Consultation workshop on expanding social assistance policies for children in Da Nang
Da Nang, May 9, 2025 – A successful consultation workshop on the proposed expansion of social assistance (SA) policies for children in Da Nang City was jointly organized by the Da Nang Department of Health and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF Viet Nam). The event is a key activity within the framework of the Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) and the second phase of the Healthy Cities for Adolescents (HCA-II) project in Da Nang, funded by the Botnar Foundation and managed by Ecorys.
The workshop brought together 27 delegates from the People’s Committee, People’s Council, the Fatherland Front, and various departments of Da Nang City; representatives from the Departments of Health in Quang Ninh, Binh Duong, and Bac Kan provinces; as well as social assistance experts and UNICEF staff. The workshop aimed to:
- Assess the current social assistance policies for children in Da Nang;
- Propose recommendations for policy expansion, based on cost-effectiveness analysis and practical experiences from other localities.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Phan Van Son – Deputy Director of the Da Nang DoH and Deputy Director of the CFCI Project Management Board (PMU) in Da Nang – emphasized:
“In the face of increasing natural disasters, pandemics, and climate change, social assistance is not just a welfare policy but a vital tool for strengthening people’s resilience. Government Decrees 20/2021 and 76/2024 have created opportunities for localities to flexibly design and expand policies suited to local realities. This is a timely opportunity for Da Nang to advance social assistance policies for children, based on comprehensive assessments and actual needs.”
Speaking on behalf of UNICEF Viet Nam, Ms. Nguyen Thi Trang – Social Policy Specialist – shared:
“In recent years, Viet Nam has faced a demographic challenge as the fertility rate has sharply declined, reaching a record low of 1.91 children per woman in 2024. In Da Nang, the fertility rate dropped from 2.9 (in 2020) to 2.3 (in 2023). This trend raises concerns about population imbalance, aging labor force, and long-term socio-economic impacts. In this context, investing in children – especially during the first 1,000 days of life, known as the ‘golden window of opportunity’ for holistic development – is the smartest investment strategy.”
At the workshop, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong – Head of the Department of Social Protection and Children at the Da Nang Department of Health – highlighted several challenges in developing a resolution to expand SA policies for children, including:
- Limited legal and practical foundations;
- Insufficient benefit levels and policy coverage to meet actual needs;
- Low implementation effectiveness;
- Complicated administrative procedures;
- Difficulties in policy formulation after the merger of administrative units.
Sharing local experiences, a representative from the Quang Ninh Department of Health presented unique policies applied in the province, such as increasing the assistance threshold by 1.4 times compared to the national standard in Decree 76/2024. Quang Ninh has also extended support to a wide range of target groups, especially children under three years of age from poor and near-poor households, and those experiencing violence, abuse, or exploitation. Binh Duong shared that their policies have been expanded to support children under three years old in poor, near-poor, and recently improved households. Despite being a poor province fully dependent on central funding, Bac Kan has also made efforts to expand its coverage.
Representatives from participating localities appreciated the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from the unique assistance models implemented in Da Nang and other provinces.
This workshop marked a strategic step forward in helping Da Nang further innovate its social protection policies, aiming to ensure that every child is cared for and that no one is left behind.
