Laos
Context
Laos, one of the world's few remaining communist states, is one of East Asia's poorest countries. Economic growth since the 1990s has reduced poverty levels to some degree, but Laos still relies heavily on foreign aid and investment, especially from Japan, China and Vietnam. Outside the capital, many people live without electricity or access to basic facilities.
Laos was selected as a new WaterAid country programme as it is near the bottom of the UNDP Human Development Index and water supply and sanitation coverage estimates are among the worst in the East Asia and Pacific regions.
WaterAid's plans
- We plan to work with policy-makers at local and national level to help deliver effective water, sanitation and hygiene programmes that will have lasting benefits to poor communities.
- Lack of sanitation is a big problem, so this is where our emphasis will lie, working with government, local organisations and other NGOs to develop community engagement and strategies to deal with the specific issues.
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Laos Sources:
World Bank (2011) World Development Indicators database - databank.worldbank.org, WHO / UNICEF (2010) Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) report 2010, UNDP (2011), Human Development Report 2011 NB. Official statistics tend to understate the extent of water and sanitation problems, sometimes by a large factor. There are not sufficient resources available for accurate monitoring of either population or coverage. Varying definitions of water and sanitation coverage are used and national figures mask large regional differences in coverage.
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What we do
6.2m
1,500
