Attachments
In Numbers
- US$25,440 cash distributed
- US$0.75 million six-month (August 2024 – January 2025) net funding requirements
Operational Updates
• The Government of Lao PDR and WFP signed a Memorandum of Agreement to expand support to school meals programmes through a new initiative funded by the Government of Germany. This support aims to build a system of local food supply for school meals by linking local farmers to schools in the southern provinces of Lao PDR. This will benefit not only children from a nutritional and educational standpoint, but also farmers by creating economic opportunities. An orientation meeting was held in Sekong Province to introduce the initiative to local authorities.
• In July, a series of training for teachers on using the Green Box, a collection of engaging teaching materials on nutrition, were held in Oudomxay and Luang Prabang provinces. The boxes will be delivered to schools implementing school meals programmes in the upcoming school year.
• WFP led a study tour to Sri Lanka to learn about the national policy framework and the implementation of home-grown school meals (local production school meals), with representatives from different ministries joining the trip.
• WFP, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, conducted a series of master training on farmer nutrition school modules for government staff from 16 districts across 6 provinces. The master trainers then trained 291 facilitators from 94 villages, to equip them with the skills to cultivate crops effectively, as well as the knowledge to make informed dietary choices.
• As part of a project supporting smallholder coffee farmers, 212 women in Luang Prabang province each received US$120 for home garden establishment and/or poultry raising.
• WFP organized a training on conducting healthy cooking demonstrations and “Emo-Demos” (interactive games to promote key nutrition-related behaviours) in Oudomxay province. The training included in-class learning and hands-on sessions in target villages where participants learned to prepare four nutrition-focused recipes for pregnant, breastfeeding women, and children under five. Five Emo-Demos aimed to encourage participants to adopt healthier dietary practices.
• WFP participated in a workshop to develop a social and behavioural change module for the University of Health Science, as part of the Applied Nutrition Research and Capacity Building project implemented by the Catholic Relief Services. The integration of such a module into their education will teach future health professionals about strategies to promote healthy behaviours and engage with individuals and communities to support their health and wellbeing.
• WFP, in collaboration with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, organized a training on logistics and supply chain for the disaster management committee members in Luang Prabang Province, as well as a training on community-based disaster risk management for government staff from Phongsaly and Oudomxay provinces. Partnering with Tetra Tech (a consulting firm providing international development services), WFP conducted a study on integrating climate risk data into social registries in Asia and the Pacific to identify gaps and opportunities for climate-smart social protection and develop actionable recommendations. WFP also partnered with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre to conduct a feasibility study on Anticipatory Action in Lao PDR. Representatives from the Government, international organizations and non-governmental organizations provided recommendations during the activity.
• WFP signed a partnership agreement with the Swiss Red Cross and the Lao Red Cross to implement food distributions during the rainy, lean season in Sekong province, where food insecurity is high. Under this initiative, 30,000 people in 75 communities will receive 21-day rations of rice or equivalent to a total of 252mt of rice.
• WFP conducted a training on community feedback mechanism for its field-based staff in Champassak and Xieng Khouang provinces, focusing on how to effectively manage and utilise the feedback mechanism to better align efforts with community needs and expectations.