The follow-up meeting served as an opportunity for the MHA and IGE to evaluate the recommendations from last year’s seminars and to receive further feedback and ideas on how to revise Decree 92. Several representatives from the MHA, the Lao Front for National Construction, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as religious leaders from the Lao Evangelical Church, the Catholic Church, Seventh Day Adventist, and Baha’i faith groups were present at the meeting.

Mr. Sosonephit Phanouvong, Director General of the Minorities and Religious Affairs Department of MHA, lead the discussion and asked participants to openly discuss their thoughts and recommendations for the new decree. One of the religious participants at the seminar recommended that Decree 92 needs to have a clearer process for building temples and churches as well as a clearer process for requesting permission to hold religious functions and celebrations.

This meeting was a great opportunity for religious leaders and government officials to build relationships with one another. IGE and its Lao country partners will continue to partner together working towards the revision of Decree 92 and it’s eventual ratification into official law of the Lao PDR.