Social Policy
Ensuring that no child is left behind
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Challenges
Inclusive social policy is essential for all children to reach their full potential. But, in Viet Nam today, many of those most vulnerable remain left out.
While social protection strives to remove economic and social barriers for children to access services essential for their development, persistent multi-dimensional child poverty sits at around 10 per cent nationwide and strikingly more than three-fold higher in ethnic minority populations. Just one-in-10 children and fewer than 1 per cent of those aged under 36 months are eligible for cash assistance to ensure access to key services in times of need.
Public finance for children is critical to ensure adequate investment in their growth and wellbeing. However, competing priorities often hinder social development allocation and spending. This is despite global evidence, which demonstrates that investing 1 per cent of gross domestic product in a universal cash transfer package for children can reduce poverty by 20 per cent across a population.
Business operations impact children in many ways. Yet, children are only seen as consumers and marketing opportunities. To ensure business sustainability, all companies must address their environmental and social impacts on children.
The absence of child-friendly policymaking, budgeting and prioritization is evident in provinces and cities across the breadth of Viet Nam. Children and adolescents, especially the most vulnerable, are not able to meaningfully participate in local planning, budgeting and development of cities and localities. This lack of consultation on their needs and priorities could lead to children missing out on the benefits of Viet Nam’s socio-economic development.
Solutions
Putting children first in social policy means realizing children's rights to a fair chance at life. That is why UNICEF is a driving force for action.
In social protection, we are helping Viet Nam build a system that is sensitive to the specific needs of children and provides effective support when responding to social and economic shocks, including climate ones. Thus, UNICEF advocates for a universal child grant and improving existing cash assistance schemes, through increased value and coverage. With climate change and related disasters intensifying, we are helping to future proof the social assistance system to ensure it is shock responsive.
With public finance for children, a smart investment in Viet Nam’s future, UNICEF is helping improve budgets that focus on children and can address multi-dimensional poverty and vulnerabilities. This can contribute to ensure funding and services reach those most in need. We also make the economic case for continued social sector spending, despite scarce public resources.
Sustainable business for children entails working for those without a seat at the board room table. UNICEF is helping drive this change by engaging the business community in Viet Nam to strengthen its knowledge, capacity and commitment to further respect and support children’s rights, especially through adoption of the Children’s Rights and Business Principles and child-focused Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) plans.
For all children to thrive, their voice and participation must be at the heart of local development. This becomes a reality with UNICEF’s Child-Friendly local governance efforts to establish safer, more just, equitable, inclusive and responsive localities for all its children and adolescents.
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Impact
With action needed today for a better tomorrow, UNICEF works to realize impactful and inclusive social policy. This means putting children first in social protection, ensuring public investments reach those most vulnerable, making business work for children and creating child-friendly localities for the next generation to thrive.
