Vietnam - context

• Average annual income per capita - c$900
• Majority of families SCC supports closer to $300
• 37% of population are children (under 18 years)
• 7 million children (1/3rd of all children under 16) are ‘poor’ (using multi-dimensional approach)
• 2.6 million Children in Need of Special Protection (CNSP) = 9% of all Vietnamese children

Children in need of special protection*

• Orphans -------------------------------------150,514
• Children with disabilities ---------------------1,200,000
• Street children -------------------------------16,000
• HIV+ ----------------------------------------12,500
• Children affected by AIDS -------------------283,667
• Child labourers -------------------------------23,000
• Children misusing drugs -----------------------8,500
• Children in conflict with the law ---------------14,000
• Child victims of sexual exploitation-------------unknown
• Child victims of trafficking----------------------unknown
• Institutionalised children -----------------------15,000

*Source UNICEF 2009

Vietnam context - poverty

Poverty defined as a level of deprivation such that a person is unable to meet minimum standards of well being with well being defined as:

• adequate resources for attaining the basic necessities of food, water, shelter and clothing;
• access to acceptable levels of health and education;
• accountability from state institutions and civil society; and
• freedom from excessive vulnerability to adverse shocks

Key measure of poverty used in Vietnam:

• Multi-dimensional* – indicators include education, nutrition, health, shelter, water and sanitation, child labour, leisure, social inclusion and protection
• Child considered to be ‘living in poverty’ if needs are unmet in 2 or more of these indicators. Hence a child may live in a home where income is regarded as above the poverty line but this is insufficient to pay for school and basic nutrition for instance
• Most striking issues remain around health, water & sanitation: almost half of all children have no access to hygienic toilet facilities at home and 1/3rd not fully immunised by age 5 and around 25% of children under five suffer from malnourishment.