Lao PDR

UNDP News

14 February 2007

UNDP/EC project on Strengthening the Lao National Assembly

14 February 2007 - Today, high ranking representatives of the government and the National Assembly, international organizations and Embassies gathered to review the achievements of the UNDP / EC project on Strengthening the Lao National Assembly. Participants at the meeting included representatives from the National Assembly, UNDP and other UN agencies, EC, the Embassies of Australia, France , Singapore , the World Bank, and the IMF.

Expectations for the Lao National Assembly are high. It is designated in the Lao Constitution as the highest state institution, with responsibility for representing the Lao people, making fundamental decisions on their behalf, and scrutinizing the executive and the judiciary.

In recognition of the capacity constraints facing the National Assembly in recent years, steps have been taken to surmount these difficulties. Significant among these has been the implementation of a capacity building project supported primarily by UNDP and the EC. This project was designed to strengthen the National Assembly's capacity for reviewing legislation, scrutinizing the implementation of government policies and plans, and representing its constituents.

The UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Lao PDR, Ms. Sonam Yangchen Rana opened the morning's deliberations, by “ congratulating the Project Team, the Project Steering Committee and the National Assembly for their efforts, leadership and enthusiasm for providing support and guidance to enable the project attain most of its goals.”

Ms Yangchen Rana said that due to these efforts “the National Assembly Members have a clearer understanding of their Constitutional mandate, a more in-depth appreciation of socio-economic development issues and a greater ability to analyse macro-economic policy and national budgetary processes. Furthermore the project also received expert advice from several UN agencies including ILO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNIFEM, WHO, and from the World Bank and the IMF."

 This project also introduced the National Assembly members to international best practice in parliamentary affairs. Members of Parliament from Sri Lanka and the Netherlands have visited Laos to advise the Lao National Assembly, and several international exchange visits have also been organised to provide National Assembly Members with first hand experience of parliaments in other developing countries.

Support was also provided to female National Assembly Members. In the last elections, held in April 2006, more women gained seats in the National Assembly than ever before, bringing the total proportion to 25 percent. It may be no small coincidence that the project arranged for a senior Australian Senator to train all female candidates in campaign methods and public relations. Indeed, proportionally more female candidates were elected than men.

The meeting heard that the project is now entering its final year, but that longer term support will be required. Participants recommended that the National Assembly develop a medium-term institutional development plan in order to clearly identify support needs and to assist in coordinating donor contributions. This multi-donor framework would serve to increase national ownership, in line with the conclusions of the 9 th Round Table Meeting held in Vientiane last November.