Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)

Overall, political violence decreased slightly while the number of reported demonstration remained static in the South and Southeast Asian regions last week. The key developments of the last week were ongoing fighting between both Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants and security forces in Afghanistan, a surge in cross-border violence between Indian and Pakistan, as well as a high number of reported fatalities arising from the West Papua National Liberation Army’s actions in Indonesia.

By Rina Chandran

BAN NAPIA, Laos, Dec 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With a long-stemmed ladle, Vanthon pulls shiny, molten metal from a kiln and deftly pours it into a mould carved in a wooden block.

Seconds later, she prises out a silver coloured dove that was once shrapnel from a bomb dropped in Ban Napia village in the north eastern province of Xieng Khouang in Laos, the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world.

INTRODUCTION

The Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) has been a gamechanger for WHO. It allows WHO to respond rapidly to disease outbreaks and health emergencies - often in 24 hours or less. This saves lives and helps prevent unnecessary suffering. Furthermore, a quick response dramatically reduces the costs of controlling outbreaks and emergencies, as well as the wider social and economic impacts.

ABSTRACT

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is like tango, it takes two — the ocean and the atmosphere — to complete. This year, despite widespread above-average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) across the equatorial Pacific Ocean, the atmosphere has not yet responded. Therefore, only “ENSO-neutral” conditions have prevailed in the region so far.

Although the stage is set for the tango, ENSO may or may not materialize, or just slightly influence some parts of the region.

This overview document presents 416 safety, security and access incidents affecting aid delivery in 18 countries in Asia between January 2017 and June 2018. The report is based on incidents identified in open sources and reported by Aid in Danger partner agencies using the Security in Numbers Database (SiND). The focus is on countries where possible changing or emerging risks can be identified. The total number of reported incidents below reflects the willingness of agencies to share information. It is neither a complete count nor representative.

HIV incidence in East Asia and the Pacific remains highest among key populations, and the legal, social and cultural barriers they face contribute to the region’s slow progress in improving HIV responses among children, adolescents and pregnant and breastfeeding women. Alongside successes, including the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Malaysia and Thailand, prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programmes remain sub-optimal in some areas.

ONE ASEAN ONE RESPONSE FOR TYPHOON MANGKHUT

By mid-September it was all-hands-on-deck in the AHA Centre, with the monitoring team tracking the formation of largest storm cell of the year so far, as it made its way across the Pacific Ocean with a population of millions across the Philippines directly in its path. Read more

MONTHLY DISASTER REVIEW AND OUTLOOK

In Numbers

385 metric tons of food assistance distributed

WFP’s operations in Lao PDR are fully funded until April 2019 thanks to the generous support of WFP’s donors

155,387 people assisted

US$ 25,000 in cash distributed

Operational Updates

• WFP continues to support the Government’s response to widespread floods throughout the country.

Survivors of July’s disaster at the Xe Pian Xe Namnoy (PNPC) hydropower project in Champassak, Laos are calling upon the local and national governments for relief, after failing to receive promised allowances for living expenses for the past two month., according to a local official.

Situation Overview

Two tropical storms and sustained heavy rainfall during July, August and September 2018 have affected the entire country, including an estimated 2,400 villages and 132,000 households. 3,616 households have been evacuated, and 55 people reportedly died. Approximately 150 km of national and provincial roads, as well as 133 km of district and 350 km of rural roads and 47 bridges have been damaged.

USAID Okard, a five-year activity funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), enhances the independence and functional ability of persons with disabilities through equal access to health and social services in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

USAID Okard partners with the Lao government and civil society to develop and implement disability inclusive policies and ensure optimal participation so that no one is left behind.

National Institute of Nutrition Organizational and Capacity Strengthening, a two-year activity funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), provides qualified technical assistance to the Government of Laos’ newly formed National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), host of the Lao-American Nutrition Institute (LANI).

Executive Summary

India supports disaster management capacity building efforts in the Asia Pacific region. The country’s role throughout the region as an increasingly capable actor in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance has reinforced India’s role promoting connective partnerships throughout the region.

Guidebook for Urban Resilience was developed to provide guidance to the national and local government officials in ASEAN Member States (AMS) in charge of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Urban Planning and Management. With this report, the officials can understand urban disaster risk, issues and countermeasures against the urban disaster risks or critical points regarding to DRR, mainstreaming DRR into urban planning and management including regulation of land use and development through reading the guidebook.

Summary

• With the rainy season coming to an end, the disaster damages and losses can be expected to have stabilized. There has been no recent update of Government figures. 2,382 villages, 126,736 families, 616,145 people are reported as affected. 1,779 Houses are destroyed and 514 damaged. 90,000 ha of paddy fields and 11,000 ha of other plantations have been destroyed, and 630 km of roads and 47 bridges have been damaged.

By Roseanne Gerin

The Lao dam disaster in July that resulted in heavy flooding in two provinces that left at least 40 people dead and displaced 7,000 others has drawn both regional and international attention to the potential dangers of Southeast Asia’s current dam-building spree.

With plans for 11 large dams either proposed or under construction on the mainstream of the lower Mekong River in Laos and Cambodia, and for about 140 dams on Mekong tributaries in Laos, more disasters are likely to occur, experts say.

Animal health emergencies continue to erupt around the world at an ever-increasing pace. Increased global travel, human migration and informal trade of animals and animal products continue to intensify the risk of disease spread. Infectious diseases and other animal health threats have the potential to move rapidly within a country or around the world leading to severe socio-economic and public health consequences. For zoonoses that develop the ability for human to human transmission, an early response to an animal health emergency could prevent the next pandemic.

A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

The collapse of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy dam on 23 July 2018 as a result of Tropical Storm Son Tinh that had made land fall days earlier, has caused massive flash floods that affected 13,100 people and displaced 6,000 people, leaving 39 dead and around 97 missing (according to UN Situation Report no. 9).

Executive Summary