On the occasion of the International Women's Day, marked last 8th of March, the Lao Journalists Association (LJA) with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) conducted a 1-day sensitization workshop on Violence against women for Lao Journalists.

"We believe that the media has a key role to play to stop, prevent and inform sensitively about Violence against women issues. Only a gender-sensitive media will be able to responsibly cover and report on these cases" said Rizvina De Alwis, UNFPA Deputy Representative on behalf of the UN.

The activity, held in Vientiane, aimed to strengthen the capacity of Lao journalists to sensitively cover violence against women cases and issues. The training was facilitated by Ms. Vannaphone Sithirath, a Lao Journalist herself with extensive experience in national and international media as well as in media capacity building activities.

The workshop saw the attendance of 30 journalists from the main media houses in Vientiane.

This year's theme for International Women's Day was "A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women". It also coincided with the meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women focused on addressing Violence against Women held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Media Contact:
UNFPA: Diego De La Rosa. drosa@unfpa.org / +856-21-315547 ext.116