UNFPA Programme of Assistance to Lao PDR:
Third Cycle – 2002–2006

Current and past programme documents are available for download in Microsoft Word and PDF format from the global UNFPA website.

	Programme Components
	Coordination of the National Population Programme
	Links with UNFPA Regional Programmes

UNFPA launched its Third Country Programme of Assistance in Lao PDR, covering the five-year period 2002–2006, in 2002. The overall aim of the UNFPA Country Programme is to support Lao PDR's efforts to achieve sustainable social and economic development, and to improve the quality of life of the people of Lao PDR, by contributing to:

• improved reproductive health status of women, men and adolescents;
  
  
• a reduction in gender inequality; and
  
  
• a sustained balance between population, resources and socio-economic development.

The Third Country Programme was jointly developed by UNFPA and partner agencies in the Lao PDR Government.

The Third Country Programme is designed to support the implementation of a range of population and reproductive health-related national policies, strategies and plans, particularly the National Population and Development Policy (NPDP), and achievement of relevant national and international development goals, including the goals set out in the NPDP, the Millennium Development Goals and the International Conference on Population and Development commitments. The Country Programme is also informed by the specific reproductive health and population and development needs identified in the UN Common Country Assessment for Lao PDR in 2001.

The Third Country Programme has the intended outcomes of:

• increased use of quality, integrated reproductive health services by women, men and adolescents;
  
  
• more responsible sexual behaviour and health-seeking behaviour among women, men and adolescents;
  
  
• increased political and community support for improving the status of women, leading to reduction in gender inequality; and
  
  
• more evidence-based national and sub-national policy and programme development processes that take into consideration population dynamics, gender issues and related research findings and available data.

It will achieve these through the following interventions:

• provision of family planning nationwide and a core package of quality integrated reproductive health services in three under-served southern provinces;
  
  
• expansion of community reproductive health and adolescent reproductive health information services through the Lao Women's Union and the Lao Youth Union in five provinces to increase reproductive health knowledge and awareness at community level;
  
  
• institutionalization of population education and sexual health education through the formal and non-formal education systems;
  
  
• reinforcement of the role of the National Coordinating Committee on Population and Development;
  
  
• integration of population and gender issues in the national and provincial planning process through wide dissemination and implementation of the National Population and Development Policy and its Plan of Action;
  
  
• awareness creation through advocacy on population, reproductive health and gender issues among policy makers, decision-makers, parliamentarians, senior civil servants, community leaders and media;
  
  
• establishment of a Population Studies Centre at the National University of Laos and institutionalization of teaching of population topics in a basic degree course and a separate course in Population and Development; and
  
  
• collection, analysis, dissemination and utilization of data and research findings in policy development and programme monitoring.

Programme Components

The Third Country Programme document proposes activities within two complementary components: Population and Development; and Reproductive Health.

The Population and Development component aims to help the Lao PDR to make the best use of current population insights and to implement fully the National Population and Development Policy and its Action Plan, as well as to develop the capacity of Lao institutions and officials for population, reproductive health and gender monitoring and analysis.

UNFPA's activities in the area of reproductive health are chiefly concerned with:

• expanding and improving the delivery of reproductive health services such as family planning, safe motherhood, counselling, prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV/AIDS, syndromic management of reproductive tract infections and STIs, and treatment of complications from unsafe abortions;
  
  
• nationwide logistics management for supply of contraceptives; and
  
  
• increasing knowledge about reproductive health within communities in order to create demand for reproductive health services and to promote health-seeking and safe sex behaviour.

Click here for a map showing UNFPA project sites in Lao PDR.

Coordination of the National Population Programme

UNFPA's key government counterpart in Lao PDR is the Committee for Planning and Cooperation (CPC). The General Planning Department of the CPC serves as a Secretariat to the National Coordinating Committee for Population and Development (NCCPD), where UNFPA sits together with national programme partners. The role of the NCCPD is to ensure that the actions of all organizations involved in implementing the Third Country Programme are coordinated and making progress towards the Expected Results (Outputs, Outcomes and Impact) of the programme components on Reproductive Health and Population and Development. During the Third Country Programme, the NCCPD will be strengthened to take on responsibility for supervising and coordinating all projects concerning population and development issues, including reproductive health, in the country.

Links to UNFPA Regional Programmes

In addition to the Third Country Programme, UNFPA Lao PDR supports several regional UNFPA programmes that address issues common to countries in the region, cross-border issues and other special programmes with a specific focus. Some of these programmes are supported jointly with other donors. Among the most important collaborations for UNFPA in Lao PDR is the seven-country EU/UNFPA Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia (RHIYA). RHIYA aims to improve sexual and reproductive health provision to the most vulnerable youth populations in selected areas of the country.

Four RHIYA projects are implemented in Lao PDR, which include a range of partners. RHIYA activities in Lao PDR include advocacy, training and counselling on adolescent reproductive health; improvement of existing information and behaviour change communication materials; peer education among vulnerable youth; outreach on adolescent reproductive health in provinces in the south of the country; and supporting the Vientiane Youth Centre for Health and Development.

The RHIYA Umbrella Project Support Unit for Lao PDR is based in the UNFPA Country Office. Other partners in RHIYA in Lao PDR are NGOs CARE International and Health Unlimited, as well as the Lao Youth Union.

Click here for RHIYA project factsheet.