Back Society » Environment » Child Labor to Surge in Vietnam Due to Climate Change: Experts

Child Labor to Surge in Vietnam Due to Climate Change: Experts

As climate change wreaks havoc on Vietnam, more children will be forced to work from an early age, experts say.

Vietnamese authorities and the International Labor Organization (ILO) held a conference earlier this week in Hanoi to discuss policy prescriptions against the impacts of climate change on children, reports VnExpress.

Situated in the tropical typhoon belt, Vietnam has been identified as one of the five countries most vulnerable to climate change. Last year alone, according to VnExpress, the country was struck by a total of 20 catastrophes, including droughts, flooding, typhoons and salinization.

The effects of climate change will be particularly taxing on Vietnam’s agricultural sector, which employs over 40% of the country’s workforce and accounts for 18.8% of total GDP, according to the most recent statistics available from the World Bank. Furthermore, while Vietnam is now classified as a middle-income country, 66% Vietnamese still reside in rural areas, of which 18.6% live below poverty rate.

In this context, experts at the conference emphasized that children would be most at-risk under more volatile climate conditions.

"Natural disasters have a direct impact on children's survivability, physical health and mental well-being. In addition, poverty can force children to leave school and partake in economic activities to relieve the financial burdens their families may face," Nguyen Trong Dam, Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, told the conference in Vietnamese, according to Thanh Nien.

Jesper Mollen, vice representative of UNICEF in Vietnam, concurred, adding that there is a tendency for child labor to increase after a disaster strikes, especially in impoverished communities, the news source shares.

Chang Hee Lee, director of ILO Vietnam, further argued that eliminating child labor would improve Vietnam’s long-term prospect of socio-economic development while ensuring a bright future for Vietnamese youth. “Solutions should be directed at identifying particular issues and child labor,” he urged, recommending that Vietnam address the issue with financial aid, education and community support groups.

Roughly 1.75 million Vietnamese children between the age of five and 17 are involved in heavy labor, according to 2016 statistics from the Bureau of Children in 2016, reports Phu Nu Online. Specifically, 67% work in the agricultural sector, 16% in construction jobs and 17% in the service industry.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a nationwide action plan on this topic last month, with an aim to end all forms of child labor by 2025, according to Nhan Dan.

[Photo via emaze]


Related Articles

- Poverty Grows in Vietnam After String of Environmental Disasters

- Climate Change Will Put 'Many' Vietnamese Cities Underwater: Official

- In Vietnam, Human Migration Intensifies Effects of Climate Change


Related Articles

in Environment

1,300 Pine Trees in National Park Damaged in Illegal Resin Theft

Resin rapscallions pilfered from hundreds of pine trees in Tam Dao National Park.

in Environment

163 New Species Discovered in Southeast Asia: WWF Report

Good news for Southeast Asia's wildlife enthusiasts: scientists just announced that, in 2015, they discovered 163 new species in the Greater Mekong region.

in Environment

2 Bicyclists Set To Ride From Saigon To Paris To Raise Awareness Of Climate Change

On Thursday February 12, Simon Nelson and Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan will set off on a bicycle ride from Saigon to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) in order t...

in Environment

22 Photos That Reveal How Bad Pollution Has Become In China

While pollution is becoming a serious problem in Vietnam with reports of cancer villages and toxic canals popping up the press recently, we live in a natural utopia compared with the residents of Chin...

in Environment

3 Endangered Langurs Were Released Back Into the Wild in Ninh Binh

The trio of critically endangered Delacour's langurs (voọc mông trắng) had been at a conservation center in Cuc Phuong National Park.

in Environment

40 Dead Tiger Cubs Discovered in Tiger Temple Freezer

Last Wednesday, authorities made a grisly discovery while shutting down Thailand's controversial Tiger Temple, recovering 40 dead tiger cubs from an on-site freezer.

Partner Content