"Investing in child protection is needed more than ever and brings high returns” - Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid concludes five-day visit to Viet Nam.

Viet Nam, 11 November 2022 - In her first official visit to Viet Nam, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr. Najat Maalla M’jid, encouraged the country to further strengthen the ongoing efforts to protect children from all forms of violence and exclusion keeping  the promise - ending all forms of violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation of all children by 2030. 

“Viet Nam is going to start its second voluntary national report process regarding the status of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is an important moment for the country to mobilize all key stakeholders to work better, faster and together to protect all children and their rights leaving no-one behind” said the Special Representative.

During her visit, the Dr. Maalla M'jid met with relevant representatives from the Government at national, provincial and local levels, visited programmes, centers and local communities including in Dien Bien Province. She had discussions with children, families, caregivers and teachers. 

Viet Nam has made tremendous progress for its more than 27 million children, and at the same time has many challenges that still need to be addressed. “Investing in building a chain of services that are interconnected and easily accessible to all children and their caregivers, with particular attention to the remote and poorer areas, is needed more than ever", added the Special Representative.

Building strong social protection that is adequately responsive to the real situations of children and their caregivers, will enable effective and sustainable prevention and protection and will avoid unnecessary placement of children in institutions. 

“When we detect cases of children at risk and address them early, we don’t have to spend a lot of time, energy and resources on reacting to the problems. The SRSG reminded that children are not the problem. Children are the present and the future generation to invest on and to involve as part of the solution.