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]

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.

Vientiane, December 7, 2009: A new 24-hour telephone hotline has been launched by the Lao National Tourism Administration and the Tourism Police to help keep children safe from sexual exploitation. The hotline number 192 was launched to coincide with the opening of the 25th South East Asian (SEA) Games as part of efforts to make the event a safe experience for children.  

Staffed by a specially trained team of tourist police, the toll-free hotline has the support of the United Nations and a number of International Non Governmental Organisations. [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 

In the ten years since the General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the circle of engagement has widened.  More groups and individuals, including men and boys, are getting involved in efforts to prevent and address this heinous violation of women’s human rights.  [read more]

FAO LAUNCHED “HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST HUNGER” TO SHOW SOLIDARITY FOR THE HUNGRY 

The World Summit on Food Security started on Monday 16 November in Rome. FAO has convened the Summit in a bid to organize political will behind increased investment in agriculture and a reinvigorated international effort to combat hunger. The Vice President of the Lao National Assembly, HE Ms. Pany Yathoutou, heads the Lao delegation to the Summit.

On the eve of the Summit, FAO called for a day-long, worldwide hunger strike against chronic hunger. “We are suggesting that everyone in the world who wants to show solidarity with the one hungry billion people on this planet go on hunger strike next Saturday or Sunday,” FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told a press conference last week. “I shall personally begin a 24-hour fast on Saturday morning,” he added.

Read more...

Statement of Laos to World Summit on Food Security

The 9th Round Table Implementation Meeting was held in Vientiane on 3 November, attended by Ambassadors and senior dignitaries from 64 countries and by representatives of development partner organizations. The Process, implemented by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Department of International Cooperation supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has the objective to further improve the effectiveness of international assistance, in line with the Vientiane Declaration, for key development issues in the Lao PDR.

The Meeting was opened by His Excellency Mr. Bouasone Bouphavanh, Prime Minister of the Lao PDR, as, he outlined “the appropriate forum for the exchange of in-depth and constructive dialogue on how we can best deal with the adverse impact and the emerging challenges so that we can create enabling conditions of the Lao PDR to pursue its development path in a more consistent and sustainable manner.” [Read nore]

The UN Country Team in Lao PDR hosted a ceremony at UN House in Vientiane on 23 October celebrating the 64th anniversary of the United Nations and 54 years of UN-Lao cooperation.

The opening address to the audience of government members, the diplomatic community and development partners was given by Her Excellency Mrs. Pany Yathotou, Vice-President of the National Assembly.

Ms. Sonam Yangchen Rana, United Nations Resident Coordinator, emphasised that the theme of this year’s UN Day – Climate Change – is a challenge that is inextricably linked with achieving the MDGs and creating a better life for everyone in Lao PDR. “At this difficult time for the country,” she noted, “with communities in the south suffering from the impact of floods caused by tropical storms, it is a timely reminder that such extreme weather events are likely to happen more often as the climate changes.” Read more

Introductory Remarks: English, Lao
Sonam Yangchen Rana, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic