With the aim of raising awareness and changing the behaviours of communities and related stakeholders in the prevention and reduction of child labour in agriculture, on December 28, 2021, the Center for Manpower Supply and Faculty of Accounting and Business Administration, Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) collaborated with the representative office of FAO Vietnam to organize the "National conference on Child Labour in Agriculture" face-to-face at Hall C and online through the Zoom platform.
Attending the conference, there were the participation of representatives from FAO in Vietnam; representatives of VNUA’s leaders; Department of Children; Plant Protection Department; JICA organization; Women union; VNUA’s lecturers and students; Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Hoa Binh province, Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province; Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province; Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Cao Phong district, Hoa Binh province and a number of agricultural cooperatives in Hung Yen, Yen Bai and Thanh Hoa provinces.
Speaking at the conference, Dr. Vu Ngoc Huyen, VNUA’s Vice President, Director of the Center for Manpower Supply, said that child labour had always been a concern of all countries around the world. With a lot of efforts made by countries and international organizations, many international conventions had been developed showing the strong commitment of the international community in the protection of children, and the prevention and reduction of child labour. In Vietnam, child labour had fallen sharply in absolute terms and percentages. The proportion of child labour in the agricultural sector had plummeted from 67% in the 2012 census to 53.6% in the 2018 census. The fact that children start working at an early age affects the children's psychological and social development. In Vietnam, there was a general lack of awareness at the community level about the long-term consequences of child labour in agriculture. Therefore, communication to raise awareness about child labour in agriculture was essential.
Dr. Vu Ngoc Huyen, VNUA’s Vice President, Director of the Center for Manpower Supply, delivers the opening speech.
At the conference, communication activities on child labour in agriculture by the Center for Manpower Supply, VNUA were summarized. Following that, 7 presentations related to child labour in agriculture were presented by speakers from FAO in Vietnam, Department of Children, Institute of Labour and Social Sciences, and VNUA. The conference had many lively exchanges of opinions from the delegates, focusing on issues such as the current situation of child labour in agriculture, microfinance impacts on child labour, programs on the prevention and reduction of child labour in agriculture in the period of 2021-2025.
Lawyer Nguyen Ngoc Lan, expert on child labour, FAO Vietnam, presented the presentation on "Child labour in agriculture in Vietnam"
In addition, at the conference, an exhibition was held to display 15 excellent paintings that won prizes in a poster contest with the theme entitled "Raising awareness about the effects of pesticides on child labour in agriculture”.
At the end of the conference, Dr. Vu Ngoc Huyen, on behalf of the organizers, thanked the participants. He also emphasized that the ideas exchanged at the conference would be the basis for the development of a program to protect child labour in agriculture in the 2021-2025 period.
Some photos of the conference
