The study was conducted by the Save The Children Fund.
According to the newest End of Childhood Index — a measurement for childhood protection — Vietnam receives a score of 816 out of 1,000 and is ranked 96th out of 175 countries in the study.
The index score incorporates average levels of eight indicators including child mortality, health, education, labor, marriage, adolescent birth rate and violence. The higher the total index score, the better a country is at childhood protection.
Last year, Vietnam scored 815 out of 1,000 and was ranked at 92nd out of 172 countries. This year's slight improvement in the score is due to the decrease in child mortality and malnutrition. Vietnam's current death rate of children under five is 21.6, while last year it was 21.7.
As for child health, the malnutrition rate decrease from 24.9 to 24.6 this year. The rest of the indicators remains unchanged
Despite the country's slight improvement, an average score can only tell much. According to the accompanying report titled "The Many Face of Exclusions," equity and wealth gap should be taken into account when assessing the index scores, as Vietnam's equity and wealth gaps are considerably large.
The report notes that despite the country's success in decreasing child death to 25 and fewer per 1,000 live births at a national level, this is not the case among its poorest children. Furthermore, poor children are also eight times more likely to be forced into labor than their more affluent peers.
[Photo via Pho Cap Boi]
