A workshop on the Rollout of the ASEAN Guidelines on Disaster Responsive Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Anticipatory Action Approach in the Lao PDR was held in Vientiane on Aug 20.
Attending the workshop were Deputy Director of Department of Labour and Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare Mr Kinnavong Luangrath, Representative of FAO in the Lao PDR Mr. Nasar Hayat, and Assistant Director and Chief, Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance Division of the ASEAN Secretariat Dr. Riyanti Djalante, as well as colleagues from Government agencies, ASEAN Committee for Disaster Management, ECHO Regional Office, UN Agencies.
The workshop aimed to build a common understanding of these approaches among the national stakeholders in the Lao PDR and explore the entry points and capacity development needs.
“The Party and government have attached importance to disaster management by setting policies and strategies for better prevention, control and post-disaster recovery and strengthening the disaster management mechanism from central to local levels, especially at the village level, strengthening the forecasting and early warning system, training and demonstration of disaster response, community awareness and community awareness,” said Deputy Director of Department of Labour and Social Welfare Mr Kinnavong Luangrath.
“We have completed the drafting of the Disaster Management Law, which was adopted and officially promulgated in 2019. The development of the national social protection strategy, Vision 2030, a comprehensive target to 2025, have been approved and officially announced in 2020,” said Mr Kinnavong Luangrath.
ASEAN Guidelines on Disaster Responsive Social Protection for Increased Resilience and Anticipatory Action Approach was jointly developed by ASEAN senior officials in charge of Disaster Management, Social Welfare and Development and Health and Human Development. It aims to ensure social safety nets for building disaster resilience of people across ASEAN countries with the Lao PDR chosen as a case study during the development process.
“We have all learned that monitoring risk, anticipating what will happen and acting early to mitigate the impacts is the way to go in managing disasters. Anticipatory Action is another innovative approach that ASEAN Member States are taking on to shift toward proactive disaster risk management,” said Representative of FAO in the Lao PDR Mr. Nasar Hayat.
“I would like to recognize the strong efforts and political commitment from the Government of Laos to strengthen both the social protection and disaster risk management systems in the country,” Mr. Nasar Hayat said.
The National Social Protection Strategy by 2025 and vision by 2030 were endorsed last year. The Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy 2021-2023 has also been recently endorsed in July 2021 by the Prime Minister. These important policies provide the foundation for the Lao PDR to leverage ASEAN regional frameworks to advance the agendas in the country.
“I am pleased to see that the UN agencies are working together in supporting the Government, bringing the ministries together and linking disaster risk management and social protection to Leave No One Behind due to disasters. Anticipatory Action in synergy with social protection will not only improve effectiveness of disaster response but more importantly to reduce vulnerability and sustainably strengthen the resilience of people,” added Mr. Nasar Hayat.
Source: Lao News Agency