Remarks at Women Parliamentarians of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (WAIPA)

Hon. Thoummaly Vongphachanh, Chairperson of the Social and Cultural Affairs Committee, Chairperson of WAIPA 

Distinguished guests, Members of Parliament, National Assembly Deputies 

AIPA Secretariat, UN-Women colleagues, 

Ladies and gentlemen: 

Thank you to all participants for your presence here. My special appreciation goes to the Lao PDR National Assembly for hosting us today. 

I can see this has been a full day of engagement and exchange on women’s leadership and political participation; economic empowerment of women for development and growth; and networking of female leaders across countries and generations. 

This is an important early event marking the Lao Chairpersonship of ASEAN this year. Incidentally, this is one of the alternatives – a more gender-sensitive one – to the term ‘chairmanship’ that we hear so often.  

I thank the Women Parliamentarians of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (WAIPA) for taking the important initiative of advancing women’s leadership and political participation in the region. 

This is very timely as in 2024 the Asia-Pacific region will review the progress made on gender equality and empowerment of women and girls as part of the 30th Anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (1995). Without exaggeration, this is the most visionary agenda for empowering women and girls everywhere. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

2024 also marks the midpoint of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

In a world confronted with multiple crises, strong multilateral institutions and collaboration of Member States based on equity, solidarity and universality are crucial. UN Secretary-General outlined ‘Our Common Agenda’, calling for inclusive and effective multilateralism to get the world back on track to achieve the SDGs. ‘Placing women and girls at the center’ is one of the 12 key proposals in ‘Our Common Agenda’ – and an essential precondition for achieving the Global Goals. 

These principles are at the heart multilateral institutions such as United Nations and ASEAN, too. That is why the ASEAN-UN Comprehensive Partnership is more important now than ever. 

Lao PDR will be hosting the upcoming ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit later this year. The Chair’s priority focusing on women’s leadership is crucial, and I am pleased to acknowledge UN Women’s technical expertise spearheading broader UN engagement to support the Lao Chairpersonship of ASEAN. The UN System speaks with one voice on this vital matter – women’s leadership and empowerment are key to peaceful and prosperous societies, and to the achievement of SDGs in each country and globally. 

These are humanity’s shared aspirations that translate into an actionable agenda for ASEAN and its Member States in fulfilling the ASEAN Community Vision and, indeed, the Agenda 2030. 

Dear friends, 

Allow me to share some brief reflections on Lao PDR’s progress in advancing women’s political participation and leadership: 

• Lao PDR has the fourth highest representation of women in national parliaments in the ASEAN region. 

• 36 women (22%) in the National Assembly and 150 women (30%) in the Provincial Peoples Assemblies. 

• The Secretary-General of the National Assembly is a woman, highlighting women's leadership at the highest level of government.

This progress can be – and should be – enhanced and taken to all levels, including at the village, district and provincial levels, where women are underrepresented. There’s also some work to be done to increase representation of women from non-Lao-Tai groups at the national level. 

The focus of your discussions today are important for Laos and for all countries of the region. In that regard, I would like to recognize WAIPA’s initiative to develop the Action Plan to advance women’s leadership and political participation. I hope that it will lay a concrete foundation for necessary action both at the regional and country levels. 

I know your discussions will continue tomorrow in WAIPA 2.0 Workshop. I wish all participants fruitful deliberations and a great time networking with one another, because learning from each other is a shortcut to achieving change for the women and men in all our countries. 

Thank you!