The two first prizes went to the song Tre em nhu bup tren canh (Children are young leaves on the trees) by composer Khanh Vinh, and Em uoc mong sao (I dream), by songwriter Tran Van Hung.

Two second prizes, five third prizes and four encouragement prizes were also awarded to outstanding artists at a ceremony organized on 2 December in Hanoi.

The initiative was launched on 27 April 2021 by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Viet Nam Musicians’ Association, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children International, and Good Neighbors International.

As part of the UN International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, the competition aimed to use the power of music to raise public awareness and inspire action against child labour.

“We are thrilled to have had 68 musicians across Viet Nam enter the Music Against Child Labour song competition with quality music pieces,” said People’s Artist Pham Ngoc Khoi, Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Musicians’ Association, and vice chair of the competition’s organizing committee. “The Vietnamese musician community wholeheartedly joined the fight for a better future by dedicating their songs and concerts to raise awareness on child labour.”

A report published by the ILO and UNICEF in June this year showed that the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide, with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19. The pandemic has reversed the previous downward trend of child labour in the last two decades.

In Viet Nam, pre-COVID data indicated 5.3 per cent of Vietnamese aged 5-17 years, or more than 1 million children in the country, in child labour.

According to MoLISA Vice Minister Nguyen Thi Ha, the pandemic has left 2,700 Vietnamese children orphaned and hundreds of children at risk of turning to child labour to survive.

“The songs against child labour of this competition will make a positive contribution to changing the mindsets of individuals and the entire society on child labour, and encourage them take action as part of the National Programme on the Prevention and Reduction of Child Labour for the 2021-25 period, issued by the Prime Minister,” she said.

Seeing now as a ‘pivotal moment’ as much depends on how the country responds, ILO Viet Nam Officer-in-Charge Nguyen Hong Ha called on everyone to take a stand to renew commitment to put an end to child labour.
“We should step up our efforts to prevent child labour by investing in social protection programmes to help families avoid having to make this choice in the first place,” she added, “and do everything we can to get the children out of child labour and back into school.”

The winning artists of the Viet Nam’s Music Against Child Labour song competition echoed this call.

The song Em uoc mong sao by Hanoian artist Tran Van Hung is about children’s dreams of a peaceful world where there is no child labour, disease or war. Meanwhile, the other song awarded first prize, Tre em nhu bup tren canh, by HCM City-based musician Khanh Vinh, reminds us all that children – the future of the country – need to go to school, and that they deserve love and care.