Vientiane, 11 August 2022- On Wednesday and Thursday, key officials from the Lao Women’s Union (LWU) and the National Commission for the Advancement of Women, Mother-Child (NCAWMC) began preparations for this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (16DOA) Campaign.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a serious violation of the most basic human rights and fundamental freedoms and the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (16DOA) is a global campaign that calls for its elimination, running from 25 November on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women until 10 December, Human Rights Day. The 16DOA campaign aims to highlight the need for more action from all sectors to end violence against women, including by raising awareness of GBV on traditional and social media.

“The 16 Days of Activism campaign is very important for the Lao Women’s Union to bring awareness to society on the harms of violence against women and learn together about how to mitigate this”, said Ms. Sisavanh Detvongsone, Deputy Director General of the Department of Planning and International Cooperation.

In the months leading up to the preparation workshop, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) supported key from LWU and NCAWMC on gender-responsive communications, conducting audience research and analyses, and the process of developing a communications strategy. Last month, a communications strategy was drafted with the same officials which formed the foundation for this 16DOA preparation workshop. “The 16 Days of Activism gives us an important opportunity to join a global movement in call for the end to violence against women”, added Mr. Seán O’Connell, Head of Governance, UNDP Lao PDR. “The LWU will play an important role, together with other national and international partners, in bring this global call to end GBV to the ground here in Laos, and we as UNDP are delighted to be able to support them in developing new communications approaches to achieve this goal.”

During this workshop, the participants used a strategic planning framework  to develop the communication campaign. Next steps will be to use the plan to coordinate with partners, pre-test concepts and key messages, develop materials, and finally, launch the 16DOA Campaign from 25 November to 10 December 2022.

The Khan Hom Project, funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), aims to eliminate violence against women in Lao PDR. UNDP is supporting the LWU to improve communications and community outreach techniques to go beyond awareness raising to create real social and behaviour change to empower survivors to speak up against violence and for communities to stand with survivors.

To learn more please contact:

Ms. Sinsavanh Sonepaseuth

Communications and outreach officer, Governance Unit, UNDP Lao PDR

Lane Xang Avenue, P.O. Box 345, Vientiane, Lao PDR

Email: sinsavanh.sonepaseuth@undp.org

Contact number: +85620 9729 8848