Coconut Creativity and ECD TV

Saysomboun is a newly established province in the north of Lao PDR. It is an area rich in ethnic groups who still speak their own language and also the Lao language. One of the new provincial authority's priorities is to work to improve the education of children in the area with limited funding and human resources. But the impact of UNICEF’s ECD TV “My Village” project is being seen in unexpected ways with children of the region...

Turning Despair to Dreams: Meeting Malnutrition Challenges in Lao PDR

Thien (2012) in Adone Village with her 2 year-old son, Thear © 2015 UNICEF Lao PDR / S. Noorani

By Shane Powell, UNICEF C4D Specialist.

Adone village, Saravane province, Lao PDR – Thien was just 16 years old the night she felt her first labour pains radiate up through her belly and around her lower back. Three days later, Thien’s newborn first child died...

Then and Now: The Children of Saravane Province - meet Bak

Tahuak village, Ta Oi district, Saravane province.
In 2012, Bak was identified as severely undernourished (indicated by the arm band measurement in the ‘red’). He was treated with supplementary foods and his mother counseled on good feeding practices for young children as part of a Government programme supported by UNICEF with funding from the European Union.  Examined again earlier this year by Mr. Keomany, a Tahuak Health Centre staff member (also pictured here) he proudly proclaims Bak as “in the green”, or no longer undernourished.

Then and Now: The Children of Saravane Province - meet Set

Tahuak village, Ta Oi district, Saravane province. 

In 2012, Set was just 1 year old and severely undernourished. This year, Set turns 4 and the nutrition screenings show her “in the green” – or adequately nourished for her age. Her mother credits the supplementary foods provided to her and a better diet following counseling by the local health workers under a Government programme supported by UNICEF with funding from the European Union. “We don’t have money to go buy different foods for our children at the market. But after I learned Set was malnourished I started making a plan to feed her better,” Set’s mother explains. “Pumpkins, mangoes, cucumbers … whatever we can pick locally or grow in our garden. I also feed her eggs now.”

Read story number 2 and meet Bak...

A Flavour of UNICEF's Lao New Year

UNICEF Lao PDR staff and family members

It’s a warm April afternoon as UNICEF colleagues gather together with their families to celebrate Pi Mai, the Lao New Year. Once a year the UNICEF staff association organise the celebrations for staff and their families. It is an opportunity to look back on the achievements of the year and refresh and renew for the coming year’s child rights and development challenges. The day is one for both children and adults alike. There is a tangible air of excitement. Pi Mai is the biggest celebration of the year in Lao PDR. It’s also a spectacle of song and dance and getting very (very) wet. 

Youth radio: getting the message out loud and clear

Youth radio volunteers in Laos about to go live
UNICEF Laos/2010/Souvannavong

While technology seems to be changing at light speed, delivering media into our hands and homes at the tap of a button, the humble radio still has an important role to play around the world in sharing information and helping people learn.

For World Radio Day tomorrow (13 February 2015), I spoke to UNICEF staff in Lao PDR and the Pacific Islands about their youth radio initiatives. They told me how radio is giving a voice to young people and helping communities.