According to the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), Vietnam has about 1.47 million disadvantaged children, including 85,000 orphans, 1.3 million disabled, 21,900 street kids and 10,300 Agent Orange victims.

The government has provided favourable conditions for taking care of these children, through adoption and sponsorship. More than 90,500 disadvantaged children are monthly provided with the State’s subsidy on health care and education.

Among 378 care centres for disadvantaged children nationwide, 91 are permitted to provide international adoption service.

Nguyen Cong Khanh, deputy head of the Justice Ministry’s Child Adoption Agency, said an Adoption bill to be submitted to the National Assembly next May will prohibit and punish action which harms the humanity of child adoption, abusing it for profit-seeking purposes.

Vietnam was the second country in the world ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in February in 1990. The country is preparing to join the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption.