by Nguyen Van Tranh

On the eve of joining the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam lacks a true social policy. In joining it runs the risk that the gap between rich and poor might deepen. It faces the serious problem of child exploitation and how to protect their rights.

Hanoi (AsiaNews) –Vietnam cannot expect real economic development if does not embrace a new approach to social policy, especially insofar as it affects the young—this, at a time when it is getting ready to join the World Trade Organisation, hopeful that membership might open new possibilities of development. Before this goal can ever be reached, the country must face up to the many challenges ahead. The authorities must be concerned that opening their domestic market does not widen the gap between rich and poor.

Such a view is shared by many social affairs analysts, worried that the new economic dispensation might negatively affect children, raising the spectre of child labour and child sexual exploitation.

In fact, among the most visible problems that afflict Vietnamese society, drug addiction and HIV/AIDS among children stand out. The number of under-18 left to fend for themselves is growing, and there are one million and more disabled children who still lack adequate education and health care services.

Speaking to AsiaNews, a Vietnamese social worker said that "the government's social agencies are just following the crowd . . . . They do not work for the development of children, and also are not implementing [the United Nations Convention on] children's rights that Viet Nam signed in 1990. It seems that the children's rights only exist just on paper."

Some 2.6 million children or 9 per cent of the age group need special protection. Government social policy must be informed by their needs and ensure justice. The authorities must pursue economic policies that take this into account irrespective of ethnic or religious differences.

And money is not the only factor that can ensure success. The country must adopt legislation that is truly welfare-oriented, providing children and those living at the edge of society with health care insurance and education support. Programmes must be geared towards poor families and offer them the means to develop their professional and trade skills. 

• vietnam
• world
• trade
• organization
• membership
• social
• policy
• the
• poor
• children
• young