Previous PageTable of ContentsNext Page

4. Village context in two provinces

This section highlights the situation in Phongsaly and Vientiane provinces and provides an overview of the national policies and the institutional context in relation to rural communities and the circumstances under which rural youth live.

Phongsaly province is located in the remote northern mountainous region. Many villages there are located in areas without access to roads or health care services and education facilities. Phongsaly province is also one of the poorest in Lao PDR, with three out of seven districts classified as poor. It endures rice-supply deficiencies for some six to eight months annually. It has a population of approximately 179 600, with a population density of 11 persons/km2. The main ethnic groups found there are Khmou, Akha and Phunoy (Directory of NGOs, 2005; USG, 2005; ADB, 2001).

Vientiane province, on the other hand, is located northwest of Vientiane municipality and has a population of approximately 336 800 people and a population density of 21 persons/km2. The three main ethnic groups located there are Lao Loum, Neua-Phouan and Khmou. None of the districts are classified as poor; however, people are indeed poor and suffer from a rice deficiency up to six months annually (ADB, 2001; Directory of NGOs, 2005). See Annexes 1 and 2 for detailed maps of the villages studied.

The situation of rural youth in selected villages

The seven villages studied for this research are all rural villages with main livelihood activities in rice cultivation, crop production, raising animals and collecting NTFPs. The majority of the households are categorized as food sufficient, which is based on the months of rice sufficiency supply during a year, the number of heads of livestock and/or income from other livelihood activities. One village, Ban Phonetong in Vientiane province, is categorized as poor, with 35 families being rice deficient for five to six months per year, while two villages in Phongsaly province are categorized as rich (see Annex 3 for details).

Rural youth in the studied areas are concerned about the lack of employment opportunities and unemployment after graduation, parents' lack of support for education, lack of funds to start activities and having limited market access (see Annexes 4-9 for detailed findings from the villages studied).

More specifically, the situation of rural youth is that they currently face high unemployment. In Phonhon district, Vientiane province, youth unemployment has reached 50 percent (this partly reflects youth perceptions that their working in the rice fields along with their parents and families is not "employment"). Youth have limited education (most have only completed grades 1 or 2) and work only in rice fields, which they consider a factor limiting their chances and opportunities for higher education. Those who have completed secondary school cannot further their education because their parents cannot afford to support their studies and there are a limited number of vocational training centres and technical schools. Graduates of skills-training courses also expressed concern that they cannot make use of the skills learned.

Table 4.1 shows a low number of youth attending secondary school or a higher educational institution in four of the villages studied.14

Table 4.1: Village school attendance in secondary and university education

Villages

Total pop.

Village youth

In school

Out of school

Total

F

SC

NUOL

Total

F

Total

F

Total

F

Ban Phone Sa Vanh
(Vientiane province)

200

40

60%

18%

21%

0%

0%

83%

71%

Ban Phonetong
(Vientiane province)

279

50

40%

40%

30%

0%

0%

80%

50%15

Ban Houy Kha
(Phongsaly province)

450

80

38%

59%

57%

0%

0%

41%

43%

Ban Houy Dong
(Phongsaly province)

299

57

47%

60%

37%

0%

0%

40%

22%

F = females; SC = secondary school; NUOL = National University of Lao PDR

The reason for the low attendance in secondary school is partly explained by the distant location of the schools. Lower secondary schools are located 5-10 km away from the villages. If parents cannot afford dormitory and other required expenditures, youth have few options but to leave school and work in the rice fields or find employment elsewhere. In Ban Phonetong, 80 percent is not attending school because of limited financial support from their parents, which is corroborated by the fact that 31 out of 47 households in the village are categorized as poor, as shown in Annex 3. In discussions with the study's researchers, the young people also mentioned the lack of support and encouragement from their parents as an issue. Parents, according to the youth, do not see the need or importance of education. They depend upon their children's labour in the family farming operations. Table 4.1 also shows a difference between youth attending school in the two provinces. Some 59 percent of youth in Ban Houy Kha, Phongsaly province, and 60 percent of youth in Ban Houy Dong, Phongsaly province, attended secondary school at the time of the research, whereas 18 percent and 20 percent in Ban Phone Sa Vanh and Ban Phonetong, respectively, attended school.

Rural youth see their possibilities for improving the current situation difficult to overcome for various reasons: Lack of funds and poverty are major obstacles hampering development and improvement of livelihoods for rural communities. People cannot invest in new, improved seeds, and they cannot buy fertilizers and pest-control chemicals needed for improved crop production. Also, the possibility of starting a small-scale business is limited because youth do not have the capital and skills to start income-generating activities. Thus, the limited access to training and vocational schools, extension services from DAFEO and the need for human resource development are crucial challenges that require urgent attention.

Another constraint for intensifying production is the marketing of products due to poor infrastructure, markets being located far from their villages and often the quality of crops produced is low due to the lack of water and fertilizers, which then results in a low income.

The different geographical location of the villages participating in this study is reflected in the concerns about youth expressed by headmen and LYU representatives. Youth and village headmen from Vientiane province mentioned unemployment, having no possibility to pursue formal studies after high school graduation, drug addiction (especially to ATS), employment as sex workers and migration to Vientiane municipality as major issues. Youth are migrating to the Vientiane capital and will typically be working at garment factories (for young women) and construction sites (for young men). In one village in Vientiane province, as many as 20 percent of the village youth had migrated to Vientiane municipality. The concerns expressed by youth and village headmen from Phongsaly province are unemployment, no possibility to continue studying after secondary school graduation, no vocational training due to limited numbers of schools and lack of parental support for schooling.

Youth see their future needs as related to a number of areas, including food security, support and opportunities to enable them to continue their studies or train in agriculture and animal husbandry, weaving, handicrafts and tailoring. They also seek job opportunities at local levels and seek help with financial support via a village fund. They are also interested in having improved infrastructure, especially road access and support services to their villages.

Agencies and INGOs active in the two provinces of the study

Organizations/INGOs active in Phongsaly province:

The Lao Red Cross and United Nations Drug Control Programme fund and support an ethnic minority boarding school in Boun Neua district, Phongsaly province, which the NGO Church World Service implements. The school offers vocational training for 230 youth annually (ten from each district). The selection criteria for scholarships includes: having no family, coming from the poorest families, having completed primary or secondary school but cannot continue school and having no employment and/or belonging to an ethic minority living in mountainous areas. The boarding school provides training in vocational skills, such as weaving, sewing, carpentry, cooking and handicraft production, and also general education but not agriculture subjects (CWS, 2005). Also, the students participating in the research for this study mentioned the lack of agriculture skills training. Drug addiction and drug control are also issues addressed in the curriculum.

Students expect that after graduation they will continue studying at a college or university or will start a small business. However, they expressed concern that they will not have the funds to start such businesses, which will mean unemployment, thus forcing their return to their villages without the possibility of using the skills they gained from training.

UNICEF, among others, collaborates with the Phongsaly province LYU in a nationwide HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Programme with the aim of raising awareness among youth regarding the issues and use of contraception.

The European Commission (EC) funds the Phongsaly Forest Conservation and Rural Development Project in the districts of Boun Neua and Bountai. Activities include improved living conditions for villagers in buffer zones through village development activities and natural resource management (Directory of NGOs, 2005; EC, 2002).

The North Phongsaly Alternative Development Project in Boun Neua district, supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is a drug-control project with emphasis on opium eradication, opium addiction and poverty reduction through socio-economic development in 33 villages. Activities include animal raising, water supply, road construction and irrigation schemes. There also has been establishment of rice and animal banks in target villages.

The Lao-American Integrated Rural Development Projects (LAP), which is active in Boun Tay and Samphan districts of Phongsaly province, is working towards eradicating opium cultivation and addiction and providing livelihood alternatives, and targeting some of the poorest areas. The United States of America Government supports the project.

Save the Children is also involved in Boun Neua district with a project to raise awareness of the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.

Other international organizations are working in other districts of Phongsaly province with a primary focus on food security and community development. For example, the Committee for Cooperation with Laos (CCL) and the Government are currently implementing a rural development project in Phongsaly district. The project's focus relates to food security, economic development and stabilizing shifting cultivation.

The German Agro Action (GAA) is implementing the Integrated Poverty Project, supporting activities to increase food security through agricultural practices and livestock production and non-farming income-generating activities.

Quakers Service in Laos from the United States of America has two projects also being implemented in Phongsaly province: i) the Small-Scale Irrigation Programme, with the goal of increased food security, use of irrigation schemes and stabilizing shifting cultivation, and 2) the Community Development Programme, which also focuses on food security, community development through women's activities and alternative income-generating activities.

Organizations/NGOs active in Vientiane province

UNICEF is also active in Vientiane province with the nationwide HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Programme, which is carried out in Phongsaly province, as mentioned previously.

In Viengkham district, Vientiane province, ERIKSHJÄLPEN and Japan International Volunteer Centre (JVC) currently support a vocational training centre targeting ethnic minorities. The centre opened in 2002 and has eight classes with about 150 trainees per course. All trainees are from the capital town of Vientiane province. In the future it will include students from other districts. The centre offers training in English and Chinese, computers and sewing but no agriculture- or rural development-related subjects. Also in the future the centre will include courses on mobile phone and electronics repair. The school's mission is to help youth develop skills that they can use to improve their chances of finding employment.

Table 4.2 summarizes activities of the INGOs currently operating in Phonhon district, including their target areas. This summary shows how only some aspects concerning youth are explicitly addressed in only some of the projects being implemented by different organizations and INGOs in Vientiane province. Some others are more focused on community development but have no explicit attention on rural youth. There are thus many opportunities that might be explored.


Table 4.2: INGOs operating in Phonhon district, Vientiane province

INGO

Name of project

Target areas

Australian Red Cross

Lao Red Cross - capacity building for HIV/AIDS prevention and care

Health care

Handicap International Belgium

Community-based rehabilitation programme

Agriculture, forestry & fisheries; community development; data collection & analysis; education; health care; human resources development; income generation & economic development; social development

Handicap International/Action Nord Sud

Decentralized Irrigation Development and Management Project (DIDMP) - Social water management unit

Community development; human resources development

Save the Children

Awareness raising of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Social development

Wildlife Conservation Society

Biodiversity cooperation project

Education; natural resources & ecology

Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health (Burnet Institute)

Lao youth HIV/AIDS/STI response project

Data collection & analysis; health care; human resources development; social development

Working women's HIV/AIDS/ STI response project

Data collection & analysis; health care; human resources development; social development

Lao youth military and police HIV/AIDS response project

Data collection & analysis; health care; human resources development; social development

Source: Directory of NGOs, 2005

14 Due to missing data and weak data, it is only possible to show figures from four of the seven villages studied. Also, there are no data on attendance and completion of primary education by youth in the studied villages.

15 The last four young women were working outside the village and are not included in the table.

Previous PageTop of PageNext Page