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]

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]

VIENTIANE – More than 50,000 primary school children in Oudomxay province will receive mid-morning snacks and take-home rations during the first term of 2010 thanks to a generous donation from the Republic of Korea, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said Friday. 

The US$500,000 donation is a significant contribution that will help ensure the children receive a well-balanced meal each school day. Well-nourished children are better able to concentrate in class and as a result generally do better academically.  The funds will secure the purchase and distribution of corn-soya blend, a vitamin and mineral-enriched food product, as well as 392 metric tons of rice, to children who attend 417 primary schools in Oudomxay. read more

Guests at the ceremony (center Ms. Karin Manente, to her left H.E. Mr.Jae-hyun Park, to her right H.E. Mr. Ly Tou Bouapao)

(Photo:WFP/Stefanie Kahls)

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.

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

Vientiane, December 4, 2009:  Communities hit by the floods that swept parts of southern Lao PDR following Typhoon Ketsana last September will be the beneficiaries of $300,000 in emergency aid provided by the United States government to UNICEF. READ MORE

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]