Vientiane, LAO PDR, 7 August 2012 -The National Governance and Public Administration Reform (NGPAR) programme will provide a new way of thinking and doing in public service improvement by assigning more responsibilities and tasks to district authorities, who are at the frontline of development efforts.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) presented the overview and plans for the new programme to development partners, line ministries and provincial representatives at a workshop chaired by the Minister, H.E. Khampane Philavong.

The Minister highlighted the important role of district and village authorities in providing public services to citizens, as they directly interact with local communities. He emphasized that the NGPAR programme needs to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to enable them to provide efficient, effective and ethical services.

H.E. Dr. Khammoune Viphongxay, Vice Minister of Home Affairs and Chairperson of the NGPAR Programme Board, explained that the programme addresses the Party’s breakthrough strategy on developing human resources and improving governance regulations. He also stated that the programme is in line with the new Party Resolution that requires provinces to be strategic units, districts to be overall strengthened units and villages to be development units.

There are currently five projects beginning that will help achieve the goals of NGPAR, with support of development partners. These include; the National GPAR Secretariat Support Project; Strengthening Capacity and Service Delivery of Local Administrations; the Civil Society Support Programme; the Legal and Organisational Development Framework Project; and the Civil Service Capacity Building Project.

The Programme has strong national ownership with MoHA responsible for implementation. The overall goal is to help build a public service that is able to meet the needs of the multi-ethnic Lao people.

The NGAPR programme will build on the success of the Governance and Public Administration Reform (GPAR) programme that was supported by the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and the European Union (EU), among others. The proposed budget for the 5-year programme is US$44 million, which includes a US$8 million commitment from the Government.

UNCDF MOU signing

After the workshop representatives of the Lao Government and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the District Development Fund, one component of NGPAR.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, David Jackson,  Head of UNCDF Asia Pacific Regional Office, said, “The MOU provides the basis to upscale the new generation of the District Development Fund (DDF), which has been supported in Lao PDR by UNCDF since 2006. I have no doubt that DDF will continue to play a major role in empowering local administrations in the country, in line with national policy.”

Please find attached the article in Vientiane Times.