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Tuesday, November 18, 2025
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Laos Marks World Population Day with Focus on Youth, Reproductive Rights

This Week

UNFPA – On 9 September in Vientiane, the Lao Government and UNFPA came together to mark World Population Day with a high-level event themed “Empowering young people to create the family they want.”

The event highlighted the critical role youth empowerment plays in national development, by ensuring every young person has the rights, choices, and opportunities they need to shape their future.

It also marked the national launch of UNFPA’s State of World Population (SWOP) 2025 report, “The Real Fertility Crisis.” The report shifts the conversation away from fertility rates and toward reproductive agency, the right to freely decide if and when to have children.

The report argues that today’s real challenge isn’t over- or under-population, but a crisis of choice. Economic stress, limited access to services, and social pressures are stopping millions from forming the families they want.

It calls for greater investment in sexual and reproductive health services, gender equality, comprehensive sexuality education, and social protection, so people can make informed, pressure-free decisions.

The message hits home in Laos, where adolescent birth rates remain among the highest in ASEAN: 89 births per 1,000 girls aged 15–19, and 1 in 5 girls becomes a mother before adulthood. 

Recent LSIS III data also shows just 17.6 percent of women have full autonomy over their reproductive health decisions.

Addressing the gathering Soulivath, Deputy Minister of Finance, reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to youth as the engine of inclusive growth:

“Our priority is to ensure they grow up healthy, educated and skilled with the freedom to make decisions about their bodies and their lives. Investing in sexual and reproductive health, education, decent work and social protection is not a cost; it is a high-return investment in productivity and resilience for Laos.”

He emphasized the role of high-quality data, including the upcoming 2025 Population and Housing Census, in guiding budget allocations and policy choices that enable rights and unlock the demographic dividend.

Bakhtiyor Kadyrov, UNFPA Representative, called for an all-of-society approach that marries services with opportunity:

“The real fertility crisis is not about numbers, it is a crisis of choice, of reproductive freedom and independence. When young people have access to comprehensive sexuality education, quality health services, and real economic opportunities, they can plan their lives,”

“Our task, together, is to remove the barriers, to expand youth-friendly services, close equity gaps, and make sure that jobs and housing keep pace with the cost of living. This is how we honour rights, and how we strengthen Laos’ human capital,” Kadyrov added. 

Participants outlined key steps to turn commitments into real progress for adolescents and youth. These include scaling up comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), both in and out of school, based on global standards but tailored to local realities.

They also called for expanding adolescent- and youth-friendly services (AYFS), especially in underserved and rural areas, with a focus on access to contraception and accurate information.

In addition, speakers stressed the importance of investing in girls’ education, life skills, and building public-private partnerships to create pathways for apprenticeships and decent work.

Finally, they urged the use of data from LSIS III and the upcoming 2025 Census to better target resources where they’re needed most, and to track progress in advancing young people’s rights and choices. 

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