Youth Champions Laos
Partnering with Lao youth to champion a better future for all.
With more than half of Lao PDR’s population comprised of young people below the age of 25, the country is brimming with vast potential. By leveraging the nation’s young bright minds and their unique voices to champion positive change in our communities, we stand to better address the most pressing issues affecting young people today, from climate change and mental health to the post-pandemic learning crisis.
Enter ‘Youth Champions Laos’, an initiative by UNICEF Lao PDR in partnership with the Lao Youth Union and supported by the UNICEF International Council and UNICEF Australia. Through this initiative, we aim to meaningfully engage with young people in Lao PDR across all walks of life: to hear from them about how such issues are impacting their lives and develop their skills to advocate and implement solutions to them alongside their communities. Through a series of youth-led advocacy trainings across Vientiane Capital, Savannakhet and Xiengkhouang, young advocates will develop the necessary leadership and advocacy skills to bring about real positive change in their communities. Following the trainings, they will also be provided with seed funding to kickstart their own advocacy projects as well.
Meet our Youth Trainers
UNICEF EAPRO/2023
UNICEF Lao PDR /2024/SSilichamphone
Mimi
Mimi is a university student from Savannakhet province. She is a member of the Savannakhet Youth Media, an initiative led by the Lao National Radio in collaboration with UNICEF Lao PDR. She co-founded “Prea Rong Rung”, a project aimed at creating handicraft products using leaves and flowers and local print techniques to address the environmental impacts of fast fashion.
UNICEF EAPRO/2023
UNICEF Lao PDR /2024/SSilichamphone
Payia
Payia is a university student from Xiengkhouang province with a passion for youth engagement. She was previously a speaker at the Lao Youth Talk where she spoke about child protection. She is also an alumna of the YSEALI Academic Fellowship 2023 and previously participated in the YSEALI Summit 2023 in Bali, ACI Youth Leadership Summit in Singapore and is serving as a delegate of the ASEAN Volunteer Batch 2 in the Philippines.
UNICEF EAPRO/2023
UNICEF Lao PDR /2024/SSilichamphone
Namwan
Namwan is a university student from Vientiane Capital. She is a passionate about teaching English to children in her neighbourhood and had previously worked on campaigns to promote reading among Lao youth. She is a volunteer with the Community Club in Vientiane Capital, a group that brings together high school and university students who regularly organizes workshops, social media campaigns, school outreach programmes.
UNICEF EAPRO/2023
UNICEF Lao PDR /2024/SSilichamphone
Ek
Ek is a university student from Vientiane Capital. He was previously Vice President of the International Relations Group at the National University of Laos where he helped host workshops on topics like gender equality. He previously worked with youth from ASEAN and Japan on the project "Take Action for Social Change 2050", creating an open environment for people with disabilities and raising awareness about the challenges they face.
The content of the trainings was adapted from UNICEF’s global Youth Advocacy Guidebook and is aimed at enhancing the leadership, communication, networking, mental health awareness and project management skills of young people.
Hear from Our Youth Participants!
Over 160 youth from diverse backgrounds took part in our trainings.
Click on the images below to see what some of our youth participants said about the different issues facing youth right now and how the trainings have benefitted them.
Youth-Led Advocacy!
A select number of youth were provided with seed-funding to bring their advocacy ideas to life and help drive positive change in their communities on a range of topics and issues, from child marriage and mental health to learning and nutrition. Click on the links below to learn more about their projects!
