Savannakhet, Lao PDR June 2020 –UN-Habitat has partnered with the Government of Lao PDR to build climate and disaster resilience in the country’s central region with funding from the Adaptation Fund.

The USD 5.5 million project, which was launched on 5 June with members from local, regional and national Government, will lead to the development of two town level master plans integrating climate change adaptation into socially inclusive infrastructure and benefit some 57,000 people. Two climate resilient water supply systems will be built to ensure continuous water supply and climate change will be mainstreamed into urban planning through trainings and other capacity building activities

The ‘Building climate and disaster resilience capacities of vulnerable small towns in Lao PDR’ project aims to improve resilience in small towns along the east-west economic corridor of Savannakhet province, in the central region. The project will be implemented by UN-Habitat and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, their respective departments in Savannakhet, and provincial authorities.

The project is the second stage of an ambitious intervention started in 2017 in the southern provinces of Attapeu, Sekong and Saravan.

At the inception meeting the Deputy Director General of the Department of Water Supply, Ministry of Public Works and Transport, Phoukheo Thammavong, highlighted that the Adaptation Fund project will be instrumental in building climate change-related resilience in the two districts. The Chief of Cabinet of Savannakhet province, Phoukhong Phommachak reaffirmed the commitment of the local authorities to improve access to basic services and their determination to provide support for a successful implementation of the project.