-WOMEN- -EMPOWER-

MENT--IN LAO PDR-

Group MemberPUNYAPAT SAKSUPAPCHON•THAILAND

TICK PENGSOMBATH•LAOS

AHMAD NASIKUN•INDONESIA

ALEX WONG KEK LIANG•MALAYSIA

CONTENTS

BACK-GROUND• Basic and

general In-formation about Laos

WOMEN PAR-TICIPATION• Socio-political

economic and Cultural Con-tent

• Agricultural• Economics• Education

EXAMPLES OF SUCCESSFUL WOMEN• Chanmala• Pani Yathotu• Alexandra

CONCLUSION

BACKGROUND INFORMATION•236,800 km2 (83rd) 91,429 sq mi Land area•Vientiane, (2005 pop. 695,473)capital•rainy season (May to Oct); •dry season (Nov to Apr)Climate Tropical•18 Provinces (17 provinces, Vientiane Capital), •141 Districts, •10,552 Villages (2005)

Administrative subdivision

•6,521,998 (106th)•(50.2% female)Population (2007)•Aged 15 and above : 61% Female, 77% Male,•Aged 15 – 24 years : 75% Female, 83% Male (2004)Literacy Rate•57 years for women, •54 years for men (2004)Life expectancy•4.6/woman•(2004)Fertility rate

•$5.2 billionGDP (2008)•$765Per capita income (2008)

PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY

place women's empowerment at the centre of national develop-ment plans

• ensuring that women and girls enjoy a set of basic human capabilities• education, health, and nutrition

• have equal opportunities to use or apply their basic capabilities, • including in non-agricultural wage employment and political repre-

sentation• have reduced vulnerability to violence and abuse.

POLITICSPrevail-ing cultural values tend to disadvantage women in terms of their participation in poli-tics and decision-making processes.

The 1991 Constitution of Lao PDR – the highest law in the country – guarantees equal rights for women and men (Article 22 and 24). It states that ‘Lao citizens of both sexes shall enjoy equal rights in political, economic, cultural, social and family affairs.’

GENDER AND AGRICULTUREAgriculture employs about 80 percent of the total workforce of 2.4 million people, with women making up more than half of workers at 54 percent. Unfortunately, due to the low level of gender awareness in society their role is often neither visible nor valued.

Lao women play a critical role in agriculture and the use of natural re-sources, and are primarily responsible for maintaining their families’ food security.

Men are described as the heads of the households representing their families at all of-ficial meetings to discuss village development activities. Because many women – es-pecially in ethnic minority villages – are illiterate, they are unable to adequately partic-ipate in village development activities.

Men and women spend similar amounts of time on agricultural work, but men spend more hours on income generating activities (including agricultural work).

In Lao PDR access to roads and other infrastructure is closely related to geographic location, with the greatest access being in urban areas.

ECONOMIC PARTICIPA-TION

Lao women’s eco-nomic participation is one of the high-est in the region.

women are involved in informal small-scale in-come earning activities and handicrafts produc-tion to supplement their

family incomes.

The informal sector ab-sorbs the great majority of Lao women, who tend to own small businesses

mainly in retail and tex-tiles.

The Lack of education and limited economic opportu-

nities and access to re-sources pushes women into the informal sector and small-scale enterprises.

Women have limited mobility, and tradi-

tional customs do not allow women to work far from the village.

Women entrepreneurs face difficulties dealing with

cumbersome registration procedures, in part due to their low level of education

and limited time.

More women than men work in the formal sector, although women tend to be found in low-skilled jobs, rarely in manage-

ment positions.

EDUCATION

Elimination of gender disparity in education in Lao PDR has made slow progress

• The number of girls per 100 boys in• primary education 77 in 1991 to 86 percent in 2006• lower secondary 66 to 78 percent• upper secondary 56 to 74 percent, and • Tertiary 49 to 62 percent

In 1995-2005, the share of women in wage employment in-creased less than 1 percentage point per year

EDUCATIONAlthough Lao PDR has made quantitative and qualitative progress in education over the past several decades,

education indicators remain among the lowest in East

Asia.

There are stark disparities between urban and rural ar-eas, boys and girls, rich and poor. Within urban areas, the gender gap in education has

practically closed.

Meanwhile, rural areas record some of the lowest educational indicators in the country, and the gen-

der gap continues to widen.

The most disadvantaged and cut off from services are those living

in remote villages, many of whom are ethnic groups. Indeed, a significant proportion of chil-

dren – especially girls and ethnic groups in remote areas – are out

of school.

There are more illiterate Lao women than men. Causes of female illiteracy vary across provinces and among the different ethnic groups, but poverty, distance, costs, and traditional be-liefs tend to be the main factors.

Other factors include the burden of household chores, early marriage or

pregnancy.

About 35 percent of students enroll in secondary education but only about 5 percent com-plete the full six years. Voca-

tional training opportunities are limited, and less that 5 percent of Lao children go to university.

One example: Chanmala She is studying ICT in Korea for 1 year.

The percentage of man : woman is 50:50 (1 boy, 1

girl)

LAO WOMEN’S UNION(LWU)

founded in 1955

• the Party’s and government’s policies, • the Constitution, • and laws related to ensuring equal rights between women and men

to “protect women’s rights and interests.”

The LWU promotes and monitors the implementation of women devel-opment programs in compliance:”

The LWU has since 1997 been playing a prominent role in advocating for gender equality and women’s empowerment through the Gender Re-source Information and Development Centre (GRID)

SUCCESSFUL WOMEN FIGURES

The President of Dao Heuang Coffee

Mrs. Leuang Litdang

- Founder of the Dao Heuang Coffee company. - She is like the other women in Lao born in a normal.- She is illiterate because she do not get the chance to go school due to poverty.- Her business had expended to world wide.- Yearly profits hits more than US$3 millions.

Dao Heuang is proud of its position as a local Lao firm that is competing in the international market. Mrs Leuang firmly believes the quality of Lao products is more important than the quantity, and that Lao Coffee has a place in the global market.

Ms. Pani Yathotu

Highest ranking of post for Lao women involve in politic

She is one of the Lao Revolution and also National Organization Leader

And Contributes in developing Country in terms of Promotion of Lao women

Lao National Assembly’sVice President

In charge of Laos University Faculty of Sci-ence and department of Computer Science

She got her degree from Australia and con-tinued her Master Degree and PhD in French in 70’s.

She always promotes gender equality and encourages students to get proper edu-cation.

Help students get scholarship in getting higher education locally and abroad.

Head of Computer Science

Conclusion

• Lao PDR has made some progress toward achieving the MDGs #3

• Gender equality has increased in a lot of fields– 23% of Laos parliament members are women;

highest in ASEAN– 54% of Agricultural workers are women; they

spend similar time with men for work– Women dominated the small-scaled and handi-

craft industry in Laos– Girls : boys in school is around 4:5 in comparison