At a glance: Lao People's Democratic Republic

Real lives

Mountain girls make progress in school
Phanya has been encouraged by her teachers to think big for the future. “I love going to school,” says 11-year-old Phanya. “I don’t want to get married. I want to study for many years, go to university and then work in an office – maybe become a doctor.”

Laotian youth have their say as UNICEF celebrates 30 years in Laos
Performing in front of a crowd the included high-level officials, ambassadors and heads of international organisations, young people from 14 youth associations in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) put on a show. The children spoke about the issues that concern them through songs and plays they created themselves.

Training improves on tradition in Laos
In the village of Ban Nayavai, in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Teng, now 20, left school two years ago and, as an unmarried and unemployed young woman, stayed at home to help her family.