Overview
WFP’s Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Country Strategic Plan (CSP) 2022-2026 aims to strengthen government and community capacity to manage food and nutrition security programmes by 2030, to support the country’s journey to graduate from the rank of least developed countries. WFP delivered results under four Strategic Outcomes: food security, nutrition, resilience, and emergency responses.
Multiple challenges required adaptation under the CSP. In the first quarter of 2022, COVID-19 cases began rising rapidly in Lao PDR. The global food crisis triggered by the conflict in Ukraine, combined with COVID-related restrictions, inflation, and fuel shortages, constrained WFP’s operations and put pressure on people’s livelihoods. Nevertheless, generous contributions from partners kept WFP’s 2022 budget well-funded. This enabled WFP to timely adjust its operations and make up for substantial lost ground at the time the country reopened.
By the end of 2022, WFP was able to implement 86 percent of planned activities through its extensive presence across the country and close partnerships with the Government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with some key achievements as follows:
• After handing over school feeding programmes in over 1,400 schools to the National School Meals Programme under the previous CSP, WFP expanded school feeding to another 707 schools across 17 districts in 2022. These schools are among the high priorities of the Government for the advancement of access to education.
• At the request of the Government, WFP stepped up to provide supplemental food commodities to the national school feeding programme, amid multiple challenges faced by the communities committed to school feeding.
• WFP’s technical assistance to the Ministry of Education and Sports also contributed to the Government issuing a Prime Minister’s Decree, which integrated school feeding into its national budget lines.
• The Agriculture for Nutrition project made improvements in the nutrition status of populations vulnerable to food insecurity and malnutrition, including women of reproductive age and children under 5, through livelihood support and enhanced dietary diversity. This successful nutrition-sensitive agriculture model led to obtaining another seven-year grant for the Government, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and WFP, to expand the project in six vulnerable provinces in 2023.
• WFP strengthened government and community capacities in climate and disaster risk management and climate-smart agriculture. This was done by establishing over 115 community assets through food assistance for assets activities, increasing their resilience to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.
• WFP and partners continued to support the provision of daily meals for returning migrant labourers at state quarantine centres across the country until their closure in mid-2022.
These achievements required close cooperation with the Government, donors and development partners and were only made possible thanks to generous contributions from partners. WFP’s solid partnerships with the Government’s line ministries were demonstrated by their affirmation of the new CSP and collaboration in national food security and nutrition programmes. Despite a restricted space for national civil society, WFP was also able to engage local NGOs as cooperating partners through a "whole-of-society" approach. Partnerships with international NGOs further contributed to coordination, advocacy, and knowledge-sharing. WFP diversified its donor base by partnering with international financial institutions and emerging contributors. In response to the global food crisis affecting Lao PDR, WFP managed to revise its needs-based budget to expand its operational coverage.
WFP continued to prioritize protection and accountability to affected populations and contributed to gender equality and the environment. WFP initiated focus group discussions with programme participants to make operational adjustments, ensure safety, and respect the dignity and integrity of the people it served. To manage the potential harm WFP’s operation may cause to the environment, WFP integrated its environmental and social sustainability framework into the cooperating partnership agreements and provided relevant training to partners and activity participants.