VIENTIANE, 30 September 2025 – The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites Vientiane, today launched the “Sharing New Life” campaign, a groundbreaking partnership to mobilize donations from hotel guests in support of maternal and newborn health. 

Through this campaign, guests will be invited to make small, voluntary contributions when staying overnight, dining, or hosting events at the facilities of the two hotels. Every contribution collected will go directly to UNFPA initiatives that help ensure safer pregnancies, safer deliveries, and healthier beginnings for Lao mothers and their babies, particularly in remote areas.

UNFPA’s Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Mr. Pio Smith, emphasized that the partnership represents a new way of thinking about impact:

This initiative demonstrates what is possible when innovation and partnerships meet compassion. By working with Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, we are turning ordinary moments of hospitality into extraordinary acts of solidarity. Each guest’s contribution will help save lives and give mothers and their newborns the healthy start they deserve.

Echoing this spirit, Mr. Murali Viswanathan, Cluster General Manager of Crowne Plaza & Holiday Inn Vientiane, underlined the hotel group’s leadership in embedding social good into business models:

At our hotels, we believe businesses can and must be a force for good. We are proud to be the pioneers in Lao PDR to embed voluntary giving into key touch points of guest experience at both of our hotels, creating a new model where business success and community wellbeing go hand in hand. By partnering with UNFPA, we are grateful in having this opportunity to be able to meld hospitality and generosity seamlessly — proving that every guest experience can also be an opportunity to drive change and create healthier beginnings for mothers and children.

Running from 1 October to 31 December 2025, the campaign ensures full transparency: donations will appear clearly on guest bills, be reconciled monthly, and handed over to UNFPA at the end of the campaign.

The initiative is also part of a broader regional effort by IHG Hotels, where Crowne Plaza properties across Asia partner with local organizations to channel guest generosity toward meaningful causes. In Lao PDR, the partnership with UNFPA marks a first for the country, linking hospitality directly with the wellbeing of mothers and newborns.

The partnership brings together UNFPA’s mission of rights and choices for all with Crowne Plaza’s drive for innovation and community impact in Lao PDR.