Lao PDR launches Project Sinxay: UPSHIFT
UNICEF Lao PDR is partnering with the Lao Youth Union and XMT to launch UPSHIFT in Lao PDR promoting youth-led social innovation and entrepreneurship in tackling community challenges, particularly environmental degradation and climate change.
The Lao Youth Union in collaboration with UNICEF and XMT launched an exciting new initiative - Project Sinxay: UPSHIFT – in Luang Prabang province. Over 50 bright young minds from across the province gathered and learned how to turn ideas into action when it comes to addressing community challenges, especially around the environment and climate change, using the power of social innovation and entrepreneurship.
The project’s launch makes Lao PDR the 56th country to join UPSHIFT, which is a globally recognised initiative, and with the country’s massive youth demographic, the potential for youth-led innovation is boundless.
UPSHIFT-ing Ideas into Action
Project Sinxay: UPSHIFT is all about providing Lao youth with the skills, knowledge, and resources to find innovative solutions to community challenges.
Under the project a series of four-day boot camps is being organised in three provinces, with the first being kicked off in Luang Prabang province in December 2024.
Young people gained critical thinking and problem-solving skills to examine community issues, knowledge on how to develop their solutions to said issues into a full-fledged project and how to pitch their project to potential donors. After these bootcamps, young people will also receive the opportunity to earn funding and mentorship support to refine and bring their ideas to life.
Project Sinxay: UPSHIFT’s launch in Luang Prabang province was attended by H.E. Mr. Thongly Sisoulith, Deputy Secretary General, Central Committee of the Lao Youth Union, alongside Mr. Simon Nazer, Chief of Communication and Advocacy, UNICEF Lao PDR, underscoring a joint commitment to promoting youth-led social innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
“We at UNICEF, strongly believe that youth don’t just benefit from change - they are also the ones who can help solve some of our most pressing issues,” said Mr. Simon Nazer. “Indeed, UNICEF’s own Global Strategic Plan and Lao PDR’s Adolescent and Youth Development Strategy both recognize the central role youth play as problem-solvers and innovators,” he added.
More bootcamps are being planned for early 2025 in Vientiane Capital and Savannakhet province.
The Need for a New Generation of Innovators
UPSHIFT is already active in over 50 countries, reaching more than 4.1 million young people worldwide. With such strong global foundations, the programme has demonstrated its capacity to inspire positive change on a massive scale.
UPSHIFT’s arrival in Lao PDR marks an exciting milestone for young people who wish to lead and build solutions to challenges affecting their communities. And those challenges are urgent and complex—none more so than environmental degradation and climate change.
The stakes are high for Lao PDR. Issues like waste management as well as more frequent and intense natural disasters, worsened by climate change, continues to threaten the health and well-being of communities. For many of young Lao people, these concerns are personal, having witnessed first-hand their families and friends being affected.
In the coming months, as more young people participate in the Project Sinxay: UPSHIFT, the initiative will continue to inspire a new generation of innovators and leaders in Lao PDR - young leaders who will play an instrumental role in ensuring a brighter and more sustainable future for the nation.
