Social development

The government of Japan is providing grant assistance of 308 million yen for the continuation of the Human Resource Development Scholarship Project in Laos. An agreement was signed on 4 July in Vientiane by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms Khamphao Eunthavanh and Japanese Ambassador to Laos ...

The World Food Programme has forecasted a budget of over US$8.5 million in assistance for the 2016-17 fiscal year to improve the health of mothers and children in Laos. This support forms part of the 12-month project “Mother and Child Health and Nutrition Programme”, which is ...

Caritas Luxembourg has provided a grant of over 1 million euros (more than 9 billion kip) to improve the Strengthening Livelihood Systems Project in Mok district, Xieng Khuang province. The project agreement was signed recently by the Director of the provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department, Mr ...

According to a Senate report accompanying the bill, the vast majority of the recommended budget for Cambodia, $69.9 million of it, would go toward health programs and development assistance. Most of the rest would go to military education and training, demining, anti-terrorism and related programs. ...

Many people’s hearts sink every time they see news photos about treeless mountains in once-verdant Nan province or mask-wearing people in frequently hazy Chiang Mai. “We used to have our own land plots and earned a living as farmers – but not anymore,” lamented a middle-aged ...

Khin Htar Kyu was in her late teens when she left her village in Irrawaddy Division’s Wakema Township with her younger sister to find work in Yangon to help her indebted family. Across Myanmar, there are tens of thousands of girls like Khin Htar Kyu who leave ...

Myanmar Army Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing thanked ethnic armed groups that signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement last year for their “constructive cooperation,” while indirectly criticizing other groups. The armed forces chief alluded to NCA non-signatory groups “expanding their forces.” He urged them to eschew “dogmatism” and ...

Suicide rates and poverty are on the rise among rice farmers displaced by Myanmar’s Paunglaung Dam. The change of government is expected to spur foreign investment into the country, contributing to its rapid development. But among the myriad issues facing the country, including  decades-long civil wars, the ...

According to a statement released by the US embassy in Bangkok, the Tier 2 Watch List ranking indicates that the Thai government made significant efforts to eliminate trafficking during the rating period, but still does not fully meet the minimum standards for doing so. The State ...

Large outbreaks of the mosquito-borne virus happen every three to five years. In February, the National Malaria Center observed that dengue cases reported in January were similar to those recorded in 2007 and 2012, when the country last saw dengue epidemics. Dr. Sovann said the ministry ...