Visionaries: Government and Development Partners gather in Vientiane to engage on Well-Being of Lao Children.

Culminating a month of celebrations for children which started with the 1st of June’s Children’s Day, the development agency World Vision organised the first Visionaries event, a platform dedicated to sharing the voices of children in Lao PDR.

For this inaugural session, five guest speakers were gathered to share their views on the status of child well-being in Laos, after two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that created setbacks for the future of Lao children, and thus for the country itself. Ms. Vilaykhone Keobounthanh, Head of the Child Protection and Assistance Division for the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. David Duncan, Deputy Representative for UNICEF in Lao PDR, Mr. Dan Heldon, Deputy Head of Mission for the Australian Embassy, Ms. Souksaveuy Keotiamchanh, founder of Zero Waste Laos, and Ms. Kongkham Sounthala, Community Development Facilitator for World Vision International – Lao PDR, were able to share their standpoints on the topic of hope, joy, and justice for all children, with perspectives a of brighter future for vulnerable children still a possibility if all stakeholders increase their efforts and strengthen their action on education, nutrition, and climate change. The attendees, including representatives from various ministries of the Government of Lao PDR, UN and Bilateral agencies, and civil society organisations had opportunity to pose questions and interact with the guest speakers. 

The creation of this new platform for child well-being dialogue is the result of observations that multi-sector coordination and integrated approaches are required to better the lives of the most vulnerable children, and that all different stakeholders need to work hand-in-hand, from the central level to the communities, to ensure a brighter future for Lao children is possible, and that the Sustainable Development Goals can be reached by the target set by the Government of Lao PDR by 2030. 

After positively impacting the lives of more than 125,000 vulnerable children in 2021 in Laos, World Vision aims to increase its reach by up to 1.3 million boys and girls by 2026, according to the organisation’s new strategy, with programs dedicated to improving nutrition and education outcomes of children living in rural areas. As part of the upcoming challenges set by past COVID restrictions, bringing children back to school next September is one of the main priorities of the organisation: all over June, World Vision and its various ministries’ partners have been advocating in rural communities to encourage the children who got out of the education system during the pandemic to come back to their learning journey.

By opening up this new platform, World Vision International raises awareness of the challenges faced by the vulnerable and marginalised children, and advocates for leaving no one behind in the journey to a better life, and a better future for the next generations, full of hope, joy and justice.