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2019
- 4 July
- By Siraphat, Pikul, Nootjareerat
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - International Nurses Day Celebration promotes patient-centred care in Luxembourg supported hospitals
Each year in May, it has become a worldwide tradition to celebrate the founding of modern nursing as introduced by Ms Florence Nightingale, who gained fame for her pioneering work in training and organising nursing care during the Crimean War (1853-56), during which she cared for wounded soldiers.

In the Lao PDR, three provincial hospitals in the provinces of Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Vientiane being supported by the LAO/027 programme. These provincial hospitals provide medical, surgical and obstetrical referral care for a total population of 1.1 million, as well as technical supervision to 28 district hospitals and 178 primary care health centres across the three provinces.

The above-mentioned hospitals have also embraced the International Nurses Day Celebration tradition since several years, to promote the importance of a modern nurses’ professional corps, which acts as an interface between doctors and patients, rendering quality hospital care effective and responsive to needs and aspirations of patients.

Poster of Nurse Day Celebration 2019 in Bolikhamxay hospital.

The LAO/027 programme has been progressively upgrading the medical and nursing practice and management in these hospitals to modern standards, through the provision of equipment, renovations, scholarships and intensive in-situ training, coaching and supervision by a dedicated team of external senior nurse-midwife experts since its start in 2014. Health care has been upgraded equally in district and village health facilities, for both curative and preventive care, with a focus on mother’s, new-born’s and children’s health.

Nurses Day Celebration 2019 in Bolikhamxay provincial hospital

Nurses Day Celebration 2019 in Khammouane provincial hospital

The 2019 Nurses Day celebrations in the hospitals of Bolikhamxay and Khammouane were held in May, presided by high-level administrative and sanitary officials, and were attended by medical doctors, nurse professionals and students.

Oral presentations and posters highlighted the progress accomplished over the last year in nursing techniques and organisation, and allowed nursing staff to take pride in their work and renew their commitment towards ad continuous quality improvement mechanism that will be an ongoing challenge for many years to come.

Joyful advocacy for hand-disinfection practice among nurse students, during the celebration in Khammouane hospital.

Officials learn from poster presentations prepared by Bolikhamxay nurses.

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- 24 June
- By Neira RAMIC
- Asia Office LAO/029
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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LAOS - Breaking ground for new Tourism and Hospitality Practical Training Facility in Vang Vieng
A groundbreaking ceremony was held for a new Tourism and Hospitality practical training facility on the Vang Vieng campus of the Vientiane Province Technical College on 24 June 2019.

This multi-purpose building will be used as a practical training facility for students enrolled on tourism and hospitality programmes and at the same time can function as a small hotel enterprise offering six guest rooms for let, providing students with the opportunity to hone their practical skills in a real work environment.

The construction and equipping of the practical training facility is one of the ‘improving training facilities and standards of TVET and IVET schools and colleges’ initiatives under the Skills for Tourism LAO/029 project, which is co-financed by the Governments of Lao PDR, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Switzerland, and implemented by the Ministry of Education and Sports of Lao PDR and LuxDev, the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency. The United Nations Office for project Services was contracted to provide a ‘turnkey’ service covering the design, construction and fitting out of the facility transitioning the newly constructed building into a functional Tourism and Hospitality practical training facility.

Vang Vieng is a flagship tourism destination in Lao PDR, however the location lacks a modern vocational training facility for tourism and hospitality. Therefore, the new construction will host the Tourism and Hospitality Department of the Vientiane Province Technical College, offering new and improved tourism and hospitality programmes in a contemporary environment. At the same time, Vang Vieng’s strategic location facilitates access to potential students from the surrounding area.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Kongsy Sengmany, Vice Minister of Education and Sports, said that “developing tourism and ensuring that Lao people are able to take full advantage of the employment opportunities the sector offers is a priority for the country and is in line with the vision and objectives of the eighth National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2016 - 2020 and Lao PDR Tourism Strategy 2006 – 2020. The construction of a modern practical skills training facility offers access to better training which in turn improves the employability of Tourism and Hospitality graduates”.

During the groundbreaking ceremony, H.E Mr Jean-Paul Senninger, Ambassador designate of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, also welcomed the initiative stating that “the practical training facility will increase the possibility for ensuring the labour-market orientation of programmes. Delivering training relevant to the workplace, respected by employers and in high demand by students will support Lao PDR to reach international standards in the area of tourism and hospitality.”

Mrs Barbara Jäggi Hasler, Deputy Director of Cooperation/Head of Employment and Skills Domain, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, commented that “providing Vientiane Province Technical College with a modern practical skills training facility will have many benefits, especially in terms of access. Students from the ethnic minority secondary school located on the outskirts of Vang Vieng town will be able to attend Tourism and Hospitality programmes. The offer of relevant courses will also most likely increase the demand and number of students enrolled.”

The practical training facility is expected to be completed and ready to welcome Tourism and Hospitality students in October 2019.

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- 23 June
- By Frank HAEGEMAN
- Asia Office LAO/027
- Health
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LAOS - Reinforcement of public funding and financial management
On 15 May 2019, HE Prof Dr Bounkong Syhavong, Minister of Health of Lao PDR, presided an inter-ministerial meeting of the National Council overseeing the Lao-Luxembourg LAO/027 Programme’s “Joint Participatory Mechanism” (JPM).

Women and children attending village health clinic

The JPM is an innovative financing mechanism, by which the LAO/027 Programme multiplies provincial government budgets annually on a common imprest account, for the timely provision of mother and child health services in three central provinces of Laos (population 1.1 Million). Application of the JPM multiplier formula is based upon well-defined budget-activity plans, timely imprest account deposits by the government and detailed target indicators on service quality, outputs and outcome.

The JPM began in 2018, following a previous 10-year experience of direct delegation agreement for Funds and Implementation.

Joint Participatory Machanism National Secretariat national review meeting 1st quarter 2019

The JPM aligns with the provincial budgetary planning cycles and provides effective and sufficient funding at the beginning of the fiscal year for the entire operational year. A transparent participative provincial planning process allows all district health system facilities (178 village health centres, 28 district hospitals) to receive operational budgets effectively and timely, through quarterly budget replenishment cycles.

Provincial training on Joint Participatory Mechanism financial management training

The National Council meeting hosted high-ranking representatives from the Ministries of Health and Planning and Investment, as well as the Resident Representative of the World Health Organisation and Mr Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’affaires a.i. Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane Laos.

Joint Participatory Machanism National Council Annual Meeting chaired by HE HE Prof Dr Bounkong Syhavong, Minister of Health of Lao PDR (thirth from the left) and co-chaired by Mr. Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane (seond from the left)

During the recent meeting, the Council Members reviewed the results achieved during the first full year of JPM activities implementation in 2018, for a total budget of 1,082,136 EUR (20% MOH, 80% LAO/027 contributions), and endorsed the reports of the independent external auditors, stating a reconciled disbursement rate of 99% for the three provinces combined.

The National Council furthermore examined the first quarterly progress report of the ongoing 2019-year budget-activity plans, and approved the provincial activity proposals for the 2020 budget cycle (total provincial and Luxembourg amount combined of 1,317,952 EUR)

A JPM National Secretariat, embedded in the Ministry of Health, monitors quarterly the provincial results towards the achievement of the national targets for SDG 3 (Sustainable Development Goals for Health) and the national MCH policies and strategies. The Secretariat’s work is executed through the national Health Management information system and completed with supportive supervision and quarterly review and planning meetings.

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- 14 June
- By Darius STEIN
- Asia Office VIE/401 VIE/433
- Environment and climate change
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VIETNAM - The Energy Efficient Lighting Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) pilot in Hue City (VIE/401) and Climate Adaptation and Resilience in TT Hue Province (VIE/433) projects take off.
The first Steering Committee for the projects ‘Energy Efficient Lighting Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) pilot in Hue City’ (VIE/401) and ‘Climate Adaptation and Resilience in TT Hue Province’ (VIE/433) was held on May 10th 2019 and brought together representatives from the Luxembourg Embassy, LuxDev, Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, Hue’s Provincial People’s Committee as well as other relevant VIE/401 and VIE/433 project stakeholders.

First Project Steering Committee Meeting for VIE/401 and VIE/433

VIE/401 and VIE/433 are the first projects implemented by LuxDev with funding from the Luxembourg Climate and Energy Fund (CEF). Furthermore, they are considered to be stepping stones for two higher level climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in the future, to be funded by International Climate Finance (ICF), with possible additional Luxembourg funding.

VIE/401 stands out as LuxDev’s first Energy Efficiency project involving the replacement of conventional lights with less energy consuming Light Emitting Diodes (LED) lights. Through the installation of more than 22,000 LEDs, the project is estimated to achieve total cumulative energy savings of 17.7GWh, with associated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) reductions of 14,405 tCO2 up to 2029.

A key element of VIE/401 is the development of a robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system. Measuring the GHG emission impact of mitigation interventions is critical for the government, to report to the relevant international bodies such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) against national commitments on emission reduction targets, or in support of national proposals for ICF support.

During inception, the project already completed substantial technical work, in particular related to the selection of most suitable locations for LED hardware investments in Hue City. Based on strict criteria and in-house data analysis and verification, a list of appropriate schools and streets for replacement of conventional lighting with LED were selected.

Technical staff from LuxDev and Hue City Construction Investment Project Management Board surveying the lighting status of streets in Hue City.

An important insight gained from surveys done is that conventional inefficient fluorescent lamps are still primarily used in classrooms, and that there is a lack of awareness among students and school staff on the difference between conventional and LED lights, and on the importance of adequate lighting levels classrooms.

Technical staff from LuxDev and Hue City Construction Investment Project Management Board and the Hue Department of Education and Training surveying the lighting status of schools in Hue City.

The LED hardware installation and awareness raising interventions of VIE/401 have become even more relevant in the context of the new Vietnam Energy Efficiency Programme 2019-2030, launched in March 2019. Some of the objectives in that programme are that 60% of schools are reached with communication and teaching activities on efficient use of energy, and 90% of provinces have an energy efficiency plan by 2025. LuxDev is committed to assist the provincial government of Hue in achieving these targets.
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- 5 June
- By Neira RAMIC
- Asia Office LAO/029
- Education, vocationnal training and employment
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LAOS - Skills for Tourism Project (LAO/029) gets good marks at its mid-term review
Government officials, private sector representatives and development partners met at a debriefing workshop in Vientiane last week for the Mid-Term Review of the Skills for Tourism Project (LAO/029). Being half-way through the project’s implementation phase, an external evaluation team from B,S,S. Economic Consultants (Basel, Switzerland) conducted an assessment of the results achieved by the project to date. The assessment focused on four pillars, namely the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and sustainability of the project results. The mid-term review is considered an important milestone and learning opportunity to reflect on what has been successful so far and what aspects of the project may further attention.

The Skills for Tourism Project, which supports improvements in tourism and hospitality vocational education and skills development in Lao PDR, has a particular emphasis on supporting people from disadvantaged backgrounds to acquire the skills needed to work in hotels, restaurants and the greater tourism economy.

In his opening remarks, Mr Nouphanh Outsa, Director General of the Technical and Vocational Education Department, Ministry of Education and Sports, highlighted the importance of workforce development to improve the performance of the tourism sector in the country, and acknowledged the valuable contribution of the Skills for Tourism Project in this regard.

Mrs Barbara Jäggi Hasler, Deputy Director of Cooperation/Head of Employment and Skills Domain for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) emphasized the substantial achievements of the project since it began in September 2016, including support to the Labour Market Information System and the development of competency-based programmes and curricula.

Also speaking at the review meeting, Ms Julie Wagner, Attachée at the Embassy of Luxembourg in Lao PDR commented that investment in vocational education and skills development is of utmost importance to take advantage of the demographic window of opportunity for the young Lao population and, since the project is now half-way through its implementation, it is a good moment to review what has been done and how to proceed in the future.

During their mission in Lao PDR, the experts from B,S,S. Economic Consultants interviewed over 30 different stakeholders from public and private sector as well as training providers, employers, graduates and teachers. The team travelled to three different locations, including Luang Prabang, Pakse and Vientiane Capital.

The overall assessment of the evaluation team is that the project is highly relevant, well managed and likely to achieve its goals by 2021. The project is aligned with the National Socio-Economic Development Plan 2016 - 2020, as well as the Education Sector and TVET Development plans of Lao PDR. It is likely that the objective of 5,000 beneficiaries, who participated in vocational education and skills development programmes supported by the project, will be surpassed. However, the project also faces challenges, especially in terms of sustainability of results after its completion. This is of particular concern in terms of ensuring the sustainable financing of vocational education and skills development in Lao PDR in the medium- to long-term.

The report of the mid-term review will be completed by the end of June and the findings and recommendations further considered by the Governments of Lao PDR, the Grandy Duchy of Luxembourg and Switzerland.
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- 3 June
- By Sandrine THINNES
- Asia Office MYA/002
- Socio-economic development
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MYANMAR - Harnessing the power of water for a sustainable source of energy
A natural occurring split in the river near Nam Phu village created an opportunity to construct a hydro-power weir to run two 5 kW low head turbines. The masonry work incorporated much of the natural features and used mostly stones collected from the site.

The villagers of Nam Phu were very well organized and each household sent up to two persons to help the skilled mason crew on a daily basis. The volunteers did an incredible job, especially, as all the construction material had to be hand carried from the drop-off point down through the jungle to the construction site down by the river (one way took 45 min walking).

Most impressive is that the works were completed within 3 weeks. The construction of the weir, the connection of the turbines, the installation of the electric lines, and the connection of the households went all smoothly which contributed greatly to the success of this activity.

The test run of the turbines went also very well and the station is now putting out a constant flow of 220 to 230 V. Each of the 52 households in Nam Phu village received 3 LED lightbulbs (3 W), a switchboard with 3 electric plugs, and 15 streetlights were installed throughout the village.

Prior to the hydropower, only a few households were able to afford a solar panel and some electric appliances like a TV/DVD set. Unfortunately, the power to run those sets was never sufficient from the solar panel and so those appliances collected dust. On the first evening of testing the new power source, those TV/DVD sets came out and people gathered to enjoy to sing a song, listen to music or watching a movie from a scratchy DVD.

The villagers of Nam Phu were also beneficiaries of a door-to-door village water system. At the beginning of the year, most villagers did not believe they would be able to enjoy water at their house and electricity. Sometimes, dreams can come true.

Project MYA/002 will construct more systems at similar locations without too much interference to the natural environment or landscape.

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- 16 May
- By Do Hoang Le Cam
- Asia Office VIE/032
- Inclusive and innovative finance
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VIETNAM - Highlights of the Capacity Building in Finance Sector Project Third Steering Committee Meeting
On 8th May 2019 the Capacity Building in Finance Sector Project VIE/032 hosted its third Steering Committee (SC) meeting in Hanoi Vietnam. The meeting was chaired by the State Securities Commission (SSC) Chairman – Mr. Tran Van Dzung and co-chaired by Mr. Sam Schreiner – Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Luxembourg in Vientiane. The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Luxembourg Embassy in Bangkok and the Luxembourg Development Agency, LuxDev.

Key project stakeholders gathered to discuss implementation progress, challenges and endorse the annual workplan and budget for 2019. The meeting also discussed strategic initiatives extending beyond the next year.

“2018 was seen as a successful year for the project with a number of activities having made remarkable progress, particularly the drafting of the revised Securities Law which will be submitted twice to the National Assembly for debates in 2019”, said Mr. Dzung, Chairman of SSC.

Both representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment in the meeting expressed their support to VIE/032 saying they would facilitate any administrative formalities for the formal approval of the project extension.

Mr. Marc de Bourcy – Deputy Head of Mission of the Luxembourg Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand - representatives from other national beneficiaries such as the National Financial Supervisory Commission (NFSC) and the Securities Research and Training Center also attended the meeting as observers.

While NFSC’s Ms. Duong Thu Phuong – Director of International Affairs Department - showed her strong appreciation for Luxembourg’s support in strengthening the capacity of NFSC’s key personnel and helping them to fulfil functions as assigned by the Prime Minister through various technical interventions; the meeting also spent time conferring on how to leverage Luxembourg expertise and support.

At the end of the meeting, participants were invited to watch a video clip “VIE/032 – 2018 At A Glance”.

To watch the video clip: please click here

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- 3 May
- By Cynthia Rutare and Nadine Graas
- Asia Office MYA/002
- Socio-economic development
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MYANMAR - Going digital for data collection in remote villages
The Annual Project Survey of MYA/002 Project took place from 23 to 31 of March in the 5 Tract area of Kyaing Tong township in East Shan State. This was the first time the project MYA/002 used an open-source digital system (KoboToolbox) for collecting valuable information from households and village chiefs in the project target area. The application allows to reduce the need for data cleaning and speeds up the data analysis process.

Young motivated people from the project area were trained for two days as enumerators to conduct interviews with the households and use the tablets to record responses. Supervised by project staff, the two teams managed to visit 22 sample villages over 7 days. The remote area is very diverse in ethnicity (Lahu, Akha, Shan), culture and religion with Buddhist, Christian and animist beliefs co-existing. Even though the enumerators were from the same area, communication was at times challenging given that the accents of the two main ethnic tribes, Lahu and Akha, vary significantly from one village to another.

The first results from the survey look encouraging, 94% of the people interviewed were either highly satisfied or satisfied with the project activities so far. Only 9 % of households experienced rice shortage compared to 13.7% during the baseline survey conducted in 2017. Access to water and electricity also increased significantly in the surveyed area.

Watch the video : click here

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- 29 April
- By Do Hoang Le CAM
- VIE/032
- Inclusive and innovative finance
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VIETNAM - Luxembourg supports early warning system for Vietnamese Financial Market
From 8 – 12 April 2019, Project VIE/032 and Vietnam’s National Supervision Commission (NFSC) jointly organised a training workshop on an Early Warnings System for the financial market in Vietnam.

The five-day workshop, led by Banque Centrale de Luxembourg’s Senior Economics Consultant, provided concepts and a range of risk management tools to NFSC key officials. The workshop aimed to improve forecasting capability as well as analyse and assess risks to build an effective early warning system.

The trainees had opportunities to apply early warning system models and work on the pros and cons of each model in a policy assessment process.

A tool such as an early warning system is not only vital for maintaining the stability of Vietnam's financial market but also ensures that NFSC can fully play their rolein supervising and assessing risks for the entire financial sector: from banking, securities, insurance to a large number of financial corporations, as well as in building financial forecast models.

Based on their experience with this course, NFSC will consider developing an adaptive model that meets the needs of Vietnam’s financial market based on the skills and knowledge transferred through Luxembourg know how.

Watch the video : click here

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- 12 April
- By Raja CHOWDHRY
- Asia Office VIE/034
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VIETNAM - Inauguration of the new Agro - Forestry Faculty building at Bac Kan Vocational College
On 28th of February 2019, the official opening ceremony of the new agro-forestry building at Bac Kan Vocational College was held with the ribbon-cutting by Mr. Sam Schreiner, Chargé d’Affaires, Luxembourg Embassy in Laos and Mr. Pham Duy Hung, Vice – chairman of Bac Kan Provincial People’s Committee, Vietnam.

Attending the inauguration, were the provincial agencies, international experts and national consultants, college management, Vocational College, delegation from the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Luxembourg Development Cooperation Agency and the representative of Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Hanoi.

The ribbon cutting ceremony of the new agro - forestry building at Bac Kan Vocational College

The agro-forestry sector is considered a key economic constituent in Bac Kan province. Vocational training attached with local advantages is seen as an effective solution to ensure the quality of vocational training courses in Bac Kan. Because the majority of labor force in the province are agro-forestry labourers, therefore it was very reasonable for the province to organize training classes in fields of farming, animal husbandry and processing agricultural and forest products. Hence the development of an agro-forestry occupations program received major attention by the management of Bac Kan Vocational College and technical and financial support of project VIE/034. Initially during the first phase of Luxembourg support to Bac Kan College the agro-forestry faculty did not receive any investment. Starting with Phase II discernible investment both in terms of facility upgrading as well as capacity building of teachers and staff is being made. In 2018, the project continued to fund the construction of a new building for the agro-forestry faculty with the intention to provide additional facilities to satisfy an increasing demand for trainings in this trade. The investment is in line with the Master plan on socio-economic development of Bac Kan province to 2025 and BKVC Strategic Plan for Development 2016-2026.

Construction in progress for the new agro forestry faculty building

In June 2018, the construction started from scratch and was completed in December 2018. The building consists of classrooms, offices, a tissue culture room, a veterinary practice room as well as a laboratory.

The inauguration coincided with the Steering Committee Meeting of the project VIE/034, in which the project activities of the year 2018 were reviewed and evaluated, and the work plan of 2019 approved. During the meeting, the Committee defined the agro-forestry occupation and faculty as one of the key areas of support by the project and further developed by the Bac Kan Vocational College.

Bac Kan province is located in the northeast of Viet Nam in centre of the Vietbac region, about 170 km to the north of Hanoi and about 200 km south of the border with China. The topography of Bac Kan province is complex with many valleys, hill and rocky mountains with average slope of 26°. The population of Bac Kan province is 320 000, with the main ethnic communities being Tay, Kinh and Dao. Agriculture and forestry are the main sources of livelihoods. Forest coverage is high ~70-71% compared to the country average of 39.1%. Bac Kan is one of the poorest provinces in Viet Nam (poverty rate of 36.6% compared to country average of 13.4%). It is also a recipient of the UN-REDD program.

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