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Wat-Sisaket © Sarah MacBeth

Plain of Jars © Piet van der Poel

Millennium Development Goals

Shifting cultivation area, Nam Ha, Laos © Piet van der Poel

Laos is the poorest and least developed country in Southeast Asia. Almost three-quarters of the population live on less than US$2 a day and food security is an ongoing problem faced by subsistence farmers in the northern mountainous region. The majority of rural communities lack access to safe water and sanitation and development plans are challenged by projections that the population will double in less than 25 years.

Laos ranks as a low income, highly indebted poor country, centrally managed by a state that has demonstrated a weak capacity for public service delivery and infrastructure development. While the Lao government has ambitiously committed itself to shedding its "least developed country" status by 2020, the country remains heavily dependent on assistance from multilateral agencies, with over 70% of public investment sourced from aid.

In a progress report published in 2004, the government expressed the view that its National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy contains targets which are consistent with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The same applies to the higher level National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006-2010. The central target for the MDGs in Laos is to reduce the number of people below the poverty line to 24% by 2015.

Politics

That Dam Stupa, Laos © Sarah MacBeth

Throughout its early history, Laos was occupied in turn by contesting kingdoms and tribes. In the late 19th century, it fell to the Siamese (Thai) before being yielded to the French in 1890, who saw its value as a buffer between French Indochina and what was then Siam (Thailand).

Although officially independent from 1953, Laos' political scene was dominated by various factions - most notably the royalists and communists. While a post-independence coalition government was formed, the communist Pathet Lao were able to seize the reigns of leadership when North Vietnamese allies overpowered Saigon during the Vietnamese-American War, resulting in the royalists' exodus to France.

Laos, along with Cambodia, was inducted into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997, which marked a step away from its diplomatic marginalization and towards regional integration. President Choummaly Sayasone was appointed by the National Assembly in June 2006. He is also the head of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP) and the one-party regime maintains its hold on power.

The state still identifies closely with the communist brotherhood of Vietnam and China, influences which have insulated it from rapid political reform. After the military, the main support for the current leadership comes from these neighbours, who substitute for the leadership vacuum created by internal strife within the LPRP.

Monks at Luang Prabang, Laos © Yip Seng Leong

While the state remains the ultimate arbiter of decisions in the political, economic and social arenas, it faces a number of fundamental challenges ranging from external pressures of regional integration to development and aid indebtedness. Numerous cases of internal dissent were documented by the foreign press in the late-1990s, speculatively attributed to anti-regime groups and pro-democratic elements.

Lao civil society is constricted and limited to mass mobilization organizations which buttress the political apparatus. Local voluntary or community-based organizations are virtually non-existent as the government discourages their formation, though International NGOs can operate if they maintain a non-contentious, non-advocacy role.
Human Rights

Basic freedoms, including the rights to freedom of expression, association and religion, remain severely restricted. Reports of appalling prison conditions and torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, particularly of political prisoners, surface from time to time. The ill-treatment of members of the Hmong minority group (as a result of its association with US forces during the Vietnam war) has drawn considerable international attention. Members of this group are either in hiding or have fled across the border into Thailand. There is concern for the fate of those who have emerged from the jungle to surrender to government forces.

The cross-border trafficking of Lao youths and ethnic minority women, particularly to Thailand, for financial or sexual exploitation is on the rise. The government has been criticized by watchdog groups for its diffused efforts, though the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has tried to address this through partnerships with other relevant departments.
Health

Kids near Udomxai, Laos © Piet van der Poel

Given the poorly developed medical infrastructure and inaccessibility of numerous remote communities, the major health concerns amongst children prioritized by UNICEF continue to be malnutrition and iodine deficiency. Rates of child and maternal mortality are high - 89% of babies are delivered without the assistance of a trained health worker.

In spite of being surrounded by countries with burgeoning HIV/AIDS rates, Laos has experienced low incidence. However, fears surround the country's gradual global integration with the threats that migration and increased travel might pose. Laos has an unusually high prevalence of tuberculosis.
War and Peace

Uxo's at Jar field, Laos © Piet van der Poel

As a tragic consequence of the Vietnamese-American War, Laos is known as the most heavily bombed and mined country in history, with the most severely affected provinces being Savannakhet, Xieng Khouang, Saravane and Khammouane. The country bears a double burden of ongoing casualties because of scattered unexploded ordnance (UXOs), which renders much of the land too treacherous to cultivate, exacerbating the already problematic food security situation. INGOs such as Handicap International are working with populations in the target zones and the Lao National UXO program (UXO LAO) is the national government agency responsible for mine/UXO clearance; its work is followed closely by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Culture

Luang Prabang Wat, Laos © Piet van der Poel

There is a notable and growing process of Thai-ification, as a result of the strong media influence from Thailand. In fact, cultural differences between the Thai and the Lao majority are no greater than those

Tribal village E Luang Namtha, Laos © Piet van der Poel

within the various ethnic minorities inside Laos, which can be broadly categorized as the Lao Loum (lowland Lao, 65%), Lao Theung (midland Lao, 25%), and Lao Sung (upland Lao, 10%). These are broad groupings which mask distinctions between smaller groups and this diversity hampers development of a national identity, a difficulty which the LPRP strives to address through its policies.
Information and Media

Overall, physical infrastructure is basic and lacking in many areas. IT projects have been largely driven by international agencies such as the International Development Research Centre and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in collaboration with and officially sanctioned by the state. They are making limited headway as literacy rates are low.

Another major limitation to the spread of ICT accessibility and usage is the dearth of Lao language sites and content, though the Lao government has made some strides in creating an online presence through the Science Technology Environment Agency of the Prime Minister's Office.

Press freedom remains restricted and information sources are closely managed by the state. An English language newspaper, the Vientiane Times, is targeted at the development community, expatriates and investors.
Economy

Vang Vieng Market, Laos © Yip Seng Leong

In the mid-1980s, the state revamped its socialist economy, undertaking decentralization and easing regulations on foreign investment which resulted in an average annual growth rate of 7.0% between the years of 1988-2001. The Asian financial crisis caused a fall in the years that followed. Physical infrastructure remains extremely basic, with an absence of railroads and a limited electrical grid. 50.0% of GDP derives from subsistence agriculture and 85.0% of the population lives in rural areas. Programmes to reduce the planting of opium have been very successful, with production down by 93% in the period 1998-2005, but there are worries that provision of alternative livelihoods has been insufficient to regard the problem as irreversible.

Sunset at Muang Kasi, Laos © Piet van der Poel

Foreign Direct Investment in Laos has been unstable, with steep upward swings being attributable to interest in hydropower. Other industries are tin and gypsum mining, timber, agricultural processing, construction, garments and tourism. The major investors in the Lao economy are Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and France, but with its limited domestic market, it is a struggle for Laos to attract international interest to match that of its larger neighbour, Vietnam.

In addition to being engaged in the struggle of attracting foreign investment without forfeiting its autonomy, the LPRP has attempted to build bridges with the Lao diaspora, in the hope of rallying their expertise and finances to support the state-led development process.
Environment

Kuang Xi Waterfall, Laos © Yip Seng Leong

The Lao government sees hydropower as the main source of future income for the country, negotiating a tenuous balance between the environmental impacts and possible economic gains to be reaped from the ventures. About 30 new dam developments of varying size are planned over the next decade and it is estimated that hydropower will contribute nearly 5% of exports by 2010.

Disagreements about the largest of these projects, the Nam Theun II (NT2) dam which will displace over 6,000 people, have spanned a decade. However, in May 2005 the World Bank’s decision to guarantee loans of $1 billion has brought in commercial and development bank monies to finance the construction, expected to be complete in 2009. This has come under fire from numerous agencies for the questionable financial viability of the project, as well as the high ecological and environmental impact that it will have in southern Laos.



The OneWorld Laos Guide was first published in 2004 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Alicia Altorfer-Ong

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