Category: Technology

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Jan 12 supported key justice sector agencies with new ICT equipment and software to be used in their efforts to prevent and respond to gender-based violence through the Khan Hom Project.

The Khan Hom Project supports the Lao Government through the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) in building its institutional capacities to implement the 5-year National Action Plan on Ending Violence against Women (NAPEVAW), as well as the key agencies across social and justice sectors.

The project aims to reduce discrimination and violence against women by consolidating efforts across various stakeholders including by building capacities of duty bearers, increasing awareness of services among survivors and strengthened coordination across all sectors.

In 2021, UNDP conducted a capacity needs assessment of the justice sector to implement the NAPEVAW, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Security, the Courts, and the Office of the Supreme People’s Procuracy.

Furthermore, the assessment highlighted significant gaps in the justice sector in terms of digital tools for communication, coordination and data collection, which needed to be filled to ensure the key agencies could fully play their part in ending violence against women by implementing the NAPEVAW.

Mr. Sangjun Kim, Acting Country Director of KOICA, highlighted that “ICT equipment would be a significant tool to help the justice sector to address challenges they may face in implementing the NAPEVAW and help to protect all Lao women at risk of violence.”

Ms. Ricarda Rieger, Resident Representative, UNDP, added that “2022 is a critical year for the Khan Hom Project and this ICT equipment will ensure that our work to end violence against women in the Lao PDR with the justice sector, LWU and NCAWMC does not get interrupted by COVID-19 and that we can collect the key data we need to succeed in our work.”

Ms. Soukphaphone Phanit, Director General of the Department of International Cooperation and Planning, LWU, agreed that “ICT equipment is very helpful for us as we can continue working online to improve response to and prevention of violence against women, particularly in developing practical guidance and tools for the justice in 2022.”

In 2022, under the Khan Hom project, in partnership with project partner UNFPA and with support from KOICA, UNDP will continue to work with key justice sector agencies, the LWU and NCAWMC to develop Standard Operating Procedures to ensure that there is clear guidance for all sectors to coordinate closely in working to prevent violence against women, providing response services for survivors of violence, and prosecuting perpetrators of such violence through the justice system in the Lao PDR.

Source: Lao News Agency

Pope Francis on Wednesday urged governments to combat child labor, saying it was terrible that children who should be playing are instead working as adults or scavenging in garbage dumps for something to sell.

Speaking at his weekly general audience Francis also lamented that in many countries people were being exploited in the unofficial, underground economy, working without benefits or legal protection.

“Let’s think of the victims of work, of children who are forced to work. This is terrible,” he said.

The U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a report last year that the number of children in labor rose to about 160 million worldwide in 2020.

“Children who are at an age when they should be playing are forced to work like adults. Let’s think of those children, poor little things, who scour in garbage dumps looking for something useful to trade or sell,” the pope said in comments that were mostly improvised.

The ILO report, done with the U.N. children agency UNICEF, said progress to end child labor had stalled for the first time in 20 years at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reversing a previous downward trend.

He said that lack of work was a “social injustice” and that while charity and handouts for the jobless were important, they filled the stomach but did not dispense dignity.

“Governments must give everyone the possibility of earning their bread because this gives them dignity. Work anoints people with dignity,” he said.

According to the ILO, Africa has the largest number of child workers in the world, with about 72 million, about 43 percent of them doing hazardous work.

At the audience, Francis asked for a moment of silence to remember the unemployed, victims of industrial accidents and those who had taken their own lives after losing their jobs because of the pandemic.

Source: Voice of America

The Teacher Support Pack (TSP) are stand-alone training modules. Provincial trainers will use them to support teachers as they implement the new primary curriculum in their classrooms and may encounter challenges.

The TSP project started in December 2020 with the establishment of the in-service Continuing Professional Development material writers’ team.

Their role is to write and develop the TSP modules and other teacher support learning resources.

This activity is led by the Department of Teacher Education (DTE) of the Ministry of Education and Sports of the Lao PDR with financial and technical support from the Australian Government through the BEQUAL programme.

“Education research has shown that teaching quality and school leadership are the most important factors in improving student learning outcomes. For teachers and educational leaders to be highly effective, they need to continually expand their knowledge and skills. This includes using appropriate resources to support students’ learning in the classroom. Continuing Professional Development of teachers is key to the success of students,” said DTE Director General Keth Phanhlack.

The writing team is very diverse reflecting the importance of including those who are involved in developing and using active learning and inclusive teaching practices.

It consists of ten staff from DTE, the Teacher Development Centre, Teacher Training Colleges from Luang Namtha, Dogkhamxang, Saravan and Savannakhet, District Education and Sports Office and the school level.

The group is gender balanced and represents national and sub-national education staff. The writers were selected by DTE and BEQUAL based on their collective experience in teaching, teacher support, and designing teacher training resources.

The first four TSP modules have been in use since September 2021 in BEQUAL’s six target provinces – Khammuan, Luang Namtha, Phongsaly, Saravan, Savannakhet, Xekong.

The topics have been aligned with feedback from Grade 1 and 2 teachers who are already teaching the new curriculum: creating and using flashcards, classroom management, teaching Lao Language to non-Lao speakers and teaching multigrade.

Provincial Trainers will use TSP modules to build teachers’ teaching skills and help teachers overcome challenges. The trainers use the TSP module to support teachers through a variety of peer learning modalities such as classroom observations, learning circles, co-teaching, buddy systems and WhatsApp support.

Responding to further feedback on areas in which primary teachers require support, DTE, with Australia’s support organised another series of five-day writing and capacity development workshops developing the capacity of the TSP writing team to produce four new modules.

The workshops were fully online to respect COVID-19 prevention measures. The topics of the new TSP are formative and summative assessment, lesson planning, setting up and managing pair and group work, and building confidence to teach English.

The newly written TSP modules are now with the designing team for layout. They will include pictures taken in a Lao classroom to help trainers and teachers visualize the teaching strategies in a real teaching environment. Master Trainers in BEQUAL’s 6 target provinces will receive 8-days of training in March 2022 which they will cascade to the Provincial Trainers in BEQUAL’s target provinces.

The stand-alone modules are available nationwide to all trainers. At the same time, DTE and E-Learning department are producing training videos to accompany the TSP modules. The first TSP module video will be on how to use and create flashcards and the filming is scheduled for January 2022 in Vientiane Province.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Government of Japan has decided to provide grant assistance worth approximately USD 470,000 for primary education for ethnic minority children in Oudomxay.

The grant contract was signed on Jan 3 between Mr. Nakano Junya, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan to the Lao PDR, and Ms. Suzumura Kumiko, Representative of Plan International Japan Laos Office, a Japanese public interest incorporated foundation.

The grant will fund activities for “Basic Education for Ethnic Minority Children in Oudomxay Province” for twelve months.

This grant assistance is 3rd round for the project starting from 2019.

The project aims to provide primary education to enhance the basic academic skills and to improve the educational environment for ethnic students in Pakbeng District, Oudomxay Province.

This area is situated in a heavily mountainous area along the Mekong River with a high poverty rate. Around 90% of the population in Oudomxay are from ethnic groups who don’t speak Lao as a first language.

This project will provide support to 21 pre-primary schools and 30 primary schools in the district through capacity building of teachers, the provision of materials, raising parental awareness on child education and gender equality, as well as providing a preparation for primary schools.

Furthermore, it will contribute towards the construction of pre-primary school buildings and sanitation facilities in three villages within the district. This project commenced in December 2019 and is expected to finish in January 2023.

Plan International Japan commenced its activities in the Lao PDR in 2006. The foundation has implemented many projects to improve maternal and child health care services, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), infant child care, and to promote gender equality and child protection in collaboration with the Government of Japan. Through their activities, Plan International Japan has contributed to improving the living conditions of these people.

The government of Japan has reaffirmed their strong commitment to continue to support Plan International Japan and appreciates their ongoing work at grassroots level which has continued despite the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Lao News Agency

A ground-breaking ceremony for the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Vocational School was held last week, Jan 5 in Nongbok district, Khammuan Province.

The school has been designed to accommodate several hundreds of students including high school graduates, people returning from abroad due to Covid-19 and those looking for jobs.

Governor of Khammuan Province Vanxay Phongsavanh said the school will offer two curricula including a curriculum of secondary education and vocational skills courses.

The vocational school construction project, funded with a grant fund of US$5 million from the government of Vietnam, is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Source: Lao News Agency

With approximately 80,000 young people entering the job market in Laos every year during the next decade, new partnerships have been forged.

Youth unemployment is a key concern for Laos, as many young people lost their jobs due to business closures and slower economic growth caused by COVID-19.

Therefore, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Solver and Stella, is launching the Job Assist Office (JAO) to build bridges for meaningful employment for youth.

The JAO is implemented by the Solver and Stella and administered by UNDP. This is an experiment that aims to test the viability of solutions to youth unemployment by offering customized one-on-one career counselling and group training on digital skills, job search skills, CV writing, job interview and soft skills, as well as connecting potential employers to employees.

JAO adopts agile practice by consistently listening to the needs and skill levels of youth participants in designing and adjusting course materials – identifying what works and what does not.

Co-chaired by Mr. Alounxay Sounnalath, Secretary General, Lao Youth Union, Mr. Vladimir A. Kalinin, Ambassador of Russian Embassy, and Ms. Ricarda Rieger, Resident Representative, UNDP, this event launches JAO with an aim to test whether the currently unemployed youth and graduates would have higher chances of obtaining and maintaining a job if they are properly equipped with employable skills and are connected to potential employers.

“Skill development is crucial for economic empowerment, and this work must begin with youth as they make up a significant part of the labour force. Central to that will be reaching out to young people seeking employment, training, and career pathway opportunities. This project will help to fill existing skill gaps in the country,” said Mr. Alounxay Sounnalath, Secretary General, Lao Youth Union.

“The Job Office Assist is another vivid example of successful and fruitful cooperation between the Lao PDR, the Russian Federation, and the UNDP. We believe that this project will provide a solid assistance in supporting young generation in acquiring a job and realizing their professional skills and potential,” said Mr. Vladimir A. Kalinin, Russian Ambassador to the Lao PDR.

“The project will support the government’s effort in building forward better by equipping youth with necessary skills to enter the job market once the economy bounces back. JAO is a perfect platform to test the viability of this idea and to see what we can do differently to help youth access meaningful employment. We know that strong partnerships are significant in getting youth ready for careers. We are excited to work with the Solver and Stella to ensure youth have opportunities to explore career pathways that match their expertise and aspiration,” said Ms. Ricarda Rieger, Resident Representative at UNDP.

UNDP has been working on empowering youth through multiple activities, including through the Enhancing Social and Economic Opportunities for Youth in the Lao PDR project and several initiatives being led by UNDP Accelerator Lab. UNDP welcomes opportunities to explore collaboration with new partners to strengthen youth empowerment and employment in the Lao PDR.

Source: Lao News Agency