Sustainable Development Goals

Over the last 30 years, Vietnam’s HDI (Human Development Index) has grown by 46%, amongst the biggest jump in the world. A United Nations report titled “Human Development and the Anthropocene” released last week places Vietnam at 117th out of 189 nations in terms of overall development. In the 2019 report, ...

The United States has announced new funding of $25 million over five years to feed children in schools across the Lao PDR.  The U.S. program, funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program project, will be implemented by ...

Vietnam is forecast to face a severe gender imbalance by 2026, with an excess of 1.38 million males, according to the General Statistics Office. Speaking at a recent workshop involving nearly 200 women and collaborators in population affairs in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh, Dr Mai Xuan ...

Myanmar, a Southeastern Asian country roughly the size of Texas, houses almost 54 million people. In 2005, almost half of Myanmar’s population lived in poverty. However, a report released by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) determined that Myanmar successfully increased its GDP and cut poverty to 24.8% ...

Lao children will benefit from a project to strengthen education, funded by Room to Read at a cost of more than US$3.6 million. The ‘Enhancing Education for Lao Children Project phase V’ is also financing the Reading Promotion Project in Attapeu province, with US$135,935 provided by ...

Families are choosing to have more boys than girls, and experts worry this will cause problems in the future. SGGP reports that new data from the United National Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that in 2019, Vietnam’s sex ratio was 111.5 boys per 100 girls, an imbalance behind only ...

Experts in the field of adolescent research came together this week to discuss their findings and how to adapt it to the national socio-economic and 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agendas. Around 170 participants from government ministries, research institutions and international organisations in Laos attended the ...

The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) co-hosted an event on September 24 to release the independent Review of Ten Years of Implementing the Law on Gender Equality. In her remarks, Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi ...

ASEAN was established in 1967 to advance regional cooperation, particularly economic, security and social. Its member countries have a combined population of 650 million and GDP of more than $2.5 trillion. Its immense population, comparative advantages and geographical location have led to the bloc being one of ...

On Aug 14, a youth-led celebration, coordinated by the Lao Youth Union, for this year’s International Youth Day (IYD) in the midst of a global pandemic highlighted education and empowerment for young people and by youth themselves, emphasising how young people are taking action to ...