Vientiane, Lao PDR. 30/04/2021. The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) organized an online meeting with development partners to finalise the 7th Country Program Document (CPD) 2022-2026. Over 95 participants from government ministries, embassies, UN agencies, international organizations, private sector and CSOs participated in the virtual consultation.
The consultation aimed to present the CPD draft so all stakeholders are aware of and can contribute to synergies and the main results.
The design of the 7th Country Program was initiated by MPI and UNFPA in 2020, the document is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), the National commitments to the 25th International Conference on Population Development (ICPD25) and the 9th National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) and sectoral priorities. It is based on an updated situation analysis and population data/information through the Lao 2030 Demographic Study.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to our UNFPA for the support and engagement extended to the Government of Lao PDR. My appreciation also goes to concerned line ministries, development partners, and other relevant stakeholders who have been providing support and engagement in the current CPD. Your continued support, dialogue, and close collaboration are highly valued and it will help further strengthen our national efforts to achieve our 9th NSEDP >>, said Dr. Kikeo Chanthaboury, Vice Minister, Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Technical consultations were held with government stakeholders, development partners. To ensure the leave no one behind mandate is addressed from the design stage, consultations included rights holders, youth, pregnant women, CSOs, including people with disabilities and the LGBTIQ community engaged and provided comments to the process of the CP7 development.
The final validation meeting with broad group of development partners was a vital piece of the finalisation process so that CP7 is fully aligned and addresses emerging needs and priorities of the country, including the Nairobi ICPD25 commitments and the UNSDCF. Participants noted relevance of technical aspects and key strategies and interventions for lao PDR. Amongst the speakers who made interventions highlighting the relevance of UNFPA work and ICPD mandate for Lao PDR to achieve the SDGs, were H.E Ambassador Ina Marciulionyte of the E.U., H.E Ambassador Keizo Takewaka of Japan and H.E Ambassador Paul Kelly of Australia. Participants from Government, INGOs, CSO also expressed support for the CP7 content.
As Laos is in the early stages of a demographic transition, with accelerating urbanization. Age appropriate, urgent human capital investments now can yield short and long-term returns, especially if we focus on the 80,000 youth who will enter the job market on an annually over the next 10 years.
Recognising the limitations of fiscal space, UNFPA strategy for acceleration of results towards the SDG targets rests on delivering our core mandate through growing partnerships towards common goals. The Lao Government commitments to ICPD25 are an excellent example of how the international commitment is mirrored in national frameworks and plans, collectively these present the path to the SDGs targets ” said Ms. Mariam A.Khan, UNFPA Representative to the Lao PDR.
For more information please contact:
Miss Phetmany Viyadeth,
National Communication Consultant UNFPA Lao PDR
Email: viyadeth@unfpa.org
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UNFPA, the UN's sexual and reproductive health agency, works in over 150 countries including Lao PDR, to achieve zero maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning and zero gender-based
