Geneva (VNA) – Vietnam always pays attentionto and prioritises protecting children's rights in armed conflicts, said AmbassadorLe Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Vietnamese delegation in Geneva.

She was speaking at a dialogue with Virginia Gamba, SpecialRepresentative of the UN Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict,within the 44th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The ambassador expressed her concern over and condemnedacts of violence and violations of children's rights, saying Vietnam is willingto cooperate and share experience in this field.  

She called on relevant sides to observe basicprinciples of international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to protect civilians, especially children in armed conflicts,take practical measures to minimise the adverse impact of armed conflicts onchildren, step by step find basic solutions to deal with the root cause ofconflicts, conduct national reconciliation and promote sustainable development,while helping children who had participated in armed conflicts reintegrate intothe community.

In her remarks, Virginia Gamba said throughout 2019children continued to be the primary victims of armed conflicts.

Last year, some 4,400 incidents of denial ofhumanitarian access to children were verified, as compared to 795 incidents ofthis nature in 2018: an exponential increase and the highest one for anyviolation in any one year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has added another grim layer tothis reality: with lockdowns and school closures we are at risk of seeingincreasing cases of military use of empty buildings and of attacks on healthfacilities, she said.

Representatives from countries, the UNICEF andnon-governmental organisations called for a ceasefire to facilitatehumanitarian aid, integrate the protection of child rights into peace talks andpost-conflict reconstruction.

They also recommended that countries raise awarenessand commit to protecting child rights in armed conflicts, improve the effectand efficiency of legal punishment mechanisms towards perpetrators and fullycomply with international human rights standards and relevant internationallaw.

Regarding environmental impacts on children's rights,the meeting heard that WHO estimates that every year, the deaths of 1.7 millionchildren under the age of five are due to environmental factors – notably airand water pollution and exposure to toxic substances. Twelve million childrenin developing countries experience permanent brain damage due to lead poisoning.

Many countries shared their view on the responsibilityof governments in ensuring children's rights and human rights to live in a greenenvironment, and called for more intensive and extensive cooperation betweengovernments, businesses, research institutes and organisations in thisregard./.