These holidays... give a gift of hope
With a real project gift from Plan you are giving hope to the children and families whose lives are being threatened in communities throughout East Africa.
Find out moreLaos
Priority Projects in Laos
Mobilising Communities to Improve Sanitation in Laos
Mobilising communities to develop appropriate and culturally sensitive approaches to water, sanitation and hygiene issues. This includes the innovative Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) method...
Our plan in Laos
Plan is working at the grassroots level in Laos to help communities make real and lasting change, so that their children have the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Plan began working in Laos in 2006 and currently has programs in three very poor districts of Bokeo Province, bordering Thailand, Myanmar and China in north-west Laos which aim to address the following issues affecting children:
- Limited access to quality education and high repetition and drop out rates
- High levels of malnutrition
- Limited access to farming and forestry land contributing to malnutrition and economic insecurity
- Limited access to clean water and sanitation
- Poor quality healthcare services
- Very limited institutional provision for child protection and for response to individual cases of child neglect and abuse
Plan's programs and strategies to address these issues include:
Education
Plan Laos programs provide support for development of comprehensive national early childhood policy by the government and advocate for greater investment in early childhood by government and major donors. Plan also works to improve education and awareness of parents and teachers on early childhood development. Plan's programs support the development of curriculum for in-service training of teachers and help supply educational equipment, materials and infrastructure for services.
Plan Laos will expand its programs into the following areas in the coming years: early nutrition, water and environmental sanitation and child protection.
See Plan's work in progress
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Country Facts
| Country | Laos | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Flag |  |
 |
| Population | 6,368,481 (July 2006 est.) | 21 Million |
| Language | Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages | English |
| Capital | Vientiane | Canberra |
| GDP per capita (USD/year) |
$1954 | $37,300 |
| Life expectancy | 55.1 | 81.5 |
| Access to safe drinking water |
51% | 100% |
| Literacy | 66.4% | 100% |
| Source: | United Nations: Millennium Development Goals Report 2006 | |
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