Lao PDR

The Millennium Development Goals in Lao PDR

With an eye towards the General Assembly's high-level review of advances towards the MDGs in September 2010, UNDP has prepared a forward-looking report Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals , to assess what it will take to accelerate progress towards the goals around the world.

Thirty country-level assessments were undertaken to discern the factors which influence MDG progress in a country, and to understand what has worked, what has not, and why. Lao PDR was one of the countries assessed.

The report found that there are generally four key areas which shape MDG achievement at the country level: policy choices and their coherence; governance and capacity deficits; fiscal constraints; and political will.

While Lao PDR has made improvements in several areas and is on track to achieve some MDGs, there is concern about the sustainability of MDG gains given the country's reliance on ODA. To address this, the government has sought support from UNDP to help identify alternative options to ensure the continuity of MDG progress beyond 2015.

Lao PDR plans to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2020, meaning that it needs to ensure sustained and inclusive economic growth over the coming years. To this end, the government has prioritized the MDGs in its 7th National Socio- Economic Plan and is carrying out key interventions in such areas as basic education, healthcare, inequality, agriculture and rural and infrastructure development. With support from donor partners and the UXO Trust Fund, it is also continuing mine-clearance efforts in affected northern and southern regions where poverty and deprivation levels are disproportionate.

Beyond the Midpoint: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (Full Report, PDF)

Mid-term MDG Progress Report, published April 2009

The latest analysis of progress towards achieving the MDGs was published in the National Millennium Development Goals Progress Report (Executive Summary, Full Report) in April 2009, launched during the visit to Vientiane by the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon.

The 2008 progress report shows a mixed picture: while significant progress was made on a number of targets since release of the first MDG report in 2004, other targets require urgent attention and investments in order for them to be met by 2015. The reduction of income poverty; increase in primary net enrolment; reduction in child mortality; action against tuberculosis and malaria; and access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation in urban areas count among the greatest achievements to date.  On the other hand, the most critical remaining challenges include lack of progress in reducing child malnutrition; persistent and strong disparities in people's access to opportunities and social services according to sex, geography and mother tongue; women's limited participation in decision-making at the sub-national level; high maternal mortality; the quick rate of loss of environmental resources. One underlying problem is the persistent under-funding of the social sectors over the past two decades.

The Government and its development partners will build on the findings of the second MDG Progress Report to step up action in support of MDG achievement. The Government, with support from the UN, will soon launch an MDG operational strategy, which proposes how to implement key recommendations of the MDG progress report through concrete, doable and scalable initiatives.

Achieving the MDGs in Lao PDR

Lao PDR has shown consistent improvement in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI), being ranked 141st out of 173 countries in 1993, and climbing to 130th by 2007. Although Lao PDR has experienced advances in social development in recent years, and significant progress has been made towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the country faces many development challenges. Inequity levels, as measured through the Gini coefficient, have increased from 28.6 in 1992 to 35.7 in 1997. That figure is still valid, according to a 2002/2003 survey. Poverty in rural areas is twice as high as in urban areas. The rise of the Gini index indicates that a significant part of the population has not enjoyed the benefits accruing from a relatively high gross domestic product (GDP) growth of almost 6 per cent per annum. Disparities among the rural poor, women and ethnic groups would need to be addressed.

Measuring MDG progress

In 2004, the Government set up its localized targets and relevant indicators within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals and published its first National Millennium Development Goals Progress Report, which established solid baselines to track the country’s progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. That first MDG Progress Report, and the Mid-term Progress Report issued in April 2009, contain statistical indicator trends for the MDG goals and targets, the key issues and the likelihood of each MDG being met by the target year(s).

Government committment to achieving the MDGs

The government finalized the 6th five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP 2006-2010) that integrated the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (localized PRSP) approved in 2003. The MDGs form an integral part of the Plan, in overall poverty reduction and in sector strategies, especially in the four key sectors (agriculture and forestry; education; health; infrastructure). The plan resources requirements were built on costs of sector programmes and targeted interventions that address MDGs. This pro-poor and Millennium Development Goals-based plan formed the basis of future alignment of official development assistance (ODA) to the country.

The 2005 UNDP report “Voices of the Least Developed Countries of Asia and the Pacific: Achieving the Millennium Development Goals Through a Global Partnership” revealed that Lao PDR was making solid progress towards halving the proportion of people living below the national poverty line by 2015.

UNDP is supporting a number of initiatives aimed at meeting the MDGs in Lao PDR. They include:

Support for the Round Table Process

Effective coordination both within the United Nations system and among donors in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been a key achievement of UNDP. Alignment of external aid with Millennium Development Goal-based national plan and development priorities and capacity development for ODA management has been undertaken through the round-table process.

Integrated Package of Services (IPS) to support MDG-based national strategies in Lao PDR [2006-2007]

IPS was UNDP’s global response to achieve the MDGs at the country-level. Launched in December 2005, following the 2005 World Summit, IPS was demand-driven and based on the principles of national ownership. All support was tailored according to country specific needs. Country offices were the primary drivers of the IPS process. The IPS was rolled out at the country level by UNDP, in conjunction with the UN Country Teams. For the Asia-Pacific region, the four pilot countries were: Mongolia, Pakistan, Cambodia and Lao PDR. The IPS comprised three pillars of services:

1) MDG-based diagnostics, investment and planning – technical and financial assistance needed to achieve the MDGs over the long term;

2) Widening policy options – national, sectoral and local policy reforms and frameworks needed to accelerate equitable growth and promote long-term human development; and

3) Strengthening national capacity to deliver – capacities required to enable effective service delivery at the national and local levels

Background to the MDGs

At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Member States adopted the Millennium Declaration and pledged to reach the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  The MDGs – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world's countries and all the world's leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world's poorest.

In September 2005, the UN World Summit resoundingly endorsed the MDGs. It was agreed that by 2006, all developing countries would prepare bold national strategies to achieve the MDGs, and that developed countries would increase their assistance to developing countries, particularly through higher levels of ODA.

more about the Millennium Development Goals