Vietnam-China workshop on prevention of and combat against trafficking in women and children

Deeply recognizes that trafficking in women and children has seriously effected against the honor, dignity, physical and mental health of women and children, as well as family happiness, the Vietnam Women’s Union has initiated many activities for preventing and fighting against trafficking in women and children. o­ne of its main activities focuses o­n raising awareness of all strata of women, helping returned victims in different forms including vocational trainings, jobs introducing and access to loans under the reputation of VWU for production and business development, for income generation and community reintegration.

During 25-27 May, 2005, the Vietnam Women’s Union, in cooperation with Asia Foundation conducted a Vietnam-China workshop o­n prevention of and combat against women and children trafficking in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province. This is o­ne of its activities contributed to the implementation of the Resolution number 07 dated 29 February, 2004 issued by the Vietnam Women’s Union at its 6^th Executive Committee Conference o­n some social issues relating to women & girls and further promotion of effective information exchanges and regional & international cooperation in prevention of and combat against trafficking in women and children.

Participants of this workshop are representatives of the VWU’s Presidium and some of its departments; representatives of Ministry of Justice, External Relations Commission of the Party Central Committee, Center o­n Supporting Women’s Education and Empowerment (CEPEW), Legal Aid Centers of Dien Bien and Lang Son provinces, Gender and Family Research Center; correspondents from Vietnam Television and other newspapers; and particularly representatives of several organizations from China such as Law Services Center of Beijing University, Yunnan Women’s Federation, Guangxi Women’s Federation, Gender Research Center, Science South East Asia Research Institute and representatives of Asia Foundation in Vietnam and China.

Different presentations by Chinese and Vietnamese participants were delivered at the workshop, sharing their experiences in a number of activities in preventing and fighting against trafficking, as well as some issues related to legal aid for women and children, people at high risk, victims and the community.

Through plenary and group discussions, the workshop came up with a consensus o­n a common action plan with different activities, including advocacy to improve public’s awareness o­n preventing trafficking in women and children, economic empowerment for women, rehabilitation and legal aid... In addition, the workshop recommended to the Governments of the two countries to take further appropriate interventions for better suppression of this crime. These include supplementing and completing their legal framework o­n prevention of and combat against trafficking in women and children; improving legal aid capacity for legal aid experts and staff; promoting joined research and researchers’ participation; promoting delegation exchanges and experiences sharing and calling financial supports from international organizations to address the problem.

The workshop has contributed to improve the mutual understanding and cooperation between organizations, nations, particularly bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and China in this area.