Empowering disabled women in Laos by engaging them in cookstove production

On Monday 28th November, the Lao Disabled Women Development Centre (LDWDC) opened the doors to its first training series under the project `Improving the lives of disabled people in the Hadxayfong district`.

The project is supported by Catholic Relief Services. LDWDC joined the EU funded Improved Cookstove Programme in 2015, under the Asian Development Bank's 'Harnessing Climate Change Mitigation Initiatives to Benefit Women' and since then has become one of the improved cookstove producers. To date, the LDWDC has produced over 1,100 improved cookstoves.

Over 50 participants attended the overall event, with 25 taking part in the improved cookstove production course.

Mr Sisavath Khompon, the Deputy from the Policy, Disability and Elderly Department under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, opened the training session together with Mrs Chanpheng Sivila Director of LDWDC and Mr Bernie Chaves, Country Director of CRS.

Technical cookstoves advisors from the Association of Rural Mobilisation and Improvement (ARMI) and SNV Energy supported the content of the training.

The aim of the training is to provide disabled people from the Hadxayfong district with the skills on how to produce improved cookstoves: from sourcing and selecting raw materials to production techniques as well as technical know-how on meeting quality standards.

The purpose of the project is to transfer knowledge and skills from LDWDC to other disabled women so that they can actively participate in the workforce and become independent income earners, able to support themselves and their families.