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Phak is an 11-year-old girl studying in year 5 at the Primary School located in Hongsa District, Xayabouri Province, Laos.  Phak is the eldest of two children, and her younger sister who is 8 years old is disabled and does not attend school. Phak lives about 2km from her school near her family’s field crops and walks to school alone every morning.  Her routine is to wake up at 6 am and to arrive at school by around 7:30 am.

World Teachers' Day, celebrated each year in October, was established by UNESCO in 1994 to recognize the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development. The Lao PDR is no different, and celebrations are held to honour teachers in schools and universities for their contribution in a specific subject or towards the community in general.

Today, International Day for DRR, is a day to celebrate how people and communities are reducing their risk to disasters and raising awareness about the importance of DRR. The theme this year is older people and disasters.

‘All children can read by the time they leave primary school and all children caught up in humanitarian crises have access to quality education.’

More than 70 education experts from across the Asia Pacific met the week of 26 -30 May 2014, in Vientiane, to ensure the learning needs of children and young people in this region are met. The meeting is organised by the international child rights organisation, Save the Children and was opened by Mr Lytou Bouapao, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education and Sports.