Hanoi (VNA) ✨- Vietnam has implemented a variety of activities to promote and protect the rights of women and children, notably in the prevention of child sexual abuse and online bullying, in 2022-2023.

The information was shared at a consultation workshop of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) held by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) in Hanoi on September 26. The event was aimed at sharing ACWC's efforts in promoting and protecting the rights of women and children in the ASEAN region, and updating activities led by Vietnam in the Work Plan and the country’s priority areas on this issue in the coming time. It also allowed for the sharing of examples from the world and ASEAN member countries in protecting children in cyber space, and proposing recommendations and cooperative activities. Addressing the event, Ha Thi Minh Duc, Deputy Director of the MoLISA Department of International Cooperation, representative of ACWC on children's rights in Vietnam, introduced to participants ACWC's Action Plan for the 2021-2025 period and its implementation of the plan. Accordingly, the plan focuses on expanding support for women and children through effective advocacy mechanisms that include building partnerships, raising awareness and capacity to integrate their rights in the building and implementation of relevant programmes and policies. It includes 29 activities/projects led by ASEAN member countries, with focus on preventing and combating trafficking and violence against women and children, promoting the rights of migrant women and children, boosting economic empowerment for women. It also includes ensuring the rights of women and children against the impacts of climate change and the fourth Industrial Revolution. Deputy Director of the MoLISA Department of Gender Equality Tran Thi Bich Loan, who is representative of ACWC on women's rights in Vietnam, highlighted that over the past time, ACWC has gained significant achievements in improving the quality of life for women and children in ASEAN. This has been accomplished through the implementation of five-year work plans for the 2012-2016 and 2016-2020 periods. Within these plans, there are activities to promote gender equality and gender mainstreaming, eliminating all forms of violence against women and children, and strengthening the child protection system. In 2022-2023, a lot of activities have been carried out to promote and protect the rights of women and children, notably the organisation of regional-level meetings on intensifying inter-sectoral coordination mechanisms to prevent child sexual abuse and seminars on combating online bullying. At the workshop, representatives from ASEAN member countries and international organisations also shared experience in protecting children in the online environment. They also discussed the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on the Protection of Children from all Forms of Online Exploitation and Abuse at the national level. Loan said that in 2023-2024, Vietnam will continue to build a roadmap to implement the Declaration on the Elimination of Bullying of Children in ASEAN. The country will also continue to coordinate with the ASEAN Secretariat and UN Women to discuss chairing a project on transforming market access for women-owned businesses in ASEAN during post-COVID-19 recovery process. Also included in the plan is activities on ACWC's monitoring and evaluation framework for applying victim-centered and gender-sensitive approaches in human trafficking cases./.