Lao PDR is developing its first demographic dividend roadmap as part of efforts to leverage its large working-age population for national social and economic progress, according to a Lao delegate attending at the Mekong Side Event of the 58th Session of the Commission on Population and Development at the UN Headquarters in New York earlier this month.
Speaking at the event on April 10, Deputy Director General of Planning and Finance Department, the Ministry of Health, Dr. Viengmany Bounkham, said that Lao PDR was in the process of formulating its first-ever Demographic Dividend Roadmap to maximize the benefit of having 60 percent of Lao population under the age of 25 years old.
This document serves as a complementary document to the National Population and Development Policy, providing key interventions and actions to maximize the benefits of the demographic transition," she said while delivering the presentation at the event.
Dr. Viengmany, along with officials from the Lao Mission to the United Nations, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, joined a number of delegates from Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, representatives from civil society and relevant sectors at the Mekong Side Event.
The Mekong Side Event of the 58th Session of the Commission on Population and Development was held on April 10 with support from the Australian Government and UNFPA. Held under the theme: Mekong countries leveraging gains in health and well-being through demographic resilience, the event had the following objectives:
● Share achievements, best practices, and lessons learned from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam in progressing health and well-being at all ages.
● Showcase transformative approaches in integrating population planning into health and well-being.
● Demonstrate how Mekong countries are leveraging domestic financing for their ICPD commitments through a range of approaches.
● Provide actionable recommendations based on the experiences of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam toward demonstrating how accelerating and advancing the ICPD PoA benefits their countries' economic advancement.
● Identify successes and actions that can be easily transferred to other countries in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
At this Mekong Side Event, Dr. Viengmany also said that the demographic dividend roadmap of Lao PDR would focus on enhancing access to healthcare including sexual reproductive health services, as well as on tackling issues such as malnutrition, early marriage, adolescent pregnancy, and school dropouts. The roadmap will also help narrow the mismatch between the labor market and the education system, improve skill development, and strengthen social protection systems.
Apart from this roadmap, she shared with the event participants’ successful interventions by Lao PDR to improve the health and well-being of the population, including the launch of the national Family Planning 2030 commitments, a global partnership working to ensure that all people, particularly those in remote areas, have access to the reproductive healthcare they need to build a better future.
Other successful interventions highlighted by Dr. Viengmany include an increased number of skilled midwifery cadres and the adoption of a rights-based and gender-sensitive approach, which focuses on improving health, education, gender equality, and overall human capital development as a pathway to an improved quality of life.
Dr. Viengmany said that despite significant success, Lao PDR continues to face multiple challenges, such as declining official development assistance, limited fiscal space, impacting health staff availability, coupled with the impact of climate change and natural disasters on the population's health and well-being.
We need to think about domestic and regional financing mechanisms, looking to our ASEAN neighbors for partnership and support, as well as expanding partnerships with the private sector since this area remains underutilized,” she said.
We need to build resilience within the health sector to be able to address the effects of disasters and changes. We have to look for innovative solutions to ensure access to essential services for the hard to reach areas of the country through more engagement with the local authorities and supporting the grass roots level,”
At the Mekong side event, delegates from Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam shared their experiences in implementing their population and development policies. Declining Official Development Assistance presents a significant challenge. It is imperative to employ innovative strategies to mobilize resources, leverage all relevant policy frameworks, and enhance South-South cooperation.
One notable achievement in Cambodia is the establishment of a taskforce comprising 22 key ministries to examine plans aimed at improving the health and well-being of the entire population through the development of a costed multi-ministry Strategic Action Framework on the ICPD. This framework is more than an action plan; it represents a catalytic approach to cross-sectoral discussions to advance health and well-being throughout the population's life cycle.
In Thailand, the 15-year National Population and Development Plan (2022-2037) was developed, highlighting a life-cycle approach to aging with a plan to increase productivity and economic growth while promoting human rights, gender equality, and rights and choices for all, especially women and girls.
In Vietnam, a new comprehensive population strategy for the period 2021-2030 was introduced. This strategy employs a life-cycle approach to address the country's evolving population and development needs. It promotes multisectoral responses across various areas, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, comprehensive youth development, population aging, gender equality, gender-based violence prevention, migration, and demographic dynamics.
