Background
The tropical storms and heavy monsoon rains that affected Lao PDR during the months of July and August 2018 caused unprecedented scale of floods and landslides across the country, which resulted in a high level of damages to houses and basic service facilities. The Government data indicated that a total of 31 districts across 11 provinces were affected, with most severe damages recorded in the shelter sector. Attapeu province, in particular, was severely affected as the flash floods led to the collapse of Xe-Pian Xe-Nam Noy hydropower dam, which resulted in destruction of six villages and displacement of over 6,000 people into neighbouring villages (Government of Lao PDR, 2018).
In March 2019, the Government of Japan contributed $2.2 million to the Government of Lao PDR and signed the Grant Agreement with UN-Habitat Lao PDR to assist the recovery of the housing sector in most affected provinces. Following the preliminary assessment, which was validated by Post Disaster Needs Assessment, it was agreed that UN-Habitat would provide 66 permanent houses in Sanamxay district, Attapeu province, and 15 permanent houses in Pakbeng district, Oudomxay province, along with community-based piped water supply systems in respective locations.
Through the construction of resilient houses to withstand recurring natural disasters and capacity building on the Building Back Better (BBB) principles, the project has raised awareness on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction among relevant policymakers and communities concerned, and instilled climate resilience into future infrastructure construction. Provision of community-based piped water supply systems not only contributed to restoring the livelihoods of those affected by natural disasters, but also played a critical role in preventing the further spread of virus at the time of COVID-19 pandemic.
Objectives
To provide permanent houses and water supply systems to the most affected communities by the Tropical Typhoon that hit Lao PDR in Quarter 3 of 2018.
Activities
The Sustainable Cities project was developed within the context of GEF Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot
- Assessment of beneficiaries, needs and gaps on the ground through field visits and consultation;
- Capacity building of Implementing Partners (IPs) through providing technical assistance on assessment, designing, construction, and monitoring as well as conducting a training on BBB principles among IPs and affected communities to instill climate resilience;
- Physical construction of permanent houses and community-based piped water supply systems for the most vulnerable communities affected by floods (Sanamxay, Attapeu) and landslides (Pakbeng, Oudomxay); and
- Knowledge management to produce detailed project briefs, brochures, videos, press release and web stories, etc., to highlight the contribution of the Government of Japan and the impact.
Donors and Key Project Stakeholders
Donor:
The Government of Japan
Key Project Stakeholders:
Department of Housing and Urban Planning (DHUP), Provincial Departments of Public Works and Transport (PDWT) and Nam Papa State-Owned Enterprise (NPSE)
Beneficiaries of the Project
81 Households (486 people) received a title to the houses built
281 Households (1,291 people) received access to 24/7 metered water supply
DPWT staffs in Attapeu and Oudomxay provinces trained in BBB construction
300 Households from affected communities trained in Climate Change and DRR to make the HH more resilient
15+ affected people employed in construction during project implementation
Relevant Links
Flood victims in Lao PDR benefit from Japanese funded housing and water supply
Government of Japan supports recovery efforts in Lao PDR
Video: Construction of houses and water supply systems in flood affected areas of Lao PDR
