Hanoi (VNA) – The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and other UN agencies pledge to help Vietnam bring their support closer to the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children, said UNICEF representative in Vietnam Youssouf Abdel-Jelil.
He made the statement at a ceremony in Hanoi on July 6 to release the report “The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child” in Vietnam.
The rejection to give a fair chance for millions of children will create an intergenerational cycle of disadvantage that endangers their futures and the future of their societies, he said.
He suggested Vietnam invest in those children now to become a fairer nation for all people.
The 2016 report focuses on equality for every child. It affirms that progresses that need to be achieved for the most vulnerable children and their families are a prerequisite condition to fulfil Sustainable Development Goals.
The report points out that there are important progresses in saving children, bringing them to school and in poverty reduction.
In Vietnam, the poverty rate was reduced from 58 percent in 1993 to 10 percent in 2014. The infant mortality rate also fell from 36 to 10 deaths per 1,000 live births during 1990-2014.
The report also makes several recommendations to boost measures to support children, including intensifying information about children left behind, investing in equality and seeking new ways to bring support closer to the most disadvantage children, and encouraging the involvement of all people in the work.-VNA