Hanoi (VNA) - Theparticipation of children in policy-making needs to be encouraged by families,schools and society, experts have advised.

Policy makers, researchers andrepresentatives from social organisations and businesses gathered at aconference in Hanoi last week to discuss initiatives to promote children’srights and their participation in the development of child-related policies.

It isessential to create a safe environment where children can voicetheir opinions, said Nguyen Phuong Linh, director of the ResearchCenter for Management and Sustainable Development, while mentioningrecently discovered child sexual abuse cases in the country.

"Most ofthe cases were discovered too late,” she said. “So it is reallyimportant that parents, schools and communities take time to listen and talk tochildren, making them comfortable to share their mostintimate issues," she said.

The right for children to getinvolved in child-related issues has been included in chapter V of Vietnam’sLaw on Children, and so are the responsibilities of adults to create favourableconditions to encourage the actualisation of those rights.

The importance of adults’involvement in children’s participation is illustrated in the matter of how toget children involved in policy-making workshops, said Tran Thi Dieu Thuy, headof the Child Care and Protection Department under the Ministryof Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.

“It’s just the mundane issues likewhether children should take days off school in order to take part in theworkshops – and the fact that their parents would have to take some time offwork to take them there – that keep children out of the policy-making process,”she said.

Some projects and models that aim atboosting children’s confidence to make decisions in daily life were presentedat the conference by representatives from social organisations.

Duong Thuy Ly, project co-ordinatorat the Live & Learn Environmental Education centre, stressed the importanceof the co-ordination between families, schools and society in promoting thecomprehensive development of children.

“We shouldn’t be doing those PTAmeetings where head teachers and parents gather to talk about studentsanymore,” she said. “Students should also be invited to the meetings and beable to raise opinions on issues that affect them.”

While acknowledging the efforts ofprojects from social organisations that have helped children be confident thattheir voices matter in policy-making, a representative from the Vietnam Unionof Science and Technology Associations said that families and schools are theclosest foundations on which such confidence should be placed.

“Instead of implementing projectsoutside of school that require a lot of effort from both children and projectcoordinators, the awareness-raising tactics should be integrated in the schoolenvironment in order to maximise their effects on children,” he said.

At the conference, based on opinionsand suggestions by experts, the social organisations working on children’srights made commitments to promoting models and initiatives on children’sparticipation in policy-making, as well as establishingand expanding a working network for children’s rights.

They also made commitments toprovide consultancy and technical support for the State on children-relatedissues, as well as helping the State to monitor and evaluate the quality ofchildren’s participation in the policy-making process.-VNA