MPI and UNFPA prepare workshop and essay competition

More than 140 countries worldwide will observe World Population Day around 11 July by emphasizing the importance of data for development. In this regard, the Department of International Cooperation of the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are preparing the first World Population Day Workshop to be held in Vientiane on July 23 at the International Cooperation and Training Center (ICTC). The event is addressed to university and college students, teachers, researchers, experts and wider public.

The workshop is an academic forum expected to promote the World Population Day and its 2010 theme: “Everyone Counts”. This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA’s lead role in population and development. Read more

Read more (pdf, 103.04 kb)

A Nursing and Midwifery training center open its doors on May 6 in Vientiane, Lao PDR within the framework of the International Day of the Midwife (May 5th) and the International Day of Nursing (May 12th). The opening ceremony will be held at 9:00 am in the premises of the new Centre located in Simeuang Road, beside the Ministry of Health’s main building.  

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, in collaboration with Japan’s International Cooperation Agency (JICA), United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB) and Luxembourg Government supports the Lao Ministry of Health for the re-institution of the professional midwife training programme in Lao PDR after more than two decades gap. The National Skilled Birth Attendance plan in Lao PDR (2008-2012) supports the Community Midwife (CMW) programme for upgrading existing auxiliary nurse-midwife (ANM). The programme is currently providing scholarships to 140 students distributed in seven health schools around the country. The first promotion of graduates will be celebrated in October 2010.

Read more.pdf (257.72 kb)

About 130 leading parliamentarians, experts and representatives of international, regional and national organizations from Central Asian, Asian and Pacific countries, will gather in Vientiane on 25-26 April for the 26th Asian Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Population and Development, focused on Population and Adaptation to Climate Change.  The forum is an annual meeting of the Asian Population and Development Association (APDA), chaired by the former Prime Minister of Japan, Hon. Yasuo Fukuda, MP.

"The projected doubling of global urban population within a generation, mostly in the developing world and much of it in Asia, if unmanaged can be a bigger source of greenhouse gas emissions" says Najib Assifi, Deputy Director of the Asia and the Pacific Regional Office of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. “Investments in education, health, sexual and reproductive health and youth can result in lower fertility, slower population growth and women's empowerment, all of which  can contribute towards climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

Read more

Remarks by Mieko Yabuta on behalf of the UN

On 19 November, UNFPA Lao PDR in cooperation with the Department of International Cooperation of Ministry of Investment and Planning launch this year's State of World Population report. The launch is chaired by the Vice Minister of Ministry of Planning and Investment and UNFPA Representative, Lao PDR. 

The 2009 report, “Facing a changing world: women, population and climate”, puts people at the centre of discussions on climate change. “Global climate is changing. And it is we ourselves- in our lifestyles, our rapidly increasing numbers and the massive scale of our consumption and production- who are changing it,” states the report. Population dynamics, including size, age structure, growth rate and urbanization affect greenhouse-gas emissions and energy use. Technology alone cannot solve climate change. The role that people play must be taken into account in addressing problems of rising seas, droughts, melting glaciers and extreme weather. “Climate change is more than an issue of energy efficiency or industrial carbon emissions; it is also an issue of population dynamics, poverty and gender equity,” says UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid.[Read more]