Reporting ethnic groups

The Government of Laos is always keen to highlight the multi-ethnic makeup of the country. In its current form the Lao People’s Democratic Republic is a relatively new nation, officially founded in 1975. The Lao press plays its role in highlighting the countries national identity and frequently runs articles covering ethnic people. Most press stories refer to the Laos population as the multi-ethnic people. 

Recently there seems to have been a slight lull but two articles caught my attention on Wednesday 29th December. The Vientiane Times ran a story on the importance of improving education amongst ethnic groups. On the same day KPL News covered the Khmu ethnic group New Year celebrations.
 

Education is one of the key development challenges in the country, particularly, as the article states, amongst ethnic groups who often live in the remoter and poorer areas of Laos. One issue that many ethnic groups face is that they have their own language and culture. As a result it’s difficult for children from these groups to access mainstream education. As the Vientiane Times article states the gaps in education standards between urban and rural areas and different ethnic groups and gender are still large.
 

In keeping with the Government’s development goals of ‘growth with equity’ education standards among ethnic groups need to be improved. To do this the Ministry of Education is looking to train teachers in remote areas, often where ethnic groups live, and to include human rights in the basic curriculum. 

Laos recently added an extra year of schooling to the curriculum meaning all children will now spend 12 years at school. As the story says reaching out and ensuring that children of ethnic groups participate is vital if Laos is to achieve the targets set under the Education for All project and the MDGs by 2015. 

In the KPL News article covering the Khmu New Year, the Governor of Vientiane urged the Khmu people to, “enhance their unity and promote the spirit of self-reliance and self-strengthening and put their trust on the leadership of the Party and contribute to national defence”. It’s interesting to note that stories covering ethnic groups often seem to highlight the importance of national integration.

Internet reaching out to rural Laos

Following on from my blog post dated 8th December the role of the Internet in education is being scaled up. According to the Vientiane Times, Tuesday 21^st December, the Internet provider, Unitel, has given 500 schools and provincial and district education offices free Internet access. The push to develop ICTs in Laos is on and learning and teaching through the Internet seems to be gaining momentum.

Unitel is a joint venture between Lao Asia Telecom State Enterprise and Viettel Global of Vietnam. According to the articles in both the Vientiane Times and KPL News they have agreed to install the network and provide modems and free access to the Internet for the next five years. A second phase of the project is said to be starting shortly.

It will be interesting to look at how new technologies / new media are and can play a role in the development of Laos. I hope to find and report back with more stories / ideas next year.

National Assembly (NA) in its 10th session

The NA is currently debating new laws ahead of next year’s election. In its capacity as the overseer of the activities of the executive organs the NA holds sessions twice a year.

An interesting lead article in the Vientiane Times on Wednesday 22^nd December, gave the Prime Minster the chance to comment on the use of state funds that haven’t been sanctioned by the NA.

The article was in effect an opinion piece from the PM. He said Government departments should seek approval from the NA before implementing projects but that some new projects weren’t reported because Party politburo members are also NA leaders.

Opium poppy cultivation on the increase

Friday December 17^th - Vientiane Times (page 2) and KPL News (page 3) both cover the launch of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey on opium cultivation in Southeast Asia, which states that opium cultivation has increased by 20 percent this year.

The survey reports a rapid upward trend from the low point of 2006. Laos itself has seen an 85 percent increase in opium cultivation over the past 4-years. There are two main factors given for this rise. The rising prices of opium and poverty, with the global economic crisis said to be playing its role.

I’ve decided to include coverage of this story because it’s an issue that hasn’t featured high on the agenda in the 18-months I have been in Laos. But Laos was once one of the "Golden Triangle" of countries including Myanmar and Thailand, which were the world's major supplier of opium. Covering drug related issues in Laos is sensitive but there does seem to be increasing recognition within the media about drug related problems and associated crime.

In addition it’s interesting to see how opium growing is increasing most amongst the poorer and often more remote communities. Laos is experiencing rapid development, averaging 7.9 percent economic growth over the past 5-years. The real challenge now for the Government and development community is to ensure that there is equitable growth and that everyone benefits. This issue, ‘growth with equity’, is being talked about a lot on the ground. But if these farmers are returning to opium cultivation then it suggests there is still a lot of work to be done.

The battery of Southeast Asia?

Focus on the latest media coverage of development stories from Laos moves to energy production, more specifically hydropower, which is seen as key to the progress of the country. Both the Vientiane Times and KPL News ran the story of the official inauguration of the hydropower plant on Friday 10th December. The Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant was part financed by the World Bank (WB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

On Monday 13th December the Nam Theun 2 story led to a rare appearance for Laos on BBC World. The report looked at the resettlement of villagers and the often discussed issues of the benefits from the revenue, 95 percent of the energy will be sold to Thailand, compared to the social and environmental impact. 

ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda was quoted as saying that, “the importance of Nam Theun 2 to the Lao economy cannot be overemphasized as it will reduce the country’s dependence on international aid, improve living standards, and contribute to deeper regional integration.”

WB Managing Director, Ms Sri Mulyani Indrawati, was also in the country, “large industrial projects can contribute to socially and environmentally sustainable development, and the private and public sectors can work together to reduce poverty and support environmental protection.”

Nam Theun 2 is seen as the model hydropower plant, particularly in its efforts to reduce the environmental and social impact. It will generate massive resources, how they are spent will be a defining factor in its contribution to development.

Some money is already being filtered back into the infrastructure, health and education sectors. I spent a day filming with villagers in southern Laos who lived alongside newly built roads funded by revenue from the hydropower plant. These new roads undoubtedly made their life easier in accessing markets and health clinics. But the real longer-term benefits are to be seen.

Laos embracing media development and e-learning

I’m staying on the theme of media and development with three interesting articles in the Vientiane Times this Monday 6th and Tuesday, 7th December 2010.

‘Lao, Japanese media discuss cooperation’; ‘Laos on path to e-learning system’; and ‘PM seeks Japanese media help to boost investment’; all highlight what seems to be a recent increase in attention to embracing media development and new technologies in Laos.

According to the Vientiane Times plans are currently underway to create a cyber-university in Laos. This could be, the article states, the answer to the chronic problem of teacher shortages. In theory a great idea, but it would cater to a small portion of society. According to the latest statistics over 70% of the population still live in rural areas and the technological infrastructure would certainly not, at this point, reach those people.

The visit to Laos by the chairman of Nikkei Inc, Ryoki Sugita, one of Japan’s largest financial and business newspapers, comes as the Laos stock market prepares to start trading early next year.

The Vientiane Times reports on the meeting between Mr Sugita and the Lao Press in Foreign Languages. To improve business and financial reporting Nikkei Inc are looking into holding seminars on stock market and economic reporting in Laos.

This article was published on page 3 on Monday and seems to be a sideshow to the primary reason for his visit, to boost Japanese investment in Laos. On Tuesday’s front page Mr Sugita is meeting with the Prime Minister of Laos who according to the article is seeking support from Nikkei Inc in publicizing investment and business opportunities in Laos in the Japanese press. Japan is, as the article states, the largest donor of foreign aid to Laos but in private investment it comes in at 6th place.

There is without doubt an increasing emphasis on improving the journalistic reporting and coverage within Laos, in print, radio and television. Deutsche Welle are currently running a 2-year capacity building project with Lao National Television and the UN will start a collaboration with local journalists next year.

Versions of the above articles were also published in the English language newspaper, KPL News, the Government’s news agency.

UNDP reporting on Khoun Community Radio in northern Laos

I'm starting my blog by covering a story produced by UNDP in Laos for the UNDP Global and Laos websites. It was in fact covered by myself in Xieng Khouang Province, northern Laos, but that's not the only reason I'm starting my blog with this short article.

What I find particularly interesting about the Khoun Community Radio for Development is that it not only covers development issues but it's also an example of media development in an environment that doesn't always lend itself to these kinds of projects. This is the first community run station in Laos.

The Radio station is a great example of the simple power of information. Whilst in Khoun district I heard stories of how the radio has helped improve agricultural production, health and education. I believe Khoun Radio is particularly successful because the programming is developed, recorded and edited by village volunteers. People trust what they hear. Like any good media outlet the radio station does not preach messages. Fundamentally the listeners must enjoy what they are listening to. Khoun radio includes vital messages in their drama programming, they broadcast music and entertainment programmes, such as cooking shows.

From spending a short period of time in Khoun district covering this story and the 3-year radio anniversary celebrations it was clear that the radio volunteers are extremely passionate about being involved in the programming and that the station is popular and valuable for the community. I have worked on and covered numerous development projects and I don't always get this sense of enthusiasm and interest in projects that I got in Khoun.

Here is a link to the short article, I've also included a link in the Web Links section of this blog.

http://www.undplao.org/newsroom/KCRadio.php

In the next 2-weeks I will also be posting a link to a video feature on Khoun Radio, which I am currently editing and will be a more substantive report.

NOTE
The views and opinions expressed in this blog do not represent those of the United Nations or any organisation for whom I have worked or do work.