Lao PDR is one of the poorest countries in the Asia Pacific region, with an annual per capita income of US$331 and a poverty rate estimated at 32%. Lao PDR is classified by the UN as least developed country (LDCs). The Country’s commitment is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and to gradually exit from the LDC by year 2020. To attain these goals, development strategies has been articulated in the five-year National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP 2006-10) which provides a comprehensive framework for growth and development, and has a particular focus on the improvement of the poverty situation in the poorest districts.
Measurement and analysis of the poverty situation in the Lao PDR has been drawn heavily from the Lao Expenditure and Consumption Surveys (LECS), which take place every five years, starting in 1992/93. LECS II was conducted in 1997/98 and LECS III was completed in February 2003. Those analysis show that the level of poverty incidence has declined considerably since 1992/1993 to date. However, poverty measurement and analysis is still in the initial stages and the Lao Government recognised that new approaches are needed to enhance the knowledge and understanding of the poverty situation. Therefore, it very much welcomed the idea to develop a socio-economic Atlas, analysing and mapping poverty.
The overall goal of the Lao Poverty Mapping and Socio-Economic Atlas Project is to produce a new socio-economic atlas based on the most recent national socio-economic and environmental data sets. It aims to increase the availability of spatial socio-economic data in quantity and quality in order to facilitate informed policy-making in Lao PDR, and contribute to increase poverty knowledge and develop analytical approach of the Lao Government. The following outputs contribute to the achievement of the goal: (i) spatially disaggregated poverty maps for Laos based on recent household survey and census data are generated, (ii) a comprehensive socio-economic Atlas of Laos is developed, (iii) capacity of the National Statistics Center (NSC), and the Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat (LNMCS) to generate poverty maps, and to develop capacities in the spatial visualization, interpretation and communication of statistical census and survey data in key governmental agencies is strengthened, (iii) the methods and results are disseminated widely among analysts and policy-makers in Laos, in order to increase the acceptance, understanding, and usage of the results.
The key partners of the project are the National Statistics Center (NSC) under the Committee for Planning and Investment (CPI), the Lao National Mekong Committee Secretariat (LNMCS), the Swiss National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The NSC and the LNMCS will be the two main beneficiaries of the overall project, both Institutions will benefit of training in strengthening capacities of its personnel, will be involved in the Atlas production providing socio-economic statistical and spatial data, and will be part of the dissemination process. NCCR North-South will provide strong capacity building in all technical aspects of work, such as poverty mapping method, mapping of socio-economic statistical data, and the analysis and interpretation of spatial patterns in socio-economic statistics, whereas IFPRI will provide technical support in the map production.
SDC recognizes that the development of the Lao Poverty Mapping and the Socio-Economic Atlas will be a highly visible product, needed for better poverty targeting and evidence based policy-making in Lao PDR. It will create value-added knowledge on poverty which will be accessible to Government agencies and development partners alike. With a small but strategic contribution the project will help SDC to start collaboration with two important national partners like the Committee for Planning and Investment (CPI) and the National Statistics Centre (NSC), both core institutions playing an active role in the formulation, monitoring and evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of the National Socio-Economic Development Plans (NSEDPs).
