About Laos
UNICEF has been working to improve the lives of children and young people in Laos, one of the world’s poorest countries, for over 30 years. In Laos, clean, safe tap water is hard to come by. The lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities can be a matter of life and death. Diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children in Laos, while cholera and typhoid continue to be threats.
That's why we decided the 2009 TAP Project should help raise funds for a water project in Laos called WASH (Water, Hygiene and Sanitation).
With your help the TAP project can save lives by providing basic water facilities, showing people how to use and maintain them, and raising awareness of good hygiene practices. But there are other benefits too. A village water supply relieves women and children from the gruelling task of carrying water over long distances. This increases the chances of children, especially girls, going to school.
UNICEF New Zealand in Laos
Unicef New Zealand has been helping to fund the WASH programme in Laos since 2005. But there is still much more to do, which is why the funds raised through the Tap Project are so vital.
The main goals of this project are to:
- Provide families and schools with latrines and promote hygiene practices to ensure children's rights to survival, growth and development by 2011.
- Ensure boys and girls in at least 80% of households and primary schools in 30 poor districts, in five provinces have access to safe water and sanitation by 2011.
UNICEF's key partners for this project are the Ministry of Education and the Laos Youth Union. The wider programme is targeting primary schools and surrounding communities in five remote and poor provinces throughout the country - Luangprabang, Khammuane, Savannakhet, Vientiane and Saravane. The programme aims to bring water and sanitation facilities, as well as hygiene and sanitation training to over half a million people in 1,540 villages and approximately 140,000 children in 700 primary schools.
To help get these essential messages through to the school children of Laos, UNICEF is distributing "Blue Boxes" which are interactive educational packages specially developed for schoolchildren that contain games, story cards, songs, posters and other materials containing key hygiene messages. These fun educational tools highlight the importance of drinking clean water, washing your hands after going to the toilet and before meals, using proper toilet facilities, healthy eating and food preparation methods.
Please click here for more information on the successes of our Laos project.
About Laos
Laos or the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) as it is officially known, is a landlocked country in South East Asia. Laos has many things in common with New Zealand. It is a long thin country, just a bit smaller than New Zealand with a population of 5.8 million. However, it is one of the poorest countries in the world with a Gross Domestic Product per capita in 2006 of just US$500. Fifty percent of the population is below 18 years of age, and approximately 80% of the population live in rural areas. Poverty is widespread, resulting in poor socio-economic conditions for women and children, with delivery and utilisation of basic services affected by disparities in geography, gender and ethnicity.
Diarrhoea is the second largest killer of children in Lao PDR, commonly caused by poor sanitation and hygiene conditions. Rural areas, where most people live have limited access to safe drinking water and sanitation which is a threat to child survival. Education services are also limited, with many children ending their education at primary school. Poor sanitary conditions combined with burdens on children for collecting water from traditional sources have prevented many children, particularly girls, from attending school.
UNICEF and our partners are working hard to improve these statistics.
Planning, installing and maintaining water and sanitation systems across Lao PDR requires strong service delivery capacity. Working alongside the World Health Organisation, UNICEF is providing advice and training to establish a nationwide water quality surveillance programme. This is linked to village-based monitoring and with emergency preparedness plans to deal with any cases of contamination that arise.
Please click here for more information on Lao PDR. (5.55MB)
