Remarks of the Signing Ceremony of the Project on Building Capacities for Resilient Recovery by Ms. Kaarina Immonen

April 23, 2019

 

Signing Ceremony of the Project on Building Capacities for Resilient Recovery

22 April 2019 – Vientiane, Lao PDR 

Opening Remarks by Ms. Kaarina Immonen
UNDP Resident Representative

Excellency Mme. Vaykham Khatthiya, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare

Ms. Julie Wagner, Attache, Luxembourg Embassy in Laos

Participants who have travelled in from Bolikhamxay and Saravane Provinces

Ladies and Gentlemen

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It is a pleasure to be here this morning for the happy occasion of signing another agreement which is a reflection of the good partnership that UNDP has with the Minsitry of Labour and Social Welfare.

The last few months in Laos our partnership has focussed on the response and recovery efforts of the 2018 Floods.  I must again offer congratulations to Mme. Vaykham and her team in the Ministry for a job well done in leading the Post Disaster Needs Assessment and importantly and hosting the Recovery Consultation two weeks ago.

Today we continue our commitment to supporting disaster risk reduction efforts in Lao PDR with strong support from the Government of Luxembourg.

I would also like to acknowledge the partnership with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and their co-financing commitments.

This project entitled “Building Capacities for Resilient Recovery” is under a global project which only has two countries in South East Asia participating – Myanmar and Lao PDR.

The project focusses on preparedness for recovery at the national and sub-national levels and has four outputs:

  • Output 1 – Strengthening  policy, institutional and financial frameworks in the context of recovery
  • Output 2 – Enhancing capacities in recovery planning including conducting post-disaster needs assessments and developing recovery frameworks
  • Output 3 – Enhancing capacities for implementing sustainable recovery at the community-level
  • Output 4 – Knowledge management and technological innovation for recovery management

The project has already progressed on several areas, in response to the urgent needs identified in the aftermath of the 2018Floods. I would like to mention just two of these areas here:

  • First is the Disaster Management Law.  The finalized text of the National Disaster Management Law will be presented to the Standing Committee of the National Parliament today, Monday, 22nd April 2019. Thereafter, it will be presented in the National Parliament in May 2019, to be passed into law.  This will be a significant piece of legislation for Lao PDR, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare is to be congratulated on leading this process, on ensuring consultations at the national, provincial and district levels and on working swiftly to finalize the law, as this was a key recommendation of the PDNA.
  • Second is the piloting of text messages via mobile phones to contribute to strengthening Early Warning Systems. Contracts were signed with all four private sector telecommunications companies – Lao Telecom, ETL, UNITEL and Beeline – for disseminating weather-related text-messages to over 200,000 subscribers in four target provinces. The weather information is provided by the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the four telecommunications companies are regulated by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications. This initiative is a firm example of the strength of multi-sectoral partnerships, and the need for such partnerships, in disaster risk reduction.

In closing, I would like to wish the Ministry successful implementation of this project.  I would also like to reiterate our commitment to continue working together with the Government of Lao PDR, the Government of Luxembourg, and other partners, in support of a resilient recovery for Lao PDR.

Thank you.