Events

The working groups “not for profit /not governmental organizations” and “life sciences” have the pleasure to invite you to the following event:

Swiss NGO in Laos: Promising projects, Compliance and reality

Date: 11 September 2025

Start: 5pm- 6pm

Location: Bayer Schweiz, Uetlibergstrasse 132, 8045 Zurich (1st floor)

Working abroad as a Swiss NGO brings with it unique challenges. Especially in countries like Laos, where local circumstances and customs, laws and international standards clash, compliance with rules can quickly become a minefield. In her presentation, Marion Mönkhoff, President of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project, shares her personal experiences in a challenging project that aims to improve maternal and newborn health care in Laos in compliance with Swiss, international and Laotian laws and standards.

Key topics include

• The challenges in sensibly implementing development projects – from planning with government representatives to meaningful implementation in medical institutions in collaboration with local health workers.
• The harmonization of divergent regulatory requirements from Switzerland, international organizations, and Laos. Keyword: ZEWO certification, WHO guidelines vs. MOU reporting.
• Data-Reliability in low-income countries with respect to reaching international United Nations’ goals (MDG and SDGs).
• Lessons Learned: Practical insights from the implementation of good governance in a development cooperation project

Why Attend?

• Gain a rare insight into the difficulties of implementing compliance in a complex development and health project
• Learn how a successful NGO deals with diverging legal frameworks and how to avoid typical pitfalls in development cooperation.
• Learn from the experiences of the doctor responsible for the project at the interface between Swiss law, ethics, and local reality.

Speakers Bio

Dr. med. Marion Mönkhoff is a specialist in pediatrics and neonatology and has worked as Chief of Neonatology at Zollikerberg Hospital from 2004 to 2018. Since then, she is working in pediatrics and at the maternity unit of the Hirslanden Clinic. She has been involved in the Swiss Laos Hospital Project since 2003, where she heads the Neonatology Group. During her numerous assignments in Laos, she is working on site in neonatology clinics throughout the country and supports them through bedside teachings, training programs, in-kind donations, and renovations or expansions of neonatology departments. First as vice president and now as president, she has also been involved in planning and budgeting with government representatives and coordinating with other health care organizations. In Switzerland, she is committed to raising awareness of the work of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project. She headed the Humanitarian Neonatology Working Group of the Swiss Society of Neonatology.

As always please register on ECS website. If you can no longer make it, please let Patrick.wellens@bayer.com know in advance.

Please register only if you are planning to attend.