Students study at the Sa Pa Town Primary School in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Enterprises must be fully aware of children'srights and work to ensure them, experts said at a conference held in Hanoi onDecember 11.
The conference, organised by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry(VCCI) and UNICEF Vietnam, drew nearly 100 participants from concernedinstitutes, academies and ministries.
During the conference, experts discussed children’s rights and gettingenterprises aware of these rights and contributing to promoting themnationwide.
Nguyen Quang Vinh, general secretary of the VCCI, said joining tradingconventions brought new opportunities for Vietnam, but also challenges.
Enterprises must strictly follow regulations about child labour and child’srights, which was part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA).
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other countries in theAsia-Pacific region including Vietnam. The EVFTA was signed in June this yearin Hanoi, aiming to increase trade between the EU and Vietnam.
Vinh said enterprises must follow every regulation from the point of hiringworkers.
The VCCI had a set of norms to supply basic information and knowledge on childlabour and child’s rights as well as enterprises’ responsibility in preventingchild labour.
Institutes should also train more lecturers on the issue, integrate contentrelated to child labour and child's rights into training courses forenterprises and encourage businesses to have priority policies for vulnerablepeople, including children, he said.
Nazia Jjaz, Corporate Alliances Specialist of UNICEF Vietnam, said enterprisesin every sector and at every scale must understand that they affect childrenvia their policies and work, thus they should avoid and reduce negativeimpacts.
UNICEF would work with enterprises so they can invest in social welfare fortheir workers and their families, she said.
At the conference, participants agreed Vietnam should clarify the definitionand regulations related to child labour and child’s rights.
Enterprises should receive more training on the issue and more warnings aboutthe serious consequences of violations.
Enterprises should also receive training about management and supervision inevery stage of their product supply chain to prevent violations./.
VNA
