Vientiane, Lao PDR — 22–23 October 2025
The National Assembly of the Lao PDR, in partnership with the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) and the Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia), with support from the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) and the Citizen Engagement for Good Governance, Accountability and the Rule of Law (CEGGA) programme, hosted a two-day regional workshop on Citizen Engagement and Open Parliament.
The workshop gathered more than 60 participants from the parliaments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Viet Nam, New Caledonia, and Senegal, along with civil society organisations, development partners, and Provincial People’s Assemblies (PPAs) from Laos to share good practices and practical tools for strengthening openness, accountability, and citizen participation in parliamentary governance.Strengthens Inclusive and Responsive Governance
Opening the event, Hon. Sanya Praseuth, Chair of the Lao National Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee and President of the Lao APF Section, underlined that peace, stability, and sustainable development rest on inclusive and responsive governance. He emphasised that Open Parliament principles — transparency, participation, and access to information — are essential to building public trust and ensuring that citizens’ voices inform national priorities.
The interactive sessions compared innovations promoting Open Parliament and civic engagement across the region, including:
- Cambodia’s E-Parliament roadmap and digital workflows expanding public access to laws and petitions
- Thailand’s Open Parliament Hackathon linking senators with communities and young innovators
- Viet Nam’s e-Parliament systems supporting paperless meetings, digital voting, and live oversight sessions
- Lao PDR’s pilot electronic petition system, marking a significant step toward open, data-driven citizen engagement and improved responsiveness through the National Assembly and PPAs
Civil society organisations, including Open Development Cambodia, WeVis Thailand, EWMI, the Sengsavang Association, and Viet Nam’s PAPI programme, presented how open data, civic technology, and citizen feedback mechanisms strengthen public trust and parliamentary oversight. International experience from Senegal, New Caledonia, and Belgium showcased initiatives such as the 2025 Whistleblower Protection Act, reinforcing legal safeguards that enable openness and civic participation.
Participants identified practical follow-up actions to build on Open Parliament and citizen-engagement practices, including:
- completing and operationalising Lao PDR’s e-petition platform
- advancing a Secondary Civic Engagement Law to formalise citizen reporting and follow-up
- documenting and sharing Open Parliament practices through APF–PCAsia–EWMI networks
- reinforcing whistleblower and anti-SLAPP protections
- parliaments expanding staff training, digital literacy, and outreach to rural, ethnic, and women’s groups
The event brought together regional and international parliaments in a spirit of collaboration to exchange experience on Open Parliament and citizen engagement. The National Assembly’s leadership created space for dialogue among ASEAN and Francophone parliaments, while collaboration with the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), PCAsia, EWMI, and the CEGGA programme illustrated how coordinated support and knowledge sharing can help parliaments become more open, inclusive, and responsive to citizens’ needs.