Day: February 3, 2022

A groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a drinking water facility at a school in Pha Oh Temple, Luang Prabang was held on Jan 31.

The project will make clean drinking water available to about 500 students of the school, teachers and many villagers living close to the school.

Chair of Luang Prabang Buddhist Fellowship Office Most Venerable Onkeo Sitthivong, and Luang Prabang Vice Governor Bounleuam Manivong presided over the ceremony.

Monks from Pha Oh Temple, and Vice President of the Lao Front for National Development Chanpheng Southivong also graced the occasion. Representatives of Luang Prabang provincial authorities were also present. The project is supported through the Government of India’s Quick Impact Project (QIP) scheme under Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.

QIP are projects with short gestation periods that directly benefit local communities, with results that are immediate and visible, which contribute significantly to economic and social development and improvement of public welfare and most importantly and give impetus to the existing good bilateral relations between our two countries.

The Memorandum of Understanding [MoU] for this Quick Impact Project (QIP), with grant assistance of US$50,000 from the Government of India, took place on December 10, 2021 at the premises of the Lao Front for National Development, Vientiane.

Luang Prabang Vice Governor Bounleuam Manivong thanked the Government of India for providing assistance for the implementation of the project. During the ceremony, Buddhist monks prayed for the successful completion of the project.

Source: Lao News Agency

Provincial and district government leaders have gathered in Xonnabouly district for the final SAFE Ecosystems Project Annual Review Meeting to review 2021 results and the Terminal Evaluation report. The project, which is coming to an end of its six-year project life in May 2022, has been supported by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and implemented by the Department of Forestry.

Over the past six years, the SAFE Ecosystems Project has sought to address two general categories of threats to Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in the Savannakhet Province.

Firstly, conversion and degradation of natural habitat and ecosystems; and second, overharvesting of biological resources, bringing about the long-term solution via the facilitation of a transformative shift from unsustainable to integrated sustainable land and forest management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest landscape of five districts in Savannakhet.

The project has been instrumental in bringing about several global environmental benefits, including creating a new National Protected Area (the National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary) covering an area of 130,745 ha.

The project also initiated the reforestation process in 3,788 ha of forest land through the re-planting of 768 ha and setting aside 3,020 ha for natural regeneration. More than 9,100 direct beneficiaries have been involved in the project, the largest proportion of which has been from the village communities in the project areas.

Forty-three communities have been involved in not only village forest management planning, but also protected area ranger work and the undertaken reforestation efforts. Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in the Lao PDR Catherine Phuong emphasized the importance of the SAFE Ecosystems Project in supporting the Provincial Government’s efforts to manage its natural resources. She highlighted that “over the past six years, the SAFE Ecosystems Project has been supporting the Government of the Lao PDR with managing protected areas within the Dry Dipterocarp Forest landscape through developing clear policies, regulations, and coordination mechanisms.” She added that “the preliminary result of the Terminal Evaluation indicate that forest and land resources within Xonnabouly, Palanxay, Phone, Songkhone and Thapangthong districts are under improved management now as a result of the SAFE Ecosystems Project.”

The Terminal Evaluation was an evidence-based assessment, which relied on feedback from individuals who have been involved in the design, implementation and supervision of the SAFE Ecosystems Project. The overall approach and methodology for the review followed guidelines as outlined in the UNDP and GEF guidance of conducting Project Reviews.

Preliminary results show that SAFE Ecosystems Project has received a “Satisfactory” rating for overall effectiveness based on the assessment of 21 indicators providing valuable insights, lessons learned and recommendations for the implementation of future GEF projects in the Lao PDR.

Acting Director General of the Department of Forestry Bounphone Sangthong stated, “We are very proud of what the SAFE Ecosystems Project has accomplished. International best practice activities in this project, such as Community Conservation Agreements, have never been done before in Savannakhet. Everyone involved, especially at the District and Community level have learned so much and are able to better protect the forest.”He added, “We hope to continue the momentum that has been created by the SAFE Ecosystems Project, but this requires financial resources. The Protected Areas Decree, which is currently being revised, contains Articles for the exploration of innovative financial mechanisms to enable the funding of Laos’ Protected Areas. Options such as Debt-Swap-for Nature are currently being examined by the Government of the Lao PDR with support from UNDP to achieve this.”

Over the next few months, the SAFE Ecosystems Project will complete final activities with the Government of the Lao PDR and rural communities within the five target districts of Savannakhet Province. It is expected to close all operation on schedule by May 2022.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the Lao government to strengthen capacity in the animal health sector to respond and control African Swine Fever in the pig population.

African swine fever (ASF) is a fatalhaemorrhagic disease in domestic and wild pigs. Since the first report of ASF in Asia in August 2018, a total of 16 countries in Asia and the Pacific have reported ASF outbreaks, including China, Mongolia, Viet Nam, Cambodia, DPR. Korea, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, R. Korea, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, India, Bhutan, Malaysia and Thailand.

The disease is very contagious and has caused millions of pigs to perish in the region. Consequently, farmers have occurred severe financial losses and hardship. The shortage of pork in many countries has seen dramatic increases in pork prices and dissatisfied consumers. Supply chains, including imports and exports, of live pigs and pork have been disrupted, increase the vulnerability of food supplies.

When ASF was reported in neighbouring countries and with the imminent threat of ASF arriving in the Lao PDR, FAO assisted the Department of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF) to develop guidelines to respond to an ASF outbreak.

Unfortunately, DLF first reported ASF outbreak in 2019 in all provinces resulting in 20,000 pig deaths and 6,000 pigs were culled in the response. During this ASF outbreak, FAO supported DLF with enhancing laboratory capacity to detect ASF and provided technical support and risk communication materials. In 2021, DLF, with support from FAO, conducted “Training of Trainers” on African Swine Fever (ASF) Detection and Emergency Response at sub-national level in 17 provinces. ASF currently is still present in the Lao PDR and for this reason today, FAO and DLF launch this new project: Strengthen Capacity to Control African Swine Fever and other Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) in the Lao PDR.

The purpose of the project is to further mitigate the potential risk for additional introduction and spread, as well as the impacts of the ASF and other high impact TADs Laos. The project aims to: a) Develop and implement strategies and strengthen capacities to detect, control and prevent ASF at the national provincial and district level, and b) Strengthen the national laboratory capacity to detect ASF.

FAO Representative to the Lao PDR Nasar Hayat, expressed his concerns about ASF in the Lao pig population. “As there is no vaccination available against ASF and there is no cure once animals are infected, prevention through increased biosecurity measures are vital. Together, FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, we will ensure we further enhance the skills on how to combat ASF and emerging livestock diseases. FAO values the long-standing support from Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Republic of Korea in this important work,” Mr. Nasar Hayat said. He also stressed the importance of early detection of animal and human health threats, especially in the current COVID-19 pandemic environment.

Source: Lao News Agency

Laos has confirmed 400 new daily Covid-19 cases and five new deaths attributed to Covid-19 nationwide over the past 24 hours raising the total to 135,301 including 5,174 active cases and 558 deaths, according to the National Taskforce Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control.

The new confirmed cases included 80 reported in Vientiane, 44 in Xieng Khuang, 37 in Huaphan and 28 in Borikhamxay.

Over 4.75 million people, representing 64.83% of population in the country, have been vaccinated with at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Meanwhile the number of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 has reached 4,12 million, accounting for 56.18% of the population.

Over 531,000 children aged between 12-17 have been administered with at least first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccinated represented 61.4% of target groups.

More than 365,000 children, representing 4.02%, have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

Source: Lao News Agency

On January 28, 2022, Lao Air Force Headquarter (LAFH) has successfully completed its pilot and mechanic. The closing ceremony was held, under the chairmanship of Col. Khamlar Simmaly, Vice Military Chief Commander of LAFH and there were Party-command committee, representatives from offices, trainers, trainees and invited guests taking part in. According to a report from Col. Souphan Dethnorasan, Vice Head of Airline training Office, all officers and combatants had focused on researching and learning especially the theories and principles. All trainees could know how to effectively mobilize both theory and real practice into the real situation and maintained for fighting combat readiness at any time to ensure the national defending mission to ease Lao multiethnic people to contribute in safeguarding and constructing their fatherland. The training was an important contribution into upgrading capacity in fighting to protect Lao’s air space and increasingly strengthen building up the Lao People’s Army to fulfill the honorable duty of securing the Lao nation. This occasion, the Lao Defence Ministry honourably decorated Friendship Decoration Medal to 2 Russian military experts.

Source: Lao People’s Army