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UNICEF Vietnam and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) jointly held a ceremony in Hanoi on November 17 to mark the World Children’s Day (November 20).
The event, themed “Promoting, protecting and caring for children's mental health,” aims to raise awareness of the significance of mental health to the growth of children and adolescents, who are future generations of the country.
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said that the World Children’s Day is a chance to act and advocate policies and raise public awareness of urgent problems facing children.
This year, the World Children’s Day takes place in a special context where children and adolescents are suffering severe impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic on their learning and mental health, said Ha, noting that child abuse has been on the rise.
COVID-19, which has sent many children to quarantine and turned many into orphans, has become a direct threat to children’s mental health, she added.
Ha said that the MoLISA has coordinated with relevant ministries and agencies in popularising knowledge and information about caring for children’s mental health and social psychology to medical workers, teachers and parents as well as children’s caregivers in quarantine facilities, families, schools and residential areas, while improving the capacity of services on mental health care and psychological trauma prevention among children amid COVID-19, and helping form a network for child care in the community.
The official called on ministries, sectors, agencies and organisations to give greater attention to and take stronger actions to enhance the mental health for children and their caregivers to help them overcome the COVID-19 crisis.
According to UNICEF Chief Representative in Vietnam Rana Flowers, in the past two years, due to impacts from COVID-19, many issues related to child rights have been affected. Even when the pandemic ends, its socio-economic impacts and consequences in people’s psychological health still persist, she said.
Noting that mental health has yet to receive adequate attention, Flowers stressed the need to encourage children to share and speak out their problems to receive support and improve their mental health.
Governments of countries should consider plans and strategies on caring for children’s mental health, while investing in children supporting services, she said, stressing the need for schools, communities and parents to recognise children’s problems and give them timely support.
On the occasion, the organising board launched a challenge on posting video clips on mental health on Tiktok Vietnam.
The World Children’s Day is celebrated annually to mark the adoption of the UN Convention on the Right of the Child, giving a chance to raise public awareness of important issues affecting the life of children, and promote the engagement of children and adolescents in observing their rights.
