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Hunger In Laos

Hunger In Laos
Laos is a small country populated with mountains and more than 10,000 rural villages, situated on the Asian continent. It is not hard to understand why the people of Laos have a hard time with nourishment, as many of the rural villages lie in remote areas of the country that have trouble getting access to healthy food and clean water.

Hunger in Laos is a problem for the varied communities living in the country because of the threats it poses to health. While the country has worked on improving the state of malnourishment, the Global Hunger Index reports that the country has a high percentage of hungry people.

Facets of Hunger in Laos

The high level of hunger in Laos is attributed to factors like the lack of access to food sources and properly sanitized water. In fact, around one-fifth of the population of Laos consumes less than the minimum dietary requirements set by the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

The U.N. reports that malnutrition in Laos illustrates the inequality in the country, especially when one takes into account the regions and groups who demonstrate the most need.

Rural communities are common in the mountainous regions, but the areas that lack road access are typically those hit hardest with hunger in Laos. Furthermore, many of these areas report children with stunted growth and insufficient weight gain, both common results from undernourished communities.

In conjunction with the U.N.’s MDGs, Laos has halved the proportion of hungry people living in the country. However, more than 11 percent of rural households still report a lack of food sources, resulting in poor consumption habits.

There is still hope. With help from the U.N., the government is steadily moving towards the goal of decreasing the percentage of people who experience hunger in Laos. In recent years, rapid economic growth and agricultural prosperity have had great effects on the population, contributing to the notable decrease in the proportion of undernourished people.

Success has been slow but is expected to increase. With help from the U.N. and programs like the National Zero Hunger Challenge, which works to end hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, Laos can decrease the number of hungry people in the country and ensure the population is living a healthy lifestyle.

– Jacqueline Nicole Artz

Photo: Flickr

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Ten Facts About Laos Refugees

Laos Refugees
Laos is one of the poorest countries in Asia and one of the last remaining communist nations. The Indochina War, which lasted for over 20 years, displaced about a quarter of the entire population resulting in major refugee migration.

Top 10 Facts about Laos Refugees:

  1. They are ethnically diverse. Laos has approximately 100 ethnic minorities. Many of these groups were cultivators who moved around regularly. They were disproportionately affected by the war.
  2. They come from the most heavily bombed country in the world. Between 1963 and 1974, the United States dropped two million tons of bombs on the Michigan-sized country. This is more than the amount dropped on Germany and Japan combined during World War II.
  3. They are the victims of a “secret war.” The conflict in Laos was the CIA’s largest paramilitary operation. It was conceived as a way of “bypassing” the Geneva Accords. The Indochina War thus set the precedent for future large-scale secret wars.
  4. Many were first relocated to Thailand. When the U.S. removed military support in May 1975, it transported thousands of refugees into Thailand. By the end of that year, more than 40,000 other refugees had also fled to Thailand.
  5. Some have been living in Thai camps for over a decade. Many have chosen to make Thailand their new home, while some are still waiting for assurance of safety to return to Laos. Others are anticipating a reunion with family members before moving on to finally resettle in another country.
  6. Some were forcibly repatriated to Laos. Thailand began instituting increasingly restrictive measures for people to claim refugee status so that many would be obliged to return to Laos.
  7. They constitute the majority of Hmong refugees in the United States. Many of the Hmong were recruited by the CIA to serve as spies against the communists. As a result, when the communists seized control, many of the Hmong were forced to flee the country for their anti-communist involvement. Approximately 90% of Hmong refugees have resettled in the United States following the Indochina War.
  8. Most speak White or Green Hmong. White Hmong is considered more proper and is the basis for Hmong writing, but it is understood by Green Hmong speakers.
  9. They are traditionally animistic. Hmong religion centers around the Txix neeb or shaman. They believe that the body is home to a number of souls.
  10. Most have resettled in California and the Midwest. Approximately 40% of Hmong refugees are living in California, while another 45% reside in either Minnesota or Wisconsin.

These 10 facts about Laos refugees are a useful starting point for learning about refugees, but every individual has a unique story. Meaningful understanding of Laos refugee problems only comes through building relationships with them.

– Rebecca Yu

Photo: Flickr

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Thailand’s Intensified Measures Against Polio

Why Thailand's Measures Against POlio are Intensified
In 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that “the spread of polio is an international public health emergency.”

The poliovirus is transmitted through contaminated food and water and it multiplies in the intestine. It can also invade the nervous system and cause spinal and respiratory paralysis in one in every 200 infections. The disease is capable of causing death within hours.

On Feb. 18, Thailand stepped up its precautionary measures against polio, when Laos, a neighboring country, declared a public health emergency as a result of the virus.

The director-general of the Department of Disease Control (DDC) stated that “though Thailand is declared free of polio, Thais are still at risk of contracting the disease particularly in provinces close to Laos.”

In these border areas, residents are required to receive polio vaccines. Acute flaccid paralysis patients and patients from Laos in border hospitals are advised to be kept under close surveillance. According to the DDC, authorities in Laos have also rolled out two measures against polio, including residents in Laos being required to receive polio vaccines one month before leaving the country and having the vaccine administered to people planning to stay in Laos for more than one month.

The main concern for the intensified measures against polio is the spread of vaccine-derived polioviruses (VDPVs) in Laos and Myanmar recently.

According to authorities, the VDPVs are “strains of the poliovirus that have genetically mutated from the strain contained in the oral polio vaccine.”

In April, Thailand and other countries are expected to simultaneously switch from using the trivalent oral polio vaccine, “which contains three poliovirus serotypes, to bivalent OPV in an effort to eradicate wild poliovirus type 2.”

Here, unlike the previous vaccine, when digested by the body, this one replicates in the intestinal tract, providing immunity from subsequent polio infections.

Polio has caused many disabilities and deaths around the world. Thailand is making great efforts to minimize the spread of this disease locally and subsequently helping save the lives of others from this deadly disease.

– Vanessa Awanyo

Sources: BBC, Bangkok Post
Photo: Flickr

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World Bank Finances Poverty Reduction Projects in Laos


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On August 17, the World Bank signed an agreement with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic to finance three projects aimed at increasing the efficiency and reliability of electricity, facilitating quality health and nutrition for women and children and building necessary infrastructure, such as roads, health clinics, schools and drinking water systems.

The World Bank has approved a US$68 million loan, which will be divided among the projects. The Power Grid Improvement Project will receive the greatest sum, US$30 million, with the Health and Nutrition Development Project and Poverty Reduction Fund II Project endowed with US$26.4 million and US$11.6 million respectively.

Although Laos has successfully provided most citizens with electricity, there are still problems. After a distribution loss in 2014 of 24 percent, greater than the 13 percent national average, Laos’s Xaythany district of capital city Vientiane has become the target area for the Power Grid Improvement Project.

The experience of increasing electricity efficiency will provide a building block, serving as a jumping off point for further improvements across the country.

With the Health Governance and Nutrition Development Project, the Lao PDR government aims to bolster women and children’s healthcare by providing free services. If successful, the project will reduce the instances of stunted growth and wasting from lack of nutrition. In order to accomplish better childhood nourishment, the program will promote breastfeeding.

Also on the agenda is developing a communication strategy that will effectively promote healthy child and infant feeding practices. Along with nourishment, maternal mortality will be targeted by means of providing better access to family planning resources and antenatal care.

The project also hopes to increase the number of births facilitated by a skilled health worker.

Through the Poverty Reduction Fund II Project, the Lao PDR government will work to establish infrastructure that serves the country’s marginalized communities. Schools are of particular note, as UNICEF reports that of Laos’s poorest 20 percent, only 5.3 percent are able to attend early childhood education.

Construction of drinking water systems is also important. At present, nearly 40 percent of rural inhabitants don’t have access to improved drinking water sources.

These projects are expected to substantially contribute to Laos’s development, building upon the country’s past poverty reduction success.

– Emma-Claire LaSaine

Sources: World Bank, UNICEF

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Laos

education in laosAs a developing country in Southeast Asia ruled by a communist government, Laos has a very limited education system. The country is populated by several ethnic groups but only the Lao Loum, or “lowland Lao,” have a tradition of formal education and written script.

Buddhist temple schools called wat schools were the main source of education until the mid-twentieth century and the subjects covered were rudimentary. Buddhist monks would teach their pupils basic arithmetic and reading skills as well as social and religious subjects. At the time, only ordained boys and men had access to further education.

The French had an influence on Laotian education during the colonial period but, unfortunately, the secular system it established had little relevance to the vast majority of rural citizens. Most students never exceeded secondary school studies, and the few that did had to travel to larger cities in Vietnam. The elite minority who reached university-level studies usually traveled all the way to France to continue their education.

Recently, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or LPDR, has shifted its focus toward constructing an education system that will encourage broad ideological thinking and mobilize potential. With goals to build a well-rounded development in areas such as economy, technology and culture, the LPDR sees education as a way forward for the nation. It wants to strengthen the national education system by improving its overall quality, increasing relevance and ensuring equitable access.

These goals are specifically listed in Article 19 of Lao’s Constitution that states that “educational, cultural, and scientific activities are the means to raise the level of knowledge, patriotism, love of the people’s democracy, the spirit of solidarity between ethnic groups, and the spirit of independence.” In Article 22, the Constitution asserts that “the State and society shall endeavor to improve the quality of national education system, to create opportunities and favorable conditions for all the people to receive an education, particularly the inhabitants of remote and isolated areas, ethnic minorities, women, children, and disadvantaged persons.”

The Decree on Compulsory Primary Education of 1996 was a milestone in these endeavors by making primary education free and compulsory for all children whether by public or private institutions. All schools were mandated to comply with a national curriculum, thus standardizing minimum requirements of education for all schools.

The national program currently consists of primary schools where students learn for five years and can then move on to two periods of secondary education—four years in lower secondary and three years in upper secondary. Although girls are allowed to attend primary and secondary schools, they are still underrepresented along with cultural and language minorities. This is reflected in Lao’s literacy rates, where 86 percent of females between the age of 15 and 24 were surveyed to be literate in 2011, whereas 92 percent of males of the same age group were confirmed to be literate.

The Education Law enacted in 2000 and amended in 2007 reasserts the claim made in the Laos Constitution that “all Lao citizens have the right to education without discrimination” and establishes that the government has a duty to expand education for “the development of Lao citizens’ necessary knowledge and capacity for their occupation or further study.”

Although education in Laos is still not up to speed with that of developed nations, it is clear that the LPDR government has prioritized education improvement as a means of both modernizing the state and safeguarding the future of its people. It understands that education is an important means of national development and has strongly invested its interests in expanding education to reach that end.

– Shenel Ozisik

Sources: Library of Congress, State University, UNESCO
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

JADEtribe: Fashion With a Conscience

In the fall of 2008, Kimberly Hartman decided to temporarily leave behind a 16-year-long career in fashion in pursuit of an opportunity to pause, reflect and gain some perspective: an extended solo trip to India and South East Asia. What she discovered on her journey inspired JADEtribe, the iconic handbag collection that has altered not only Hartman’s career path, but also her global impact.

The fashion and design guru landed in Laos, a far cry from the cosmopolitan cities she’d been theretofore residing in. Laos, one of the poorest countries in East Asia—and one of the few countries that remains communist—has made significant gains with poverty alleviation within the past two decades, bringing the poverty rates from 39 percent down to 26 percent with the help of foreign aid. The country is heavily mountainous and landlocked, and though less than 5 percent of the land is suitable for agricultural production, the economy remains agrarian.

While exploring a weaving market in a remote village in Laos, Hartman found what she was looking for: inspiration. She became at once enamored by the colors created with natural, organic dyes, and by the awe-inspiring textiles that were woven from them. Fabrics and prints that were unlike any others she had seen before caught Hartman’s well-trained eye. Here, in Laos, where women work more than men—taking on an average of 70 percent of the farming and household duties—and receive less education were beautiful creations that essentially went unnoticed. Hartman was inspired.

She has since employed the weaving village to create exclusive colors and patterns that laid the groundwork for her entirely unique collection of JADEtribe handbags.

And it was more than just a brave career move for Hartman, who had established a name for herself in New York City managing some of the industry’s top brands. It was the perfect marriage of two things about which Hartman has always been deeply passionate: fashion and humanitarianism.

Through the creation of JADEtribe, Hartman has discovered a way to launch a brand that directly gives back to the people of a country in which 41 percent of the population is malnourished. By commissioning villagers, leather artisans and female sewers to create her handbags—and paying a fair price—Hartman has created immense opportunity for growth in jobs and an increased quality of life for a population of a least-developed country.

One hundred percent natural and ethical, JADEtribe bags truly represent fashion with a conscience. Seen on celebrities and in boutiques and trade shows across the globe, JADEtribe is a shining example of how one person’s passion and desire to make a difference truly can transform lives. Hartman’s JADEtribe bags are available on her website, www.jadetribe.com.

– Elizabeth Nutt

Sources: UNDP, JADEtribe, World Vision, UN, The Borgen Project
Photo: BoutiqueBlu

Asian Americans Facing High Poverty Rates

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It is often assumed that Asian Americans are one of the minority groups in the United States that is doing well economically. However, this statement too broadly categorizes all Asian subgroups. According to the official poverty rate from the U.S. Census in 2011, the Asian American poverty rate was actually 2.5% higher than that of Caucasians.

In fact, amongst poor Asian Americans, Southeast Asians face some of the highest poverty rates in the whole country. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles conducted a study on income sources, home foreclosures and housing burden. The study indicated that Southeast Asians in the United States have consistently relied on food stamps for many decades. Moreover, language barriers are still major roadblocks that prevent Southeast Asian Americans from entering new labor markets.

The poverty rate for Asian Americans is highest amongst Hmong, Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese. Hmong Americans have a startlingly high poverty rate at 37.8%, followed closely by Cambodian Americans at 29.3% and Laotian Americans at 18.5%.

According to a study by UCLA scholars on Asian Americans in eight different states, 23% of Hmong Americans in Fresno, California relied on cash public assistance for income. This is comparably higher than the 10% of Asian Americans that also did so. It is also significantly higher than the 3% of Caucasians who used public cash assistance. Hmong Americans were also amongst the least likely to receive social security benefits or retirement income.

Additionally, Southeast Asians have especially high rates of depression and suffer higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder compared to the rest of the general Asian American population. These facts definitely counter the model minority stereotype that all Asian Americans belong to one monolithic group.

A study on social trends by Pew Research has found that with a population exceeding 18.2 million – or 6% of the U.S. population – Asian Americans have become one of the fastest growing minority groups in the U.S. Moreover, Asian Americans have become the nation’s best-educated and highest-paid racial or ethnic group. Yet these findings run the risk of perpetuating the stereotype of Asians as high achieving.

Additionally, such facts tend to hide the growing poverty amongst Southeast Asian Americans.

The National Council of Asian Pacific Americans has stated that the media has narrowed in on “one-dimensional narratives of exceptionalism,” of successful Asian American families, usually eastern Asians such as Chinese or Japanese.

Due to popular perception of Asian Americans in general, poverty amongst sub-groups is not well known. Thus in order to truly fight poverty in the United States a more inclusive examination of poverty trends is vital.

– Grace Zhao

Sources: LA Times, Diverse Education, White House, National Alliance in Mental Illness
Photo: Asia Foundation