Lao People’s Democratic Republic is one of the most climatevulnerable countries in the world, due to its high dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources and its low adaptive capacity. The country has been increasingly affected by natural hazards such as floods, droughts and storms, which often trigger secondary hazards such as landslides, fires, infestations and outbreaks of disease, causing each year loss of life and severe damage to livelihoods and infrastructure. In Lao People’s Democratic Republic, floods are projected to surge with climate change and deforestation. This will create conditions for the spread of vector- and waterborne disease, restricted access to clean water and food, inundation of unsafe sanitation facilities and isolation from health services. Poor communities who live in high-risk areas and already lack access to basic health and social services will be impacted the most.

The project’s main objective was to enhance the climate and disaster resilience of the most vulnerable rural and emerging urban human settlements in southern Lao People’s Democratic Republic by increasing sustainable access to basic infrastructure systems and services, emphasizing resilience to storms, floods, droughts, landslides and disease outbreaks. To achieve its objective, the project combined multisectoral policy, planning and capacity development initiatives. At its core was the delivery of resilient infrastructure and services in target settlements that are characterized by a high exposure to climate hazards. The key stakeholders were the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, provincial and district governments, Lao Women’s Union, Lao Youth Union, Lao Front for Construction (with representation of ethnic groups), hydrometeorological service providers and communities. Local communities were actively engaged throughout the project cycle. The specific needs of women, disabled people and ethnic groups were considered at all stages of the project. This was accomplished through a community-based approach and “People’s Process” – an approach that has been developed through the extensive experience of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) in supporting post-disaster and post-conflict countries in Asia and the Pacific. It places people at the centre of the project by mobilizing and organizing them to provide input and make decisions.

The project helped to strengthen the institutional capacities of the national government and local authorities to increase the resilience of human settlements and health and social infrastructure systems. It enhanced existing vulnerable infrastructure (including health clinics) and constructed new resilient infrastructure in response to climate change impacts. Enhancement of resilient actions were selected based on assessments from field visits and extensive consultations with communities, ministries, local authorities, mass organizations and development partners, including United Nations agencies and civil society organizations. Consultations considered climate sensitivity and its underpinnings of urbanization dynamics and population growth, and underlying vulnerabilities including poverty, limited access to basic services such as water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health, high percentage of ethnic minorities, gender inequalities, weather-dependent livelihoods, and limited adaptive capacity at household, community and governance level. Based on the vulnerability assessments, action plans were developed with specific actions to increase resilience in each village. Examples of actions are: improving prioritized community infrastructure such as health centres, schools, roads or drainage; building small-scale communitybased water infrastructure; and building WASH facilities. Overall, more than 130 000 people in very remote villages in the three southern provinces of Attapeu, Saravane and Sekong gained access to clean water, drainage, sanitation and health-related infrastructure systems. For long-term sustainability, the 189 villages benefited from capacity-building activities on climate resilience and sustainable infrastructure systems, including training on operation and maintenance of climate-resilient infrastructure and implications for land use. Twenty vulnerable development sector services and infrastructure (including health) assets were strengthened in response to climate change impacts, including variability. Three provincial climate change action plans were developed, including implications for land use, water management and infrastructure. Eight district-level climate change action plans, highlighting vulnerabilities of human settlements and infrastructure systems, were developed, and 100 staff from national and sub-national institutions were trained to respond to, and mitigate, the impacts of climate-related events. In addition, a tool was developed in the form of a database containing climate-related data for each of the 189 villages. The data is available to be used at the village level and will inform the prioritization and planning of future actions, increasing the adaptive capacity of these rural villages.

130 000 people gained access to clean water, drainage, sanitation and healthrelated infrastructure systems.