Resource information
The Government of Lao PDR (GoL)
announced that its 7th national socio-economic development
plan, covering 2010 through 2015, will focus on achieving
the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and exiting least
developed country status by 2020. To achieve these goals,
one of the priority areas in the 7th National Socio-Economic
Development Plan (NSEDP) is to reduce vulnerability to
shocks by providing and improving social safety nets (SSN).
As part of this ongoing work a SSN Workshop was organized in
Vientiane in March 2010, with the following five objectives:
1) improve joint understanding of the current social
protection system (focusing on SSNs); 2) learn from
government about their development priorities for 2011-2015;
3) learn from government and donors about their experiences
with social protection and poverty reduction programs; 4)
discuss various SSN options and identify which options are
appropriate in the current context and given current
priorities; 5) identify potential ways that donors and
development partners can work together to strengthen SSNs in
Lao PDR. This brief note summarizes the findings from the
SSN workshop, and potential next steps.
