EUROPEAN JOINT PROGRAMMING IN THE LAO PDR- COMMUNICATION PRODUCTS

The European Union (EU) has long enjoyed a close relationship with Laos. Through substantial development assistance, support to the national reform agenda and a commitment to open markets, the EU helps Laos in its efforts to build a brighter future for its population and to play an active role regionally and internationally.

Joint Programming laid the foundations for European partners to join forces to provide a response that was well coordinated with other development partners' support to Laos.

European partners have jointly identified seven ‘priority sectors’ in which they have a comparative advantage and are active in policy dialogue. The sectors are aligned with the government of Lao PDR's policies and definitions. Coordination is ensured through the relevant working group mechanism, thus enabling ownership. European partners are harmonising their programming through this joint programming exercise with each sector contributing to a results framework linked to monitoring indicators included in the 8^th NSEDP to enable mutual accountability for results.

The Joint Strategy focuses on the following 'priority sectors' for European development cooperation:

1. Agriculture and Rural Development – the objective is sustainable development in rural areas through balanced agriculture development preserving the interests of small holders and contributing to poverty reduction;
2. Education – focus is on basic education, comprising primary and lower secondary education;
3. Environment and Natural Resources – the objective is for the rural and poor communities targeted by European support to benefit from healthy and sustainably managed forest ecosystems and secure access to land in line with the Voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forest in the context of national food security;
4. Governance – the objective is to contribute to good governance, the Rule of law and human rights in Lao PDR. People’s representation and participation and Rule of law are two of the four pillars of the Lao PDR Strategic Governance Plan 2011-2020;
5. Health - support to the health sector is based on the Lao National Health Sector Reform Strategy 2013-25, the corresponding 8th Health Sector Development Plan (2016 – 2020) and relevant subsector strategies regarding maternal and child health (MNCH), health financing, nutrition and health personnel development;
6. Nutrition - European partners align their support, with the vision statement of the Lao PDR National Nutrition Policy to 2025 ''to improve the nutritional status of children and women, especially the most vulnerable and hard to reach'';
7. Private Sector Development, including Technical, Vocational Education and Training and Tourism - joint support of the European partners focuses on the development of the economy, especially value chains, trade and investment policy in the context of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC);

In addition to this, European partners also committed to providing significant financial and technical support in complementary areas (sectors) and on cross-cutting policy priorities. These include:

• Cross-cutting issues – protection of fundamental human rights, gender equality, protection and inclusion of disadvantaged minorities, democratic governance and combating corruption, sustainable environmental management and climate change mitigation and adaptation, resettlement practices on a voluntary basis;
• Complementary sectors – support to civil society, climate finance, culture and heritage, disaster risk reduction/preparedness, democracy and human rights, lending from the European Investment Bank, energy, investment, support to the Mekong River Commission, migration, multilateral institutions, regional integration, research and innovation, scholarships and higher education, statistics, youth and un-exploded ordinances.

Here attached is the introduction to these sector fiches. 

For more information: https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/lao-pdr/1407/lao-pdr-and-eu_en

Video clip summarizing the JP annual review with the Government September 27.2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZwJvmA_VhA