Overview

Overview

 

Overview

The national poverty rate in Viet Nam fell from 58 per cent in 1993 to 14.5 per cent in 2008. The economy is one of the fastest growing in the world and the country is a regional and global leader in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, several before the deadline of 2015.

Surprisingly however, in the midst of this impressive progress, economic and social disparities remain entrenched. The poverty rate for the Kinh majority was 8.5 per cent in 2008 and 49.8[1] per cent for ethnic minorities. Ethnic minority children often live in households earning less than a dollar a day and have fewer opportunities to attend school or access health care.

Child poverty is a major concern. Although the exact number of children living in poverty is unknown due to the absence of a nationally agreed measure of child poverty, initial calculations by UNICEF and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in 2008 estimated that as many as one in three children in Viet Nam are poor, according to an internationally accepted set of multi-sectoral indicators defining child poverty which includes access to health, education, sanitation, and birth registration among other things. Rapid socio-economic development has also created new challenges. For example, the Vietnamese family structure is changing rapidly. Rising divorce rates and economically-driven migration have fundamentally transformed the traditional family structure. The burden of making enough money to support the family means that in 2006 seven per cent of mothers and 22 per cent of fathers had no time to care for their children on a daily basis.[2]

Given the potential life-long impacts of childhood poverty (for example, deprivation of nutrition or stimulation at an early age can result in permanent stunting or reduced cognitive development), it is imperative that Viet Nam addresses the phenomenon of child poverty with specific and targeted strategies, which are necessarily different from those used to address adult or household poverty. Viet Nam’s poorest people – including children – are feeling the worst of the impact of the recent global economic crisis; hence, even more urgency is needed to address child poverty.

The quality and reliability of data and lack of sex-disaggregated data remain constraints to better planning and budgeting. Policy- and decision- makers may not have the necessary skills and knowledge to confront issues relating to the rights of children.  When policies are implemented, monitoring tends to focus on meeting targets, which are almost always quantitative in nature, rather than looking at how they impact on the lives of the people they are seeking to help.

Many National Assembly members and Communist Party officials are unaccustomed to dealing with issues relating to child rights. Filling that gap is critical to bring about change for children in national institutions and laws. As the National Assembly becomes more important for scrutinizing legislation, ensuring that elected officials and public servants understand child rights is crucial. Making sure that Viet Nam’s progress benefits all its children requires the strengthening of the Government’s policies and programmes with more of a child rights perspective. It means working with Viet Nam’s parliament to build a legal framework that fully reflects the rights of its children. It demands that everything the Government does for children is evidence-based and responds to the real situation on the ground. These three pillars of policies, laws and data provide the essential framework for child-focused development. 

Action:

UNICEF has been supporting the following activities:

• A nationwide survey on the family in Viet Nam was produced, which provided for the first time valuable information on issues like domestic violence, decision-making in families, adolescents’ role in the family and relationships between spouses, and between the elderly and their adult children.
• Training materials on ethnic minority policy formulation were developed for policy-makers at the national level.
• An ethnic minority children and women database was established using DevInfo technology (CEMInfo) and used to inform policy-making processes.
• A child poverty index and rate was established in partnership with the Government to provide a more accurate picture of how many children are living in poverty, and where the deprivations are greatest, both in terms of regions and sectors. This rate is being used as a reference in the preparation of the national Socio-Economic Development Plan 2011-2015.
• Five sectoral policy analysis reports on ethnic minority policies were produced, reviewing all existing polices implemented in areas covered by the major Government programme to support ethnic minority development. The reports were used as the basis for policy formulation for the social component of this important programme.
• Significant technical expertise and inputs were provided to the Government review processes of major national programmes on poverty reduction and ethnic minority development to help them to incorporate child poverty analysis and greater attention to the programmes’ social impact.
• Improved monitoring of the situation of children and women was enabled through revision of the list of key children’s rights indicators used by General Statistics Office to track progress; the identification of a list of indicators specifically on ethnic minority children and women, and the establishment of a database on ethnic minorities.
• The third national survey was conducted to collect key data on children (Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey - MICS), and an online MICSInfo database was established to allow greater access to the data generated.
• Capacity of government officials in the General Statistics Office, Ministry of Health, Viet Nam Administration for AIDS Control, and selected provinces was improved on the use of softwares to better manage data for decision-making development.
• Elected officials at sub-national and national levels were trained on children’s rights to help them in their legislative and oversight functions.

Impact:

By 2011, the evidence and analysis available for examining the multi-dimensional aspects of child poverty will help make sure adequate attention is given to multi-dimensional child poverty in national plans and policies for the 2011-15period. Improved monitoring of socio-economic data will support relevant, timely policy, based on accurate information. Integrating child and women’s rights indicators into existing Government national surveys and promoting greater monitoring will help accomplish this. Working with parliamentarians and government officials on key legislation like the development of the 2011-2020 social protection strategy, helps ensure the importance of children’s rights and well being are understood.

With greater emphasis on the most disadvantaged children, UNICEF and its partners help the Government of Viet Nam to strengthen, monitor and inform a more effective, informed policy framework that puts children at the centre of Viet Nam’s socio-economic development.

The activities described above, taken together, will contribute to changing the macro-level policy environment for girls and boys in Viet Nam. Working in close partnership with Government, UN, and bilateral partners, UNICEF will support the development and implementation of more informed policies - based on quality data – by people (for example, policy-makers and elected officials) who have a solid understanding of children’s rights and their role in realising those rights. By placing greatest emphasis on the most disadvantaged children, including the poorest of the poor and ethnic minority children, the activities above will bring the spotlight back to these marginalised groups of children, and help ensure that their rights are not overlooked, but are in fact addressed by policy-makers with the targeted attention they deserve.

With focussed investments in the key pillars of data, laws and policies as described above, UNICEF and its partners can make a difference for children by helping the Government of Viet Nam to strengthen, implement and monitor a stronger, more effective and informed policy framework that gives priority to children at the core of Viet Nam’s socio-economic development.

Note

[1] World Bank (2009) Viet Nam Development Report

[2] MOCST, GSO, Institute for Family and Gender Studies and UNICEF Viet Nam (2008) Results of Nation-wide Survey on the Family in Viet Nam 2006 – Key Findings.

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