A teacher and students at Sung Pa School in Ha Giang Province. A multi-dimensional approach for measuring child poverty reveals that children who don’t come from poor families can be considered as living in poverty if they are deprived of basic needs in health, education, or nutrition. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Ha

They comprise one-third of Vietnamese children.

The number is three million more when using conventional data methodology, which relies primarily on monetary measures, according to a national conference to translate this new approach into child-centred policies held yesterday in Ha Noi.

The conference was jointly organised by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Minister of MoLISA Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said that children were at a higher risk of poverty and being affected by poverty more seriously than adults since their basic human needs are different.

“Children have different nutritional requirements related to their specific stage of development, and the role of education is vital. Poverty, therefore, has a negative effect on children’s mental and physical development,” she said.

Since 2006, MoLISA and the General Statistics Office, with support from UNICEF, have developed a country-specific multi-dimensional child poverty measurement tool.

The tool incorporates education, nutrition, health, shelter, water and sanitation, child labour, leisure, social inclusion and protection into its indicators.

“A child is considered to be living in poverty if their needs remain unmet in at least two out of the eight poverty definitions,” said Ngan.

Jesper Morch, UNICEF Representative in Viet Nam, said that taking a multi-dimensional approach to child poverty revealed some children might not live in families with low incomes, but must still be considered as living in poverty because they were deprived of basic needs in health, education, or nutrition.

The most striking poverty domains for children were water and sanitation, leisure and health. More than one out of every three children is not fully immunised by the age of five. Almost half of all children do not have access to hygienic sanitation facilities at home and two -thirds of all children do not have a children’s or picture book to read.

According to experts, the high degree of child poverty found in the Mekong River Delta, with a figure of 40 per cent of the total number, is quite surprising because the region is among the better performing regions in terms of economic growth and relatively low monetary poverty.

More help for children

MoLISA Deputy Minister Nguyen Trong Dam said that when the multi-dimensional approach to poverty in children was applied, more children in need would be revealed and policies be able to be tailored to their needs.

Morch said that if children grew up in poverty, they would be more likely to remain poor in adult life. Reducing child poverty would not only improve children’s lives today, but also contribute to reducing adult poverty in the long run.

As 15-year-old son of Nguyen Thi Gai, a farmer in northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, died after he was seriously injured in a construction site. At the hospital, doctors said her son had been particularly weak because of malnutrition and low white blood cell count.

Gai said that her family and her child had never received any support as they officially lived above the poverty line. However, their income was not sufficient to provide for their child’s educational and nutritional needs.

“I had no idea of this multi-dimensional approach to child poverty, but if children of the families who are in my shoes get help, it would be good,” said Gai.

Professor Richard Jolly of UNICEF said that reducing child poverty was a key priority in human development.

Jolly said that as in Viet Nam, most children were attending school, the challenge was to raise the quality of education throughout the education sector. Again experience showed that many things could be done – in providing good training and support for teachers as well as equipment for every child.

He also suggested that good hygiene knowledge as well as safe water and basic sanitation was vital for child health.

“Though countries may lag in provision, many countries have shown that mobilising awareness at a community level can bring rapid change – and at low cost,” Jolly said.

Based on the new approach, Nguyen Hai Huu, head of MoLISA’s Department of Child Protection and Care, said that improving child welfare over the 2011-20 period would focus on consolidation of the institutional system relating to children.

In addition, the country would consider allocating appropriate resources to poverty reduction, developing regimes for monitoring and preventing violations of children’s rights, and improving awareness and responsibility among the public and each family in child protection, care and education.

According to Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat, the poverty in children negatively affects the socio-economic development not only in short-term but also in long-term.

He said that in process of building socio-economic development plans for 2011-15, each level and ministry should consider the issues affecting children. Sufficient funds are crucial for implementing these policies. In particular the protection and development plans of children should be developed in conjunction with parents and children.

VietNamNet/VNS