PIASVC Annual Symposium 2025

On January 15, 2025, The Public Information and Awareness Services for Vulnerable Communities in Lao PDR Project (PIASVC) held its first annual symposium. The Symposium was honored to chaired by Dr. Leevameng Leebouapao, Deputy Director General of the Department of Land, Mr. Jesper Elias Lauridsen, Country Director of Helvetas Laos, and Mr. Markus Olavi Kukkonen, Land Specialist and PIASVC Project Team Leader at the World Bank. A total of 72 participants attended, representing central and local government agencies, international organizations, civil society organizations, and others.

The Symposium aimed to discuss several key issues, including: presenting the project’s implementation results and the various training tools that have been developed (some tools are in ethnic minority languages for easier grassroots communication). Additionally, the Symposium provided a platform for participants at all levels to share their experiences, successes, and challenges encountered during the project implementation. This included recommendations for improving coordination at each level, disseminating land law knowledge to enable people to understand their rights and obligations under the developed materials that receiving endorsement from the Department of Land. The results included lessons learned on methods and techniques for project implementation to achieve the project's goal of ensuring that ethnic people understand their rights and obligations regarding land matters under the law.

One participant commented, "The PIASVC project is one of the best projects I have ever been involved in. Despite long-standing conflicts over land issues, this project will be a tool to help people at the grassroots level achieve unity and reduce conflict, which is a very admirable process for me.

You can see project's materials in the link below: