Lao PDR


Book Description

The Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has shown remarkable progress by consistently building itself into a market-oriented economy, with economic growth in 1986-2016 averaging around 6.5% per annum. The rapid and sustained growth brought about changes in the structure of output, but did not alter job composition: resource-based products still dominate in industry, low value-added jobs in services, and 65% of the labor force in agriculture. This country diagnostic study provides comprehensive analysis and identifies promising new drivers of growth which the Lao PDR can develop to diversify its production structure and speed up structural transformation.




FAO Policy on Gender Equality


Book Description

"The FAO Policy on Gender Equality provides a framework that guides the Organization's efforts to achieve gender equality in all its technical work and assesses results. The policy outlines FAO's goal and objectives related to gender equality and delineates an accountability structure for ensuring policy oversight and achievement of results."--Publisher's description.




Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook


Book Description

The 'Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook' provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned to guide practitioners in integrating gender dimensions into agricultural projects and programs. It is serves as a tool for: guidance; showcasing key principles in integrating gender into projects; stimulating the imagination of practitioners to apply lessons learned, experiences, and innovations to the design of future support and investment in the agriculture sector. The Sourcebook draws on a wide range of experience from World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other donor agencies, governments, institutions, and groups active in agricultural development. The Sourcebook looks at: access to and control of assets; access to markets, information and organization; and capacity to manage risk and vulnerability through a gender lens. There are 16 modules covering themes of cross-cutting importance for agriculture with strong gender dimensions (Policy, Public Administration and Governance; Agricultural Innovation and Education; Food Security; Markets; Rural Finance; Rural Infrastructure; Water; Land; Labor; Natural Resource Management; and Disaster and Post-Conflict Management) and specific subsectors in agriculture (Crops, Livestock, Forestry, and Fisheries). A separate module on Monitoring and Evaluation is included, responding to the need to track implementation and development impact. Each module contains three different sub-units: (1) A Module Overview gives a broad introduction to the topic and provides a summary of major development issues in the sector and rationale of looking at gender dimension; (2) Thematic Notes provide a brief and technically sound guide in gender integration in selected themes with lessons learned, guidelines, checklists, organizing principles, key questions, and key performance indicators; and (3) Innovative Activity Profiles describe the design and innovative features of recent and exciting projects and activities that have been implemented or are ongoing.













Lao People's Democratic Republic


Book Description

This 2013 Article IV Consultation highlights that over the past year, the economy of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has been overheating from expansionary macroeconomic policies. The fiscal deficit is estimated to have widened to 61⁄2 percent of GDP, mainly fro'm a doubling of public sector employee compensation and higher capital spending. Government liquidity is tight, and wage and other arrears of 2–3 percent of GDP have emerged. Monetary policy has been accommodative, and credit growth remains vigorous. Although medium-term growth prospects remain favorable, based on robust natural resource exports and post-WTO expansion in the nonresource sectors, heightened vulnerabilities have subjected the outlook to considerable uncertainty.