Working together for the future of girls.

Disadvantages...

Cases of underage girls giving birth in Nghia Tho commune (Nghia Dan district) are not uncommon. Most recently, Nguyen Thi D., born in 2010, gave birth to a child despite not being married.

As a population officer in the commune, Ms. Le Thi Ngoc Phuong shared that she was deeply saddened to encounter young girls the same age as her own daughter, who "know nothing" but are already single mothers. "When the girl's mother brought her to the health station, the pregnancy was already advanced. We advised the family to let her give birth because it would affect her health. After she gave birth, she was also advised to get an IUD inserted early to avoid another pregnancy," Ms. Phuong recounted.

The majority of the population in Nghia Tho commune consists of the Tho ethnic group. Despite intensified propaganda and mobilization efforts over the years, the situation persists annually.child marriageGetting married early or having children while still a teenager still happens.

In most of these cases, parents work far away, leaving their children with grandparents, resulting in a lack of care and guidance, leading to early and unsafe sexual relationships. By the time the truth comes out, it's often too late.

Premature pregnancy and childbirth before reaching adulthood have many negative consequences. However, this reality is still occurring in many localities throughout the province, forcing many young girls of school age to drop out of school to begin life as mothers and wives.

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Teenagers face many difficulties and pressures during pregnancy and childbirth, posing numerous risks to both mother and fetus. Furthermore, when faced with an unwanted pregnancy, teenagers tend to seek unsafe abortion services, leading to serious complications.

Furthermore, if children are born to very young mothers, the risk of abnormalities such as premature birth, low birth weight, and malnutrition is higher. This can lead to the child being more prone to illness and disease later in life, resulting in higher medical expenses.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong, Specialist Level I – Deputy Head of the Reproductive Health Department – ​​Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Nghe An Province

According to Dr. Hong, the increasing number of teenage pregnancies and births is due to their lack of access to reproductive health care services and insufficient education on sexual health.

In Nghe An province, although there are annual communication sessions on reproductive health and health for adolescents and young people, due to limited funding, these activities are mainly concentrated in a few schools. Communication activities are isolated and have not yet formed a comprehensive system at the grassroots level.

In addition to the issues mentioned above, due to the influence of Asian culture and the patriarchal ideology, the preference and desire to have sons for "support in old age" and to "continue the family lineage," gender inequality still persists in many families and clans in Nghe An.

This is also a cause of the gender imbalance at birth, a "wake-up call" for current population work. According to statistics, while Vietnam's sex ratio at birth in 2023 was 112 boys/100 girls, Nghe An's sex ratio at birth was 116.33 boys/100 girls - higher than the national average.

Eliminate gender stereotypes.

"A Vision for the Future of Girls" is the theme ofInternational Day of the GirlIn 2024, International Day of the Girl Child is celebrated annually to provide opportunities for girls to fight for their rights, rise above challenges, and raise awareness. It also serves as a global occasion to address issues of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

To celebrate International Day of the Girl Child this year, students from Nghia Hoan Secondary School (Tan Ky) conveyed many meaningful messages through skits, short plays, and presentations performed by the girls themselves.

Participating in the skit "10 Girls at Dong Loc Crossroads," student Ha Anh said: "I greatly admire the previous generations. Even during wartime and hardship, our mothers and grandmothers dared to stand up and fight for the dream of national independence. Through this, we also want to say that no matter the circumstances, young women should stand up and pursue their dreams."

Meanwhile, with their play "Reaching for Dreams," the students presented a thought-provoking story about a family that prioritizes sons over daughters, where daughters are neglected and disrespected despite being more capable and achieving higher academic results compared to their male counterparts.

Speaking on behalf of the unit co-organizing the communication program in response to International Day of the Girl Child, Mr. Hoang Dinh Son – Vice Chairman of the Tan Ky District People's Committee – shared: "The stories that the students brought were very meaningful. Currently, due to prejudice, many families still try to have sons, leading to many negative consequences. However, reality shows that many families have daughters who take better care of their parents and grandparents than sons, and women are even the main breadwinners in the family. Therefore, these children deserve to be given more opportunities and more equality in all areas such as education, health, nutrition, protection from discrimination and violence, and the elimination of child marriage, especially in ethnic minority areas."

With the same meaning in mind, this year's International Day of the Girl Child is being implemented by the Nghe An Population Department with many practical activities. This is also an opportunity for society to pay attention to issues of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

Mr. Hoang Dinh Tung, Head of the Provincial Population and Family Planning Department, stated: "In recent years, the role and position of girls have been increasingly affirmed in Vietnamese society. However, due to the influence of Asian culture and the patriarchal ideology, women, including girls, are at a disadvantage compared to men. The most obvious issues are gender inequality, the imbalance in the sex ratio at birth, and domestic violence."

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To enhance the role and status of women, eliminate gender stereotypes, and ensure a bright future for girls, we need to strengthen propaganda and education through various appropriate contents and forms to create supportive public opinion and gradually erase the discrimination between boys and girls in the perceptions of many people.

This includes focusing on gender stereotypes, the preference for sons over daughters, and further promoting men's participation in gender equality. It also involves promoting the role and enhancing the status of women and girls, mobilizing people to change their mindset, awareness, and actions regarding the gender imbalance at birth by strengthening the dissemination of Party and State documents, policies, and laws such as: the Law on Gender Equality; the Law on Prevention and Control of Domestic Violence; and the Law on Marriage and Family, in order to encourage the community to implement policies that support and enhance the role and status of girls in particular and women in general, especially girls in families with only female children...

Mr. Hoang Dinh Tung - Head of the Provincial Population and Family Planning Department

My Ha