Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – The Lao Women's Union (LWU) and the Asia Foundation (TAF) recently reaffirmed their long-term partnership and officially launched a key project aimed at strengthening women's leadership in peace and security at the community and regional levels. The two parties signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the details of the cooperation. The project is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The signing ceremony was held in Vientiane on January 13th, co-chaired by Ms. Panchinda Lunsawad, Vice President of the Lao Women's Union; Ms. Laurel Miller, President and CEO of the Asia Foundation; and Ms. Elizabeth T. Te, Philippine Ambassador to Laos. Representatives from central and local government agencies, officials from women's federations in the eight target regions, government officials from Bokeo and Savannakhet provinces, and staff from the Asia Foundation gathered to witness the project's launch.
The newly launched project, "Strengthening the Role of the Lao Women's Union in the ASEAN Regional Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security (WPS)," aims to enhance the Lao Women's Union's role in implementing the WPS, focusing on strengthening its coordination and collaboration with relevant departments at all levels to promote social cohesion, community security, and peaceful conflict resolution.
The project will use 80 villages in eight districts of Bokeo and Savannakhet provinces as demonstration areas, focusing on improving the capacity of local women's federation representatives and promoting women's leadership role in community conflict prevention and resolution. Simultaneously, the project will strengthen cooperation with village-level conflict resolution committees, village-level security units, disaster management committees, and relevant departments to conduct peace and security-related research, accumulate relevant knowledge, and support consultations at the regional and ASEAN levels, promoting progress reviews and policy coordination in the implementation of the women's, peace and security agenda.
Building on the existing strong cooperation between the Lao Women's Union and the Asia Foundation, this project will directly contribute to the implementation of Laos's 2026-2030 Women's Development Plan, with a particular focus on multi-sectoral cooperation in community security and conflict resolution. Furthermore, this project is an important component of the Asia Foundation's five-year regional project, "Expanding Women, Peace and Security" (AMPLIFY).
AMPLIFY is funded by the New Zealand government and jointly promoted by the Asia Foundation and women's organizations and civil society groups in Southeast Asian countries. Its core objective is to address the gender impacts of conflict and threats to human security by promoting women's active participation in peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
