Lao PDR

Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in Lao PDR

In 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, 189 world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration and agreed to collective commitments to overcome poverty through a set of eight mutually reinforcing interrelated time-bound goals (MDGs) with related targets.

The MDGs synthesize the goals of 1990s global UN conferences and provide an accountability framework and global partnership for progressively eradicating poverty in all its dimensions. The MDGs are at the forefront of the global development agenda and represent the international community’s commitment to eradicate poverty by 2015.

In September 2005, the UN World Summit resoundingly endorsed the MDGs. In the outcome document of the Summit, it was agreed that by 2006, all developing countries will 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.

What will it take to meet 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 135th by 2003. 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.

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 Report, which went a long way in establishing solid baselines to track the country’s progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The MDG Report contains statistical indicator trends for the MDG goals and targets, and on the basis of the statistical analysis, presents the key issues and also the likelihood of MDGs being met by the target year(s).

Progress: Where does Lao PDR stand today?

The government is now in the process of finalizing its 6th five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP 2006-2010), which integrates the localized PRSP (the National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy) that was 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 are built on costs of sector programmes and targeted interventions that address MDGs. This pro-poor and Millennium Development Goals-based plan is expected to form 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” reveals that Lao PDR is making solid progress towards halving the proportion of people living below the national poverty line by 2015. Lao PDR is also on track to achieving the target of 100 percent primary enrolment by 2015. Although the progress toward the promotion of gender equality has been relatively slow and the ratio of girls to boys decreases as the education level increases. [To read more click here]

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

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.

Enhancing knowledge on the implementation of MDG-based National Development Plans (UNDPs) workshop [17-03-2006]

UNDP held a workshop on MDG-based National Development Plans (NDPs) for UNDP staff Cambodia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar and Vietnam to provide explanations about why it is important to use the MDGs as a benchmark and also to align them to national plans. The planning also showed how to do this and the type of assistance that UNDP can provide. This workshop was held just prior to the roll out of the “Integrated Package of Services (IPS) to support MDG-based national strategies.” The challenges still faced by the participating countries lie in the implementation side of MDG-based NDPs. It was highlighted to ensure that the IPS should be firmly anchored in the individual country plans so as to ensure full national ownership.

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

IPS is UNDP’s global response to achieve the MDGs at the country-level. Launched in December 2005, following the 2005 World Summit, IPS is demand-driven and based on the principles of national ownership. All support will be tailored according to country specific needs. It was noted that country offices are the primary drivers of the IPS process. The IPS will be rolled out at the country level by UNDP, in conjunction with the UN Country Teams. For the Asia-Pacific region, four pilot countries have been selected: Mongolia, Pakistan, Cambodia (the rollout has already started in these three countries) and Lao PDR. The IPS comprises of 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

Lao Info [2006-2007]

LaoInfo is a Common Indicator Database System adapted for Lao PDR from DevInfo Technology, by the National Statistics Centre (NSC) and the National Human Development Report (NHDR) Project and funded by UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF. LaoInfo provides the data for monitoring the MDGs and other development frameworks. The database system was developed to provide an easier access to quantitative data across sectors.
UNDP will scale-up the existing LaoInfo database to monitor the achievement of local Millennium Development Goal targets and other national development indicators. Data quality will be further enhanced with more sex-disaggregated information.

MDG Advocacy [2006]

UNDP in partnership with the UN Office of the Resident Coordinator launched a new “MDG Movie Nights” programme in January 2006 to advocate to the uninitiated about the MDGs and key development issues in Lao PDR. The programme offers free monthly film screenings of award winning international films on different themes covered by the MDGs. The movies are followed by an inter-active audience discussion led by a panel of UN officials. Movies that have been screened include: Samia and Oscar nominated movies, Salaam Bombay! Central Station and Yesterday.