The Lao government will step up human resource development and cooperation with development partners to ensure the nation is able to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
Category: Laos
Laos, UN strengthen development cooperation
The United Nations (UN) has confirmed that it will continue to support the Lao government under the Cooperation Framework, to enable the government to design a clear strategy for the development of Laos.
Development trumps rights in authoritarian Laos
“As international businessmen rake it in, hunger and food insecurity are a threat to millions in Laos. But when Lao people protest against these projects, they risk being harshly punished, arbitrarily detained or disappeared by the government.”
UNESCO Requests New Impact Assessment for Luang Prabang Dam
“The problem is that the dam developer doesn’t want to do a new SIA, saying that the SIA has been done. But UNESCO does not accept the first SIA.”
World Bank Support to Protect Landscapes/Enhance Livelihoods
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$57 million project to help Lao PDR promote sustainable forest management, improve protected area management, and enhance livelihoods opportunities in eight provinces across the country.
New dam management guidelines to minimise water issues
If water levels in downstream rivers dry up or are insufficient for use in a way that affects biodiversity and agricultural and industrial production and has other impacts, the operators are obliged to provide notification of the situation.
Human Rights Abuses in Laos Are Rampant – International Businesses Should Take Action
In 2019, Lao environmentalist Houayheuang “Muay” Xayabouly was sentenced to five years in prison for speaking up for flood victims and criticizing the government’s response to the crisis on Facebook. In the same year, seven activists were detained for planning a pro-democracy rally in Vientiane.
As China-Laos railway nears completion, infrastructure poised to transform Lao economy
Regardless of its significant negative impacts, the railway has already been built and introduces new possibilities for exports, industry and tourism. The transformations to come around the railway may not be any less fraught than hydropower,
If Laos fell into a Chinese debt trap, would it make a noise?
China’s largesse in funding regional infrastructure has prompted claims Beijing is seeking leverage over poorer, heavily indebted nations.
Yet Laos’ increasing reliance on its large-pocketed neighbour has faced relatively little scrutiny, in part because it is obscured by Vientiane’s ties with Hanoil.
Japan, WFP helps recover Laos’ communities from floods
The floods in October 2020 have wiped out rice yields, adding to pre-existing challenges for families in the area who are regularly facing rice shortages of up to three months each year.