Efforts to improve the health of women and children living in remote areas of Lao PDR have been given an important boost with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Lao PDR and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The MoU was signed at a ceremony in Vientiane by the Minister of Health, Dr Ponmek Dalaloy, and the Luxembourg Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, Mrs. Marie-Josée Jacobs. Attending the ceremony were senior representatives of the four United Nations agencies – the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, and the World Health Organization - whose joint programme will utilize the funds totaling Euros 8.1 million over five years to support the Ministry of Health’s National Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Services Strategy.

Press release Eng-Lao.pdf (1.42 mb)

A mother and two health staff are helping each other to measure a little girl's height at Thadeua village, Khongsedone district, Saravan, Photo UNICEF

Saturday 16 October marks the 30th World Food Day.

It comes as Lao PDR prepares for its 10th annual Round Table Meeting (20-21 October) when the government and the donor community take stock of development progress in the country and discuss the planned way forward.

The theme for the World Food Day 2010 is United Against Hunger. It is a call for action that recognizes the need for consolidated efforts at local, national, regional and international levels to fight hunger and malnutrition. Read more

March 29, 2010: Ban Xai, Xieng Khuang province, Lao PDR – When 10-year-old Mai and her brother Eu finished the second grade last year, they were faced with a difficult question.  

The nearest school offering Grade 3 was eight kilometres of hilly, often muddy, trails away. It would take at least an hour each way by bicycle, more on foot. They had to wonder if it was worth it.

Caption: Children perform a dance during the inauguration ceremony for the new school in Ban Xai. The school is one of 120 new schools built since 2007 with support from Aeon and UNICEF.

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Photograph: Children from Nyot Ou district, Phongsaly, play under a new water tap. 
Tom Greenwood / UNICEF 2009

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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]

Provision of primary school education is recognized worldwide as a critical contributing factor in national and human development. The Government of Lao PDR (GoL) is committed to achieving universal, good quality primary education for all children by 2015. In its holistic approach to schooling, named Schools of Quality, the Gol is working towards this goal. In the report Schools of Quality in Lao PDR ways of further increasing the understanding for enhancing basic education in Lao PDR are presented. 

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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.

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