A program on the prevention of child abuse and neglect, funded
by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), was inaugurated
simultaneously in three Chinese provinces on Monday.
At the launch ceremony in Hangzhou capital city of east China's
Zhejiang Province, Wang Daming, a UNICEF project officer, announced
that the "Protect Children from Violence Project" was launched in
Zhejiang, Guangdong and Shaanxi.
He said that the project, a cooperation between UNICEF and
All-China Women's Federation, calls for coordination with local
sanitary, civil affairs, public security authorities and
procuratorate and judicial departments in the three provinces to
protect the rights of children in their families, communities and
schools.
Wang said UNICEF's three key objectives are prevention,
intervention and rescue.
Jin Lei, Director of the Zhejiang Women and Children Center,
said the project there will focus on violence against children in
schools. The Guangdong program is expected to focus on monitoring
child abuse in families, and Shaanxi's program will look into child
abuse in medical institutions.
According to UNICEF, millions of children are exposed to various
forms of abuse and neglect in China, especially in outlying rural
areas in central and western regions of the country.
(Xinhua News Agency June 13, 2006)