1.5 Million Kip Essay Writing Contest for Lao Students: Why is Data Collection Essential for Development?

28 August 2010
1.5 Million Kip Essay Writing Contest for Lao Students: Why is Data Collection Essential for Development?
Deadline: 3 September 2010
Eligibility: open to Laos residents
Reading Fee: none
Accepts (genre): essays
Prize/Payment: 1.5 million kip for first prize, etc.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and the Lao government have launched an essay writing competition for youngsters in Vientiane, seeking to involve them in data collection for development initiatives.

The competition aims to raise awareness about the importance of data collection, analysis and use for development within the framework of World Population Day 2010.

The contest, entitled “Why is Data Collection Essential for Development?,” is open to Lao upper secondary and university or college students all over the country.

The purpose of the contest is to stimulate critical thinking and reflection about social issues and development amongst young people in Laos.

The competition is also an occasion to draw the attention of future generations to population issues and trends, as the country prepares itself for a national census in 2015.

World Population Day 2010 highlights the importance of data for development. Good demographic data is critical for planning schools, health systems and public transportation, for designing policies based on future population projections, for monitoring the effectiveness of government service delivery and much more.

Winning essays will be awarded 1.5 million kip, 1 million kip and 700,000 kip for first, second and third places, respectively. Some winners will be invited to present their essay at the 2nd Population Forum to be held in the last quarter of 2010.

The contest has two categories – upper secondary students and university or college students. Essays must be typed in the Lao language, be single spaced and not exceed 5 pages of standard text in the ‘Saysettha Lao’ font size 11. Pages must be numbered.

Quotes and references must be clearly marked throughout the essay and properly cited.

In a separate sheet or document, each participant should indicate their name, address, telephone numbers, email (if available), education institution, and essay title. Essays without this information will be disqualified.

Entries will be accepted from July 21 through September 3, 2010. The jury selection will be made from September 3 to 20 and winners announced on September 22.

All submissions will be blind reviewed by a group of experts from the Ministry of Education and National University of Laos.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment and the UNPF are supporting the essay contest.

Submissions can only be made by fax – (021) 353051 or 216274 – or by email – laos.office@unfpa.org or un.system.division@gmail.com

More information here.
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