Vietnam supports efforts to stop conflicts, protect children

The Vietnamese diplomat said that in many parts of the world, children are still killed, maimed and suffering from all sorts of ill-treatment as a result of armed conflicts.

“For those who by fortune escape the killings and those who are being told to kill, the negative impacts of such acts are not much different,” said Mr Minh. “This together with acts such as attacks o­n school children, sexual abuse of children by those who are mandated and paid to protect them, torture of children or deprivation of their food and education, constitute serious violations of their basic rights recognised in international human rights and humanitarian laws and specific provisions of the United Nations Convention o­n the Rights of the Child.”

He stressed that Vietnam shares the view o­n the need for a broad strategy of conflict prevention, which addresses the root causes of armed conflict in a comprehensive manner in order to enhance the protection of children o­n a long-term basis, including promoting sustainable development, poverty eradication, national reconciliation, good governance, democracy, the rule of law and respect for and protection of human rights.

The diplomat noted that as o­ne of the first signatories to the Convention o­n the Rights of the Child, Vietnam has also signed and verified the Optional Protocol o­n the Use of Children in Armed Conflict. He said that Vietnam has issued many legal documents such as the Constitution, the law o­n military obligations and the civil code to ensure that children under 18 are not recruited into the armed forces and do not engage in direct combat.