Assistance for "Social and Economic Rehabilitation of Former Opium Poppy-growing Communities--Alternative Livelihood Development in Lao PDR" Project

November 13, 2006

On the 13th of November (Monday), the Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance totalling 2,412,550 US dollars (approximately 272.61 million yen), through the Trust Fund for Human Security to a project entitled "Social and Economic Rehabilitation of Former Opium Poppy-growing Communities--Alternative Livelihood Development in Lao PDR" that will be implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
In recent years the number of households that engage in opium cultivation has remarkably declined in northern Lao PDR. Yet other surveys indicate that some 50% of former opium producing communities could revert to re-cultivation for lack of alternatives. This project aims at establishing alternative income sources to transform the local economy and increase household incomes in the province of Oudomxay in northern Lao PDR. The following activities will be implemented:
- Assisting former opium addicts rehabilitate and participate in income generating activities;
- Involving village productivity groups in income generating activities;
- Conducting training seminars on basic agro-product and market oriented decision making;
- Providing micro-credit for village groups and training for water users committees;
- Supporting the introduction of primary health care through provision of medicine kits, establishment of revolving drug fund and primary health care training.
This project is expected to contribute to the Lao PDR's efforts to reduce the dependency on opium cultivation by means of assisting farmers in improving their livelihoods.

(Note)

The Trust Fund for Human Security was established in the United Nations Secretariat in March 1999 at the initiative of the Government of Japan. Since then, total contributions have reached approximately 31.5 billion yen (US$ 279.7 million). The Trust Fund has supported more than 160 projects from UN agencies, each one addressing various threats to human life, livelihood and dignity, from the perspective of human security.

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