In recent years, the number of children and young people in Bhutan who have come into conflict with the law has risen significantly. The Bhutanese non-governmental organisation Nazhoen Lamtoen is the only non-governmental organisation that works with the Royal Bhutan Police to support these children in the YDRC juvenile detention centre by providing vocational training, helping them enter the workforce and offering individual support on their journey back into society.
With project funding from the City of Vienna, police officers and staff at the Half Way Home child protection centre are being trained as trainers. Twenty-five children and young people at the YDRC and children at Half Way Home are receiving qualified training and thus particularly important start-up assistance for an independent life. Read more
The pupils at Gayshing Gaon Primary School are enthusiastic learners. However, for many years the school struggled with inadequate infrastructure. Friends of Bhutan Austria, together with the 
With a grant from the 
On 17 February 2025, Dasho Kinzang Wangdi, our counterpart and local representative of the Association of Friends of Bhutan Austria, handed over working equipment, sewing machines and weaving seets worth 5,000 euros to the 
Bhutan is famous for its pristine forests, covering almost 70 percent of its area, its abundant water resources and its rich biodiversity. Bhutan is also known as the first carbon-negative country of the world, with its forests absorbing three times more CO2 emissions than it emits. Bhutan’s consistent and rigorous protection and conservation measures and appropriate legal regulations have not only preserved its natural treasures so far. The country wants to remain a globally recognised champion of the environment. However, these efforts are not without challenges. With development imperatives placing increasing pressure on the natural environment and resources, also Bhutan faces the critical challenge of balancing conservation with development.
The project targeted female mountain farmers in the districts of Lhuentse and Trashigang in Bhutan, most of whom have to manage the work in the fields on their own. The aim of the project was to enable 35 economically disadvantaged female mountain farmers, who only practise subsistence farming, to increase their agricultural productivity and thus their income opportunities by mechanising the extremely costly and labour-intensive cultivation of their fields and terraces through access to microloans.
