HÀ NỘI — Enterprises must be fully aware of children's rights and work to ensure them, experts said at a conference held on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

The conference, organised by the Hồ Chí Minh National Academy of Politics' Human Rights Institute, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and UNICEF Vietnam, drew nearly 100 participants from concerned institutes, academies and ministries.

“As part of our celebrations of International Human Rights Day, it is important that we discuss children’s rights as children are vulnerable and need special protection and support as outlined in the Convention of the Rights of the Child”, noted Director of Human Rights Institute, Tường Duy Kiên

During the conference, experts discussed children’s rights and getting enterprises aware of these rights and contributing to promoting them nationwide.

Nguyễn Quang Vinh, general secretary of the VCCI, said joining trading conventions brought new opportunities for Việt Nam, but also challenges.

Enterprises must strictly follow regulations about child labour and child’s rights, which was part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region including Việt Nam. The EVFTA was signed in June this year in Hà Nội, aiming to increase trade between the EU and Việt Nam.

Vinh said enterprises must follow every regulation from the point of hiring workers.

The VCCI had a set of norms to supply basic information and knowledge on child labour and child’s rights as well as enterprises’ responsibility in preventing child labour.

Institutes should also train more lecturers on the issue, integrate content related to child labour and child's rights into training courses for enterprises and encourage businesses to have priority policies for vulnerable people, including children, he said.

Nazia Jjaz, Corporate Alliances Specialist of UNICEF Vietnam, said enterprises in every sector and at every scale must understand that they affect children via their policies and work, thus they should avoid and reduce negative impacts.

UNICEF would work with enterprises so they can invest in social welfare for their workers and their families, she said.

At the conference, participants agreed Việt Nam should clarify the definition and regulations related to child labour and child’s rights.

Enterprises should receive more training on the issue and more warnings about the serious consequences of violations.

Enterprises should also receive training about management and supervision in every stage of their product supply chain to prevent violations. — VNS