The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Food and Agriculture Organsation (FAO) have jointly initiated the project Increasing Capacities and Scale for Anticipatory Action including through Social Protection Systems.
The project – is a global Pilot Programmatic Partnership (PPP) between FAO and DG ECHO (the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations), established at a key time to accelerate the transformation of disaster management, to cope with intensifying food crises and widespread poverty.
The project will span three years. In its first year, it focuses on five countries in Asia, including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam. It is working closely with the ASEAN to advance the agenda of Anticipatory Action (AA) and shock responsive social protection in the region.
“Disasters such as floods, droughts and storms affect food security, livelihoods and the economy in Laos. Between 1996–2018, disasters affected over 11 million people and cost more than US$800 million economic loss,” said Ms Hang Thi Thanh Pham, Senior Resilience Official, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
“The project will be piloted in two provinces, Luang Prabang and Savannakhet,” said Mr. Mixay Sengchanthavong, Deputy Director of Social Welfare Department, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
“In the last 40 years, there have been five major droughts, affecting more than 4.25 million people,” said Mr. Mixay Sengchanthavong.
In 2018 alone, the most devastating floods in a decade, affected 13 out of 18 provinces and caused US$371.5 million worth of damage and loss (or 2.1 per cent of the 2018 GDP). Agriculture beared more than half of the total losses.
We have learned from these disasters the need to understand risk and vulnerability, strengthen early warning and prepare ourselves to act before the disaster strikes – with scientific forecast – to protect lives and livelihoods.
This project will support Laos to do exactly these. FAO, together with the Department of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MOLSW) and other humanitarian and development partners will work to set up Anticipatory Action systems, as part of the national Disaster Risk Management framework and explore ways, to finance and implement anticipatory actions, including how we can use social protection system.
The project will also help Laos contribute to the ASEAN leadership in promoting these innovative approaches in disaster management and global learning.
On Mar 14 in Vientiane, FAO organised a workshop on the project orientation and planning in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
Source: Lao News Agency