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3 July 2007
Australia gives A$14 million to poverty in Laos
The Australian and Lao governments today signed an agreement worth Aus$14 million (110 billion kip) in Australian aid to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR).
The project called the Laos-Australia NGO Cooperation Agreement (LANGOCA) will run over five years, aiming to reduce the vulnerability of the poor, respond to disasters and UXO, while integrating poverty reduction and cross-cutting issues such as gender, HIV/AIDS, environment, and ethnicity into the program.
The programme will provide A$6.1million for disaster management activities, A$5.1million for UXO activities, A$200,000 for research and A$2 million to respond to emerging situations.
Mr Michael Creagh, Charge d'Affaires, Australian Embassy in Vientiane said during the design of the programme there was extensive collaboration between Laos and Australia represented by Ausaid and the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, provincial and district representatives, and NGO partners.
The LANGOCA Program will support partnerships between four Australian NGOs: Oxfam, CARE, World Vision and Save the Children Australia, the Government of Lao PDR and local agencies.
The initial portfolio of activities will be implemented in poor districts of Saravan, Sekong, Vientiane, Sayaboury, Khammouane and Luang Prabang Provinces and will include long term activities over 5 years as well as shorter duration activities over a year. The inclusion of both long and short term activities enables LANGOCA to build on lessons learned, improve the quality and effectiveness of implementation, build sustainability, as well as respond flexibly to emerging priorities in the disaster management and UXO sectors. NGOs and their local government partners will begin implementation of activities this month.
The LANGOCA program is a significant part of Australia’s assistance to Laos. For the financial year 2007-8 which has just commenced, total Australian funding to Laos will be A$27.2M, a 24% increase over the previous year. Funds will support activities across a range of sectors, including building Lao human resources; promoting the growth of the market economy; and reducing the vulnerability of the poor.