Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ha Noi, Feb. 18 (VNA) -- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Carol Bellamy is in Ha Noi to take part in the Children's Forum and the National Conference on Children. The English-language daily Viet Nam News took the opportunity to discuss important issues concerning children's welfare with her.

Question: What do you think have been Viet Nam's major achievements in improving children's lives over the past decade?

Answer: "Viet Nam has achieved significant results in improving children's health. The country has surpassed goals for an expanded national programme of immunisation and now operates with six vaccines.

"Viet Nam has been able to declare to the world that it has wiped out polio in children under five.

"It has achieved a high rate of school attendance, an important milestone, and access to safe water has been increased, particularly in urban areas.

"But the country still face challenges with child malnutrition, access to safe water in rural areas and the emerging issue of HIV/AIDS over the nex decade."

Question: Has UNICEF formulated any concrete plans to work with Vietnamese authorities and solve the issues of childhood accident rates and the proliferation of street children?

Answer: "One of the major causes of death for young children in Viet Nam is motor vehicle accidents, particularly in the countryside. Our work on this issue ranges from taking better care of vehicles that are used in Viet Nam, to ensuring that children wear helmets and making sure that the number of people travelling on the motorbike is not dangerous in the first place.

"We need to raise awareness about this issue, we will continue to work in conjunction with schools to try to get this message across. It is a very significant problem. A huge number of child deaths and a quarter of a million injuries each year stem from Viet Nam's roads.

"Aside from road-related injuries, accidents often happen in the home. This is a tricky situation, because obviously UNICEF isn't going to be there in the home to stop the injury. It's down to the parents and the extended family to be more aware. It's also necessary to educate children about the hazards in the home.

"When it comes to street children, we use that term across the world to describe many different phenomena.

"In Viet Nam, the increase in the number of street children is being driven by a perception among rural families that children should leave their homes and come to the city to earn higher incomes.

'One of the ways we are working to solve this problem is by going back to the home communities. It's not just about working in the streets and looking for alternatives for these children, but dealing with the issue at its roots.

"We need to go into rural communities and talk to the families, explain to them the importance of school and getting a basic education. We need to help them see that in the long run this will mean a better life for their children and themselves. It is a much more sustainable solution than the short-term gain of sending the children to work in the cities.

"On this issue, UNICEF does not work alone. We are constantly cooperating with the Government, the private sector and other non-governmental organizations to formulate effective measures to reduce the number of street children in cities."--VNA