(VOVworld) – A ceremony was held in Hanoi on Tuesday to celebrate 40 years of cooperation between the government of Vietnam and UNICEF. Attending the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam thanked UNICEF and other international partners for helping Vietnam in child care, protection, and education over the last 40 years: “The Vietnamese government and people always do what we can to join the global effort to create an environment of peace and cooperation. Vietnam always want to learn from international experience in creating the best conditions for children.”

Daniel Toole, UNICEF Director for Asia-Pacific, said he hoped Vietnam would continue to play its leading role in ASEAN, particularly the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission for Human Rights. Vietnam was the first country in Asia to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.