Representatives from line ministries and UN agencies attend an event to mark World Population Day.

Laos commits to empowering youth on World Population Day

The government in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), commemorated World Population Day with a high-level event themed “Empowering young people to create the family they want”.
On September 9, the gathering spotlighted the central role of youth empowerment in national development by ensuring rights, choices, and opportunities for every young person.
The event also marked the national launch of UNFPA’s State of World Population (SWOP) 2025 report. The Real Fertility Crisis, which calls for a shift from focusing on fertility targets to advancing reproductive agency, people’s ability to make free, informed decisions about if and when to have children.
Addressing the gathering, Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Soulivath Souvannachoumkham reaffirmed the government’s commitment to youth as the engine of inclusive growth, saying “Young people are the majority of our population and the architects of our future.”
“A 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,” Mr Soulivath said.
UNFPA Representative, Dr Bakhtiyor Kadyrov, 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: finishing school, building a career, and choosing parenthood on their own terms.
The SWOP 2025 report underscores that the challenge of our time is not over- or under-population, but a crisis of choice: economic pressures, gaps in services, and social constraints prevent millions from forming the families they desire.
The report urges investment in quality sexual and reproductive health services, gender equality, comprehensive sexuality education, and policies that reduce financial precarity so women and men can exercise their reproductive intentions without pressure or coercion.
This call resonates in Laos, where adolescent birth rates remain among the highest in ASEAN, with 89 births per 1,000 girls aged 15-19, and one in five girls becoming mothers before adulthood.
The Lao Social Indicator Survey (LSIS III) data also show persistent gaps in women’s ability to make their own reproductive decisions, with low autonomy in reproductive decision-making (17.6 percent) remaining a barrier to rights and health.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update September 10, 2025)