Participants were divided into five groups for focused theme discussion:
Group 1 - Agriculture and rural development
Group 2 - Education and training
Group 3 - Youth employment
Group 4 - Support services
Group 5 - HIV/AIDS and drug abuse
Group 1 discussed the challenges youth face in rural areas and practical solutions. In addition, they talked of: i) agricultural options that the youth consider appropriate for their involvement in agriculture, ii) obstacles youth face in involving themselves in agriculture and agricultural careers and iii) possible solutions.
The youth found the following options appropriate for their involvement in agriculture:
Crop cultivation
Animal breeding (cattle, poultry, goats)
Fisheries.
The following challenges were highlighted:
Strong beliefs in traditions and customs that are often in conflict with development and change concerns/strategies;
Low education levels and lack of relevant information;
A limited health care network and generally of low quality;
Limited permanent job opportunities;
Limited financial support available for rural youth; and
Youth leaders in rural areas generally have low management capacity.
Practical solutions:
Enhance young people’s education levels by providing them with information on education and emphasizing its importance;
Expand the networks of health care, education and information providers in rural areas;
Expand and improve the numbers and quality of vocational training centres available in rural areas; and
Seek assistance and support, both financial and technical, from the Government, UN agencies and donors.
Group 2 discussed specific areas needing improvement, areas in which rural youth need training and possible service providers for them.
Areas needing improvement include:
Schools should be functional, teachers should be graduates of pedagogical schools and all curricula should be approved by the Ministry of Education;
Extension of formal and non-formal education systems to cover the needs of young people in rural areas;
Skills development in crop cultivation, livestock raising, handicraft, tailoring and sports; and
Employment generation. Encourage youth to get involved in farm or industrial production.
Subjects in which rural youth need further training:
Crop production
Animal breeding and production
Handicrafts
Tourism.
Potential service providers:
Government
UN agencies
Private companies, investors and international non-government organizations (INGOs) operating in Lao PDR.
Group 3 discussed the following issues: i) opportunities available for youth in rural areas for employment, ii) what is required to enable youth to make use of such employment opportunities and iii) how youth can organize to enable them to make use of such employment opportunities.
Opportunities:
Crop and animal production, as there is sufficient land available;
Development of handicrafts for sale; and
The situation in general is favourable because many development projects and programmes are being implemented currently.
Requirements to enable youth to make use of employment opportunities:
Availability of micro credit facilities;
Enhanced infrastructure development in rural areas; and
Enhanced marketing systems and availability of markets.
How to organize youth to enable the use of employment opportunities:
Develop specialized groups with members who have a similar background in terms of skills;
Develop various activity clubs;
Set up group production;
Create a youth development fund; and
Develop independent production and creation of market connections.
Group 4 discussed i) support services that are considered critical for the successful operation of rural-based youth and youth organizations, ii) the identification of support services providers and iii) specific recommendations that can be made for the improvement of support services targeting rural youth.
Critical issues for the successful operation of rural-based youth and youth organizations:
Development of human resources in the agriculture sector;
Provision of sufficient financial support;
Improved availability of appropriate technologies;
Improved infrastructure (e.g. roads) in rural areas;
Enhance and improve coordination of development efforts and support offered by different government and UN agencies, INGOs, etc.;
Secure new markets opportunities;
Provide unemployed youth with relevant skills training; and
Monitor and evaluate the implementation of annual plans of the Government.
Providers:
Government
UN agencies.
Recommendations:
Different sectors should coordinate their efforts to provide information and enhance the knowledge levels of youth; and
Vocational skills of unemployed youth should be enhanced.
Group 5 discussed i) the causes of the problems rural youth face, ii) how currently available efforts and programmes targeting rural youth can be more successful and iii) what youth could do at local level to prevent and eradicate these problems.
Causes of the problems:
Youth are curious and want to try new things
Family-related problems
Poverty
Often youth are persuaded into negative behaviours and actions by friends via peer pressure
Involvement of youth in sexual relations without proper prevention measures.
How could currently available efforts and programmes targeting rural youth be more successful?
Improve the management and skill capabilities of provincial, district and village level officials;
Enhance youth participation in youth-related projects; and
Develop and disseminate clear and practical information.
How to prevent and eradicate the problems youth face:
Further educate young people about the negative effects of HIV/AIDS and drug abuse;
Enhance coordination between the youth and officials to identify successful products and markets;
Raise general awareness about youth and child-related issues;
Provide leisure time activities to make youth avoid drugs;
Create sustainable employment opportunities by cooperating with sectors in concern; and
Set up consultative groups that provide youth with knowledge of negative effects of drug abuse.
On the basis of the group discussions and presentations, the following priority recommendations were made by the workshop participants:
1. To develop and implement projects on crop, animal and fish production and marketing, targeting rural youth;
2. To establish microcredit funds offering low interest rates that target rural youth;
3. To expand the services of vocational training centres and youth vocational centres to address the needs and aspirations of rural youth, especially those living in remote areas;
4. To develop projects for rural youth on handicrafts, weaving skills and marketing; and
5. To establish and expand the services of information centres located in rural areas (including CLCs) to address the needs of rural youth.
