice Chairman of the VBS’s Executive Council and head of the Vietnam Buddhist Academy, said that so far, about 400 people have registered to donate their blood and 50 others have signed up for organ donation.

He said that the organising board has called for Buddhist followers nationwide to response to the programme.

Director of the Vietnam National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion Bach Quoc Khanh said that the event will be held every year, making the Vietnam Buddhist Academy a destination for all blood and organ donors.

Currently, Vietnam has seen a high demand for organ transplantation. As of July 2019, 25,000 people have registered to donate organs, tissue and body parts after their death. So far, more than 3,000 organ transplantations have been conducted.

Over the years, communications on tissue and organ donation have seen positive results, with great contributions from Buddhist dignitaries and followers.

In May this year, nearly 600 monks, nuns and followers registered to give away their organs and tissue at Giac Ngo pagoda. The “Dao Phat ngay nay” (Buddhism today) Foundation run by the Giac Ngo pagoda had previously organised the programme three times in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with the total number of registering people reaching 1,360./.