Introduction
Lao PDR has so far reported 22 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the last three imported cases which were reported on 10th and 24th July 2020, three months after the previous cluster of cases. As yet, no deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded. All the cases have a known epidemiological link or travel history from an affected country. The Lao government had already started to prepare and implement restrictions on mass gathering and school closures before the first cases were detected in March, while making efforts to prepare health systems for large scale community transmission of COVID-19. Soon after the first case, the government implemented a nationwide lockdown, restricting international borders and closing traditional border crossings. The lockdown measures have gradually been lifted since 18th May and the government is assisting the public in adopting new preventative practices.
To reduce the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in Lao PDR, preventative measures to reduce the spread of transmission needs to be at the forefront of the national COVID-19 response strategy, allowing the health system valuable time to better prepare facilities and train staff for any outbreaks. Movement restrictions and the promotion of social distancing, stemming the level mass gatherings and closely monitoring points of entry and arrival quarantine strategies are essential steps in slowing the virus and protecting the limited health system.
However, the public health risk driven approach to gradually reduce the lockdown measures has slowed economic activity and it is now apparent that government services, businesses, supply chains and communities will need to adapt practices to the ‘new normal’ of living with the COVID-19 virus. It is now critical that the UN assists multiple sectors, ministries and industries adjust to the new normal, incorporating and adapting the health sector learnings in infection prevention and control to ensure that people can return to work and public spaces in a low risk environment. This complemented with the presented economic repositioning and emerging opportunities may provide the necessary platform to bring some short-term stability to the local economy.
The UNDS’s rapid impact assessments and more in-depth reviews conducted between April and July 2020 have highlighted the considerable human, social and economic impacts of the pandemic in Lao PDR.
Thousands of people have been pushed deeper, or back into, poverty. Large portions of the population, especially in rural areas, are facing food insecurity. 1.7 million schoolchildren have had their learning set back. Fragile businesses, supply chains and remittance inflows are collapsing, particularly in key sectors of the Lao economy that have previously accommodated large percentages of the labour force. Huge numbers have lost their jobs and their livelihoods, not least migrant workers inside and outside of the country. Furthermore, this unprecedented crisis compounds previous shocks Lao PDR has experienced in recent years, such as severe flooding, drought, animal diseases and pest outbreaks. The situation has revealed and exacerbated pre-existing inequalities and past development failures, with vulnerable groups disproportionately affected.
To meet the considerable and multifarious challenges posed by COVID-19, both in health and socioeconomically, a strong and ambitious response from the Lao government and its partners is needed. This UN Socio-Economic Response Plan (SERP), prepared by the UN Lao PDR Country Team builds on the global UN Framework for the Immediate Socio-Economic Response to COVID-19. It asserts the need to build back better, stronger and greener, while leaving no-one behind and fostering social cohesion. This SERP seeks to outline the key priorities that are required to provide immediate relief and lay the foundations for an inclusive and sustainable recovery. Longer-term development challenges will continue to be addressed through the forthcoming 9 th NSEDP 2021-2025, which this offer is designed to complement.
A strong, sustainable, and inclusive recovery relies on the Lao government, supported by its development and private sector partners, embarking on a new sustainable development pathway, simultaneously combining recovery actions with new longer-term directions to provide equitable opportunities, enhance resilience, and pursue a carbon-free future. The UNDS in Lao PDR therefore encourages a response based on the priorities outlined in this document, and offers its support, while also emphasising that the current and looming economic challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic be treated with similar urgency and decisiveness as the health crisis was at the start of the outbreak.