Meet the Superkids of Laos

Chandavone and her daughter Namkhing

Chandavone (25) Homchanh (20) and Chanhom (28) have one thing in common. They are the mothers of three buoyant 13 month-old children from the small village of Ban Namahee in the south east of Laos. Lively and healthy, the children wrestle in their mother’s arms, mouthing eager pre-speech noises and taking any opportunity they can get to try out legs which only months ago seemed unimportant to their world. In a country where child under-nutrition is a silent emergency – the latest data indicates almost 2 million Lao citizens, mainly women and children, suffer some form of under-nutrition – these three bouncing, healthy children, are in stark relief to the figures. Why? All three have been taking the nutrition supplement Superkid as part of their diets.

Breastfeeding: a winning goal for life

It’s now World Breastfeeding Week and UNICEF Laos and the Lao Government continue to promote the life-saving benefits of breastfeeding.

Claire's Accessories visit Lao PDR

Popular retail company Claire's Accessories visited us in late March to take a look at some of our education work in Lao PDR. Through UNICEF UK, Claire's are supporting the Schools for Asia programme.

The focus will be particularly on those who, because of their gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic location or poverty are less likely to get a quality education.

Schools for Asia countries include Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Read more about the launch of this initiative here.

A video and more information will follow shortly, but in the meantime take a look at some photos from their visit. Click the icon in the bottom right to make the slideshow full screen.

 

Getting healthcare to every child

Mrs Huepa, centre, and her family

When I asked people how far it was to Kiew Kalei village, they said it wasn’t far, only 12 kilometres. But in fact the route is much more complicated and scary: the village sits on a high hill with only one unpaved dusty road zigzagging its way around steep drops. Only one car can fit through the road at a time and if the car stops, as we had to at times to let motorbikes squeeze by, you should put rocks behind the tires to stop the car rolling away.

UNICEF & Mrs Bik: Working together to promote breastfeeding

UNICEF went to Sekong Province, southern Lao PDR, to take a look at how UNICEF and the Lao Government work with people like the amazing Mrs Bik to promote breastfeeding. Click on the Mrs Bik's photo to follow her story (when Flickr opens, click 'show info' at the top to read the story).
 



Mrs Bik promoted breastfeeding in her village



Government launches social survey report: The first of its kind in Lao PDR

© UNICEF Lao PDR/2013/Verweij

Vientiane, Lao PDR, July 4^th – Lao Statistics Bureau, the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Health with support from the Ministry of Education and Sports and international development partners launched on July 4^th a comprehensive report with the findings of the Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS).