Social development
Japan supports gender education in Bokeo
The Japanese government has provided grant assistance of more than US$450,381 to build secondary school facilities and support gender education in Bokeo province. A signing ceremony for a grant contract for the project took place on December 1 between the Ambassador of Japan to Laos, ...
Hydropower in the Mekong: an alternative approach
Laos needs to rethink its aggressive hydropower plans as new markets and technologies create an opportunity to change course. A report published in September by the Stimson Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, challenges prevailing notions about the future of hydropower in the Mekong subregion, an ...
Adolescents with HIV struggle with drug regimens, stigma
Young people with HIV are facing unique challenges, according to a recent report from Doctors Without Borders Myanmar released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1. Adolescents with HIV aged 10 to 19 are three times more likely to experience failure with first-line anti-retroviral treatment ...
Carrying a stranger’s child through an uncertain time
Ly Raksmey left her home in the heart of the country’s rice bowl in January and headed to a hospital on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. The 34-year-old stayed there several nights, in a facility that was better and cleaner than any hospital she had ...
Boom built on ‘slavery’
The use of debt bondage to trap workers in “modern day slavery” is widespread in many of Cambodia’s brick-making factories, indicates research by rights group Licadho, whose findings suggest the Kingdom’s recent building boom is built on the illegal practice. In a report released on ...
Peninsula’s future in flux
Chea Sophat stood on the gravel embankment of a road as he pointed to what was once his rice field, an unfenced, 4,000-square-metre waterlogged plot with a handful of buffaloes wallowing in the mud. Across the Tonle Sap river, Phnom Penh was celebrating the festivities ...
13.5 million Vietnamese suffer from common mental disorders
Around 15 per cent of Việt Nam’s population – approximately 13.5 million people – suffer from 10 of the more common mental disorders, reveal statistics released on November 29. Around 2.8 per cent of Vietnamese live with depression, 2.6 per cent suffer from anxiety disorder, ...
Medical waste crisis in Tuyên Quang province
Medical waste is threatening the northern province of Tuyên Quang due to difficulties in treating the hazardous material at local healthcare facilities, said Deputy Director of the provincial Health Department, Đỗ Thị Ngọc Mai. She estimated that some 500kg of medical waste were discharged daily ...
Violence against women still a major concern in Laos
Laos needs to increase cooperation with development partners to help eliminate violence against women and girls, with a focus on economic development. A strong partnership among the government, development partners and the private sector is required to ensure adequate and sustainable resources to end violence ...
Progress touted on safe workplaces for women
More than 200 drinking establishments in the capital have so far pledged their commitment to their female workers’ safety as part of the ongoing “Safe Workplaces, Safe Communities” project, officials at a workshop on the program’s progress said on November 28. Launched by the Ministry ...
