IPS and the Center for Strategic and International Studies Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies are pleased to invite you to, Abduction in Laos, a talk featuring Dr. Ng Shui Meng.

Dr. Ng Shui Meng is the former UNICEF representative to Timor-Leste and wife of civil society leader Sombath Somphone, who was abducted in Laos on December 15, 2012, Dr. Ng will speak about her husband’s disappearance, what the causes may have been, and the impact of this on the Lao people and civil society development.

Dr. Ng lived in Laos with Mr. Sombath starting in 1986 and has a long history of involvement in aid and development issues. She worked for UNICEF in Laos and China from 1986 until becoming the UNICEF Representative to Timor-Leste from 2004 to 2008. Before joining UNICEF, Dr. Ng was a senior research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore from 1976 to 1986.