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Lao PDR: Floods - Humanitarian Country Team Information Bulletin No.5 (as of 2 November 2018)

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Lao PDR
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UNCT Laos PDR
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Summary

  • With the rainy season coming to an end, the disaster damages and losses can be expected to have stabilized. There has been no recent update of Government figures. 2,382 villages, 126,736 families, 616,145 people are reported as affected. 1,779 Houses are destroyed and 514 damaged. 90,000 ha of paddy fields and 11,000 ha of other plantations have been destroyed, and 630 km of roads and 47 bridges have been damaged.

  • The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare presented the findings of the ongoing Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) on damages, losses and recovery needs to the National Disaster Prevention and Control Committee on 23 October, one month after launch of the assessment. The PDNA, which covers the entire country, is facilitated by the United Nations, the World Bank and the European Union. Total damage reported added up to US$ 147 million. Total losses – the changes in economic flows, including higher costs in production and lower revenue – added up to US$ 225 million. The most affected sectors overall are agriculture and transport, which contribute to 90% of damages and losses. The most affected provinces are Vientiane Capital, Khammouane,
    Huaphanh and Attapeu. Attapeu is most affected per capita.

  • Based on the damages and losses and taking into consideration risk reduction and resilience-building, the emerging needs have been calculated at US$ 493 million. Building on these findings, the Government will develop a recovery framework, which will prioritize the needs and describe how the recovery will take place across sectors, with a special emphasis on financing the recovery.

  • The PDNA results will feed into the discussions at the National Assembly starting on 20 November; a preconsultation to the 2018 Round Table Meeting dedicated to post-disaster recovery foreseen to take place in the course of November; and the main Round Table Meeting expected to take place on 4-5 December. It will also inform the Mid-Term Review of 8th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, which is under finalization. The full PDNA Report is scheduled to be available by end November. The recovery framework is expected to be ready early next year.

  • The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare’s detailed presentation to the National Disaster Prevention and Control Committee, with some figures adjusted since its 23 October meeting, is annexed to this information bulletin. You can find the summary of findings on the next page.

  • With the recovery phase well underway, the Humanitarian Country Team continues to support the relief efforts in the disaster affected areas. A new six-month programme has been launched with US$ 3.5 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to provide humanitarian assistance to 110,000 households in the six most affected districts of Khammouane province. Expected results are improved nutrition through cash transfers (WFP), the containment of disease and emergency healthcare (WHO), the distribution of seed packets to enable resumption of winter cropping for subsistence (FAO), and debris management to enable irrigated agriculture and resumption of health and government service, as well as education concerning unexploded ordnance in flooded areas (UNDP). Around US$ 7 million have been contributed to the Humanitarian Country Team’s Disaster Response Plan, which complements the Government’s response. The total budget of the Disaster Response Plan is US$ 43 million.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.