The Government of Lao PDR and UNDP organized a Special Event on Cluster Munitions on 18 February 2010 in Vientiane. Opening remarks were given by His Excellency Mr. Phongsavath Boupha, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ms. Sonam Yangchen Rana, UN Resident Coordinator.

The Special Event was organized under historic circumstances, with 30 countries ratifying the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The convention will enter into force on 01 August 2010 [Read more]

Speech on Special Event on Convention on Cluster Munitions Advance Mission for the First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the CCM by UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana English

12 February 2010, the ground-breaking Summit on Adolescent & Youth Health Development was convened at Don Chan Palace in Vientiane with the theme “Young People’s Health in the Lao PDR: Why Worry?” The meeting was cordially co-chaired by H.E Dr. Bounkhouang Phichith, Vice Minister of Health and Mr. Serge Verniau, UNRC a.i to Lao PDR.

More than 150 top level participants were in attendance including representatives from National Assembly, government ministries, mass organizations, INGOs, Development Partners, journalists and young people. The meeting was jointly facilitated and supported by Ministry of Health and four UN agencies: UNFPA, UNICEF, UNODC and WHO. [Read more]

UNDP and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare inaugurate new project

On Thursday 14 January Mr. Laoly Faiphengyoa, Vice-Minister of Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, and Ms. Sonam Yangchen Rana, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, signed and formally initiated a UNDP-supported project to assist the institutional strengthening and capacity development on disaster risk management in this country.  The ‘Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Development on Disaster Risk Management in Lao PDR’ Project  has a budget close to US$1 million, and is the first ever fully-fledged UNDP project in support of disaster risk management capacity development in the Lao PDR.  As Ms. Sonam Yangchen Rana, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, highlighted, “Today marks the beginning of a very timely and comprehensive initiative to meet the needs of the Government and people of Laos in disaster risk mitigation and for more effective responses and coordination.“ [Read more]

(Photo from Vientiane Times)

UNDP-supported Khoun Community Radio for Development participated in the recent Mekong Media Forum in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The current situation of community radio and its potential for being ‘radio for the people, by the people' in Lao PDR was the highlight of a satellite session held on 10 December 2009 at Forum. The session, with the theme ‘Empowering Local People Through Community Radio', was hosted by UNDP/ Khoun Community Radio together with the Ministry of Information and Culture and Xieng Khouang Province Department of Information and Culture. [Video on Youtube]

On 17 December 2009, representatives of staff working in United Nations agencies in the Lao PDR presented donations of 8.5 million Kip and 11 cartons of materials to the Lao Red Cross for distribution to Ketsana affected communities.

The donations were made by national and international staff working in the many organisations that make up the United Nations Country Team, and collected on the occasion of UN Staff Day in October 2009.

Many United Nations staff have close personal and professional connections within the areas that have been affected by the devastating storms and floods that Ketsana brought to the worst affected communities, and they are aware of the damage to families’ livelihoods and development projects in the area.

“We all wanted to express our concern for and solidarity with the victims in the most concrete way, by providing resources to help these communities rebuild their lives,” explained Mrs Chanthavisouk Nirasay, Staff Association Committee representative.
 
The UN Staff Association Committees selected the Lao Red Cross as recipient of the donations, who will ensure that the staff members’ contribution will go to the much needed victims in the southern provinces and will provide a report on the beneficiaries and the services provided to them.

The theme of this year’s observance of the International Anti-Corruption Day -- “don’t let corruption kill development” – highlights one of the biggest impediments to the world’s efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

When public money is stolen for private gain, it means fewer resources to build schools, hospitals, roads and water treatment facilities. When foreign aid is diverted into private bank accounts, major infrastructure projects come to a halt. Corruption enables fake or substandard medicines to be dumped on the market, and hazardous waste to be dumped in landfill sites and in oceans. The vulnerable suffer first and worst. Read more

Human Rights Day 2009 on 10 December will focus on non-discrimination. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. These first few famous words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights established 60 years ago the basic premise of international human rights law. Yet today, the fight against discrimination remains a daily struggle for millions around the globe. Read more

On November 24, 2009 in Attapeu Province, the Government of the Lao PDR conducted the Inception Workshop for the Participatory Wetland Management in Attapeu (Support to Lao PDR Water and Wetland Policy - LWP) project, which will be implemented by the Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Office (PAFO) in Attapeu.  Read more

GENEVA - The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ms. Asma Jahangir, will visit the Lao People’s Democratic Republic from 23 to 30 November 2009, at the invitation of the Government, in what is the first mission to the country by a UN human rights expert monitoring religious freedom. [Read more]

Photo from: kplnet.net