21 December 2022, Vientiane, Lao PDR - Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) convened the Annual Meeting to review the progress of the 7th Country Programme (CP7). Implementing partners and national counterparts presented 1st-year implementation, key challenges and priority interventions for 2023.
At the meeting, Madame Sisomboun Ounavong, Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Planning and Investment, congratulated UNFPA on its remarkable performance in 2022. She stated, “I sincerely hope that next year, UNFPA and the implementing partners will continue to collaborate on the 2023 Annual Work Plan implementation. I trust the plan will achieve its objectives, particularly to provide technical and financial support to the Government of Lao PDR, ministries/sectors and to implement the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan.”
“I urge ministries and sectors to pay attention to your responsible area in cycle 7 (2022-2026) of this cooperation, specifically on the four outcomes, Sexual and Reproductive health; Adolescents and youth; Gender equality and women's empowerment; and Population dynamics as it will contribute to the implementation of the 5-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan, to help the country graduate from the least developed country status and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in 2030,” Madame Ounavong added.
The CP7 drew on lessons learnt from previous cycles and data from the Lao 2030 Demographic Study, and it is well aligned with the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025, the National commitments to the 25th International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF).
The country programme seeks to accelerate progress towards universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights through investments in human capital development: supporting adolescent girls and boys to delay pregnancy and marriage until adulthood by acquiring skills and competencies, including through comprehensive sexuality education, ensuring every pregnancy is by choice and that no woman or girl dies while giving life, and that women and girls can live lives free from abuse and violence. These are essential for youth to realise their full potential and for the country to realise its demographic dividend.
Mariam Khan, UNFPA Representative, said, “we will continue to work with the Lao Government to achieve the three transformative results: Zero maternal mortality; Zero unmet for family planning; and Zero Gender-based violence, to leave no one behind.”
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UNFPA, the U.N.'s sexual and reproductive health agency, works in over 150 countries, including Lao PDR, to achieve zero maternal deaths, unmet family planning needs, and zero gender-based violence.
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