韩红提案关注“困境儿童”问题

全国两会召开在即，“困境儿童”问题吸引了政协委员和社会各界的关注。著名歌手韩红在今年的政协提案中建议，增强未成年人“国家保护”意识。

The problems faced by homeless children and defects in the current system that is supposed to protect the vulnerable group were discussed on Wednesday at a meeting of officials from the Ministry¹ of Civil Affairs.

The gathering² came as some of the country's political advisers³ were calling for the establishment of a specialized⁴ organization at the national level to deal with child protection.

Related departments from more than 10 provinces and cities gathered in Beijing for the meeting, according to Dou Yupei, vice-minister of civil affairs, who spoke⁵ to Beijing News.

The ministry's publicity⁶ office refused to share any additional details when contacted by China Daily.

Han Hong, a popular singer who is also a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC中国人民政治协商会议), has proposed that the State should take on more responsibility for the protection of children and especially those who face difficulties and whose parents or legal guardians⁷ have failed to protect them.

She suggested that the central government could set up a special powerful department to take care of children's affairs, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The singer, who has been active in promoting child welfare, also called for the establishment of an intervention⁸ mechanism⁹ at the community level and urged administrative¹⁰ and judicial¹¹ authorities to deal with the social problems that affect children.

Han also said the State should consider depriving（剥夺） parents and legal guardians of their rights to care for children if they are found to have harmed or abused them.

She has prepared a proposal that she expects to submit（提交，服从） during the Fourth Session of the 11th National Committee of the CPPCC. That meeting starts on Thursday.

Han's expected proposal was welcomed by Liu Huawen, an associate researcher who specializes in the rights of children at the Institute of International Law under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"It's very necessary to set up a special government organ to work for children and safeguard children's welfare," Liu told China Daily on Wednesday, stressing that children comprise（包含） a considerable portion of the country's population.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that China had 246.6 million people under the age of 14 in 2009, 18.5 percent of the population.

At present, children's affairs are handled by the All-China Women's Federation¹², the Ministry of Civil Affairs and other governmental departments, which creates challenges in coordinating¹³ and planning initiatives（积极性，主动性） , said Ma Li, the director of a rescue center for homeless children in Xuzhou city, Jiangsu province.

Ma said most homeless children keep running away after they are sent back to their homes.

He said he conducted random¹⁴ checks（随机抽检） during the Spring Festival holidays on eight children who had been sent back to their homes after running away and found that only one child remained at home.

The issue of child protection has drawn¹⁵ increasing attention from the public and government since an online campaign was started in late January that was aimed at helping¹⁶ reunite child beggars with their families.

Premier¹⁷ Wen Jiabao said during his online chat with netizens at the weekend that he had asked the civil affairs and public security departments to work out comprehensive steps to better help homeless children and young beggars.