Viet Nam celebrates World Children’s Day and unites for a greener future
One month of activities for children to take action and speak up about climate change and the environment
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Hanoi (VIET NAM), 20 November 2020 – A month-long campaign for World Children’s Day culminated with a big event on 20 November in Ha Noi to show support for child rights. The celebration was held at the Green One UN House in Hanoi and was organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) and VTV. About 80 students and high-profile guests – including singer Duy Khoa – attended the celebration with musical performances, fun games and interviews. The event was recorded and aired on VTV1 for a one-hour special programme for children and reached a large public across Viet Nam.
In the context of the global COVID-19 crisis and climate change movement, UNICEF has continued to support youth demanding their right to a cleaner environment. This year’s campaign aimed to show support to children to #Reimagine a greener and cleaner Viet Nam for every child. During the campaign, children could be involved in various ways to show their commitment to climate change and the environment. A one-minute green video challenge saw more that 500 children submit a short video and demonstrated creative ideas to address climate change and environmental problems.
Children could also participate in a nation-wide photo contest organized in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union. More than 200,000 children in Ho Chi Minh City also participated in clean up actions in their communities, and schools across the country also carried out similar activities. Vietnamese dancer Quang Dang also launched an online dance challenge to encourage children to dance and to sensitize the population about the importance of respecting the environment.
In one of the highlights of the celebration, 8 young teenagers took part in a special edition of the TV programme Truong Teen (The Debaters) on climate change. The two teams debated on different ways to address the most pressing issues related to climate change and they were judged by a panel including Miss Universe Vietnam 2018, the Vietnamese model H’hen Nie.
A tradition for World Children’s Day celebration around the world is to light up iconic buildings and monuments in blue in a show of support to child rights. This year, the Dragon Bridge in Da Nang and the ancient Cham Temple in Ninh Thuan were turned blue for the global celebration.
Other policy events were held nation-wide to address decision makers. A group of children interviewed senior government leaders and they had a chance to ask their questions to those who make decisions that impact the whole country. The Ministry of Education and Training launched a UN-supported online training on climate change education for all public school teachers in Viet Nam. Da Nang held the launch of its first Situation Analysis of Children with a focus on the impact of climate change, and Ninh Thuan province held a consultation on children for the development of the socio-economic development plan.
Despite uncertainties and challenge related to COVID-19, UNICEF Viet Nam was successful at making that World Children’s Day 2020 a nation-wide celebration to empower children and young people to speak out and to take concrete action, and to mobilize support to help children reimagine a more sustainable future.
World Children’s Day is celebrated globally on 20 November every year – to mark the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. During the past several years, World Children’s Dau has been a fun day with a serious message, when UNICEF highlights the most pressing issues facing children, celebrate the progress, energize leaders and address the work that still needs to be done. It’s also the time for children around the world to unite to raise their voices.
Media contacts:
- Mr Louis Vigneault-Dubois, Chief of Communication and Advocacy, UNICEF Viet Nam, Tel: +84 (024) 3850 0100, Tel: +84 (0)96 6539 673, Email: lvigneault@unicef.org
- Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Advocacy and Communications Specialist, UNICEF Viet Nam, Tel: +84 (024) 38500225, Tel: +84 (0)904154678, Email: ntthuong@unicef.org