At a meeting in Vientiane the Government of Lao PDR reaffirmed their support to the Governance and Public Administration Reform (GPAR) Programme to strengthen human resource development and improve governance and management systems. This was backed up with a Government commitment of $8 million to the estimated $44 million cost of the new programme, 2012-2015.Government representatives called on development partners to align their support to Lao PDR with the new national GPAR Programme.

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Read a story about how GPAR benefits people's lives in Lao PDR

A Lao Government delegation is in New York this week to attend the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS from 8-10 June. The Minister of Health, Dr Dalaloy Ponmek, heads the Lao representatives who join the President of the UN General Assembly, Joseph Deiss, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 30 Heads of State, and representatives from international organizations, civil society and people living with HIV at the meeting.

Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic and 10 years since the historic UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the world comes together to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response. World leaders are expected to negotiate a new global declaration on AIDS and to commit to overcoming the remaining barriers to ensure ‘Universal Access’ to HIV services.

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Photo: UNAIDS Coordinator, Pascal Stenier and Dr Dalaloy Ponmek, Minister of Health

Courtesy of Ministry of Health Lao PDR

Lao PDR's forests play a vital role in contributing to economic development, supporting the livelihoods of the people and in providing environmental services. But forest cover has declined from about 70% a few decades ago to around 40%. Forest quality has also deteriorated, with dense forest decreasing from 29% in 1992 to 8.2% in 2005. UNDP in Lao PDR is supporting the Government to achieve its goal of increasing forest coverage back to 70% by 2020 and improving the quality of existing forested areas.

Read UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's message

The Australian Government signed an agreement with UNDP today to provide AUD2.5 million to support the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme. The funds will be channelled through the Trust Fund for Support to the Full Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Lao PDR. The contribution is un-earmarked and will help to scale up clearance operations and mine risk education as well as providing quality assurance and control over a two-year period.

Speaking at the hand over ceremony, H.E. Ms. Lynda Worthaisong, Ambassador of Australia to Lao PDR said, “We expect that this contribution will improve the lives of affected families by giving them safer access to land for farming and other daily activities”. Also present were Mr. Minh Pham, UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Bounpone Sayasenh, UXO Lao National Program Director, and Lao Government officials.

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In Thateng town, Sekong Province, 800 km’s south of Lao’s capital Vientiane, 19-year old Nouan Anong is in the local radio studio presenting the morning news. Nouan is a volunteer radio DJ with the Thatheng Ethnic Community Radio for Development (TECRD) station and presents the show in her local Ta-oi language.

The radio was launched in April 2010, with support from the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  Radio programmes cover topics such as health issues, agriculture and information for youth to better understand the history of their ethnicity, in addition to other relevant topics. The community is involved in every aspect of the radio, from school children cleaning the radio grounds, to youth reporters producing the content.

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 Photo: UNDP Lao PDR / Philippe Pernet

On the 100th commemoration of International Women’s Day the UN calls for equal access to education, training and science and technology. In Lao PDR large numbers of women miss out on such opportunities with many engaged in subsistence farming and low-skilled jobs. The informal sector also accounts for large numbers of women who own small businesses often in retail or textiles. Among the reasons for this are lack of education and opportunities in the formal sector.

Lao PDR is currently off track to meet the Millennium Development Goal 3 target of eliminating gender disparity in all levels of education by 2015. Despite some progress the gender gap in education has not closed significantly. The disparity widens at the higher levels with only 62 girls per 100 boys enrolled in tertiary education.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, used his International Women’s Day message to highlight the importance of education and training in helping women to, “break the cycle of poverty, combat injustice and exercise their rights.” He also stated the importance of access to science and technology, such as cell phones and the Internet, “to enable women to improve the health and well-being of their families, take advantage of income-earning opportunities and protect themselves from exploitation and vulnerability.” 

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The leaders of 49 ethnic groups gathered at Vientiane's National Cultural Hall for a two day workshop on, ‘Ethnic Groups and Customary Laws: A Human Rights Perspective'.

The event promoted an atmosphere of dialogue between central authorities and ethnic leaders to assess their role in helping Lao DPR meet its human rights obligations among ethnic communities.

Laos is one of South-East Asia's most ethnically diverse countries with ethnic groups split into three categories, the Lao Loum, who occupy the lowland areas, the Lao Theung, the ethnic groups in the middle terrain, and the Lao Sung, who live in the highlands. The smallest groups are the Xeak and Hanyi with less than a thousand people, with the largest being the Lao and Khmu.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Ms Kyoko Yokosuka, the UNDP Resident Representative (a.i.), said, “Together, the 49 ethnic groups of this country provide a rich cultural heritage and help to define the unique character of this country as a land that finds unity in its diversity… The challenge for the Lao PDR is how to maintain and promote the customary laws and heritage of its many ethnic groups in an age of modernity.”

Customary law defines community behavior and the place of the individual as a valued member of his or her community. It is the basis for social intercourse in each community. The customary law survey that was recently conducted is the first of its kind in Lao PDR.

Read Kyoko Yokosuka's (UNDP Resident Representative a.i.) opening remarks