ChildFund Australia and the Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Centre have entered a partnership to strengthen protection for some of the most vulnerable children in the Asia-Pacific.
ChildFund Australia Chief Executive Officer Nigel Spence said the two child-focused organisations have agreed to cooperate by sharing information, research and program experience aimed at protecting and promoting children’s rights across the region.
“The Beijing Children’s Legal Aid and Research Centre (BCLARC) has many significant achievements in China in helping at-risk children,” Mr Spence.
“They have an extensive network of around 10,000 pro bono lawyers helping children with the law and have been influential in strengthening child protection laws in China. ”
The partnership between ChildFund Australia and BCLARC also opens up the potential to explore joint projects in the region.
ChildFund Australia has deep ties in Asia, overseeing national offices in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste.
It is also a member of the global ChildFund Alliance, which assists more than 14 million children in over 60 countries.
Many of ChildFund’s activities aim to strengthen children’s rights at all levels and ensure children have a voice in issues that affect them.
Child protection and children’s rights are also the central focus for BCLARC, which became China’s first NGO focusing on child rights in 1999 and provides free legal aid to vulnerable children and youth throughout the country.
As well as providing legal advice for children and youth, BCLARC regularly publishes legal and policy research, and has contributed extensively to policy reform in China on child protection and children’s welfare.
“ChildFund’s is working in many of the poorest communities in Asia to protect children’s rights and ensure children can grow up free from violence and exploitation. BCLARC has a great deal of expertise in this field,” Mr Spence said.
“So there are many opportunities for our organisations to work together for the benefit of children and youth in Asia.”
ChildFund and Microsoft are teaming up to develop applications that will protect vulnerable children from online threats in Vietnam.
Microsoft Vietnam has agreed to a VND 5.4 billion (AU$314,774) sponsorship to help ChildFund Vietnam and the Department of Child Affairs develop an application that will make it easy to report and track cases of child abuse in remote villages.
The sponsorship will also include the development of applications that can teach children and their parents about being safe online, which will form part of ChildFund’s Swipe Safe project.
Swipe Safe is targeting 12,000 teenagers in 30 Vietnamese high schools, as well as their parents and teachers, to help them make the most of the online world.
ChildFund also partners with local businesses, encouraging internet cafes and online gaming shops to sign on to child safety codes of conduct.
ChildFund Vietnam Country Director Nguyen Thi Bich Lien said the rapid rise of internet use in Vietnam meant digital safety had a growing role in ChildFund’s work.
“One of ChildFund’s priorities in the coming years is to support Government and grassroots level authorities in building and strengthening an effective child protection service system,” she said.
“We believe that with the support from Microsoft, ChildFund Vietnam will be able to implement data management and awareness-raising through education applications which are highly practical and successfully applied in the context of Vietnam.”
As well as educating children and their parents, the partnership will also allow ChildFund to develop a web-based reporting system for cases of abuse.
Microsoft Vietnam General Director Pham The Truong said the project would highlight how the internet can be used to make communities safer and better connected.
“We are living in a fast moving, connected world, filled with new complex issues every day,” he said.
“This project is one of the initiatives Microsoft is working with NGOs to solve social challenges, improve the human condition and drive new growth equally with technology.
“We believe in good outcomes from this project so our children can live in a healthier environment.”
Vietnam has one of the highest rates of internet use in Asia. Around 67% of the population – 64 million people – are online, and internet use is common even in remote villages with limited infrastructure.
Under the arrangement, Microsoft will provide funding and recommend a developer, while ChildFund and the Department of Child Affairs will use their child protection expertise to ensure the applications meet the needs of the community.
The projects will be implemented in two communities where ChildFund works over the next 24-months and rolled out nationwide.
