Lao Human Capital Summit 2024: Accelerated Nutrition Actions for Human Capital Development

Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Sonexay Siphandone,

Excellencies Ministers and Vice-Ministers,

Esteemed Government and National Assembly representatives,

Ambassadors, development partners and civil society representatives,

Distinguished audience:

Let me firstly pay tribute to the leadership of His Excellency the Prime Minister in enabling the continued dialogue on critical issues of human development, this time focusing on nutrition. On behalf of the UN Country Team comprised of 25 organizations of the UN System, it is an honour for me to share a few words ahead of our two keynote speakers, who will set the tone for the Summit’s deliberations.

The complex global situation, the pandemic and the economic and financial challenges that Lao PDR is grappling with have had a profound impact on nutrition and the progress we made in recent years.

We are witnessing a massive challenge to the hard-won gains, casting a shadow on our ability to benefit from the never-to-be-repeated demographic dividend and to fulfil the promise of a more prosperous life for next generations.

The economic impact of malnutrition is modestly estimated at over $480 million per year. Of this, over half can be attributed to the scourge of anemia in children and women of reproductive age. Almost one-third comes from the damaging effect of stunting, on which the latest data shows our progress has stalled.

On top of this, in the context of climate change, the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events puts Lao PDR’s nutrition outcomes further at risk.

The answer to these challenges will take collective action from all of us. This is not the time to be complacent. Delaying action on nutrition would have consequences for the next generation, for the country’s human development and for its economic competitiveness.

The Government, civil society, private sector, academia and development partners all have crucial roles to play if we are to ensure that the children of Lao PDR grow up healthy and capable of realizing their full potential.

We benefit from a wealth of global and local evidence that can guide us towards cost-effective interventions – and to proven ways to lift the nutritional status of mothers and children, among others.

This evidence tells us that to achieve meaningful impact, we must ensure that children and families benefit from a comprehensive, multisectoral package of interventions, especially concentrating on the first 1,000 days of life.

And that delivering this requires purpose-driven leadership, effective coordination and collaboration across all relevant ministries and stakeholders. An enabling environment for prioritising prevention of malnutrition is paramount.

Further, with the global economic integration, we risk a fundamental shift in what people consume on a daily basis. For many other countries, these changes have meant increased rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases, creating a potent double burden of malnutrition in a short period of time.

To address this, we must pay attention to improving the regulatory and fiscal environment to help ensure that national food systems deliver healthy and affordable diets that enable human capital development.

A fundamental step towards achieving this would be prioritizing nutrition at the national level as an integral part of the forthcoming 10th National Socio-Economic Development Plan, as well as in relevant sectoral plans.

And then, crucially, ensuring that the policy directions set out in the plans are matched by adequate budgetary allocations, backed by transparent monitoring processes.

Speaking for UN partners of Lao PDR, our five-year Cooperation Framework has a dedicated Nutrition output, enabling focused attention to this critical area.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Today’s Summit walks the talk on recognizing nutrition as a cross-sectoral issue. We cannot afford to look at it from a singular health perspective, or only focus on food production. Sectoral interventions must go hand in hand, with necessary steer, coordination – and, once again, funding.

It is therefore my honour to invite the following two distinguished speakers to deliver their keynote remarks.

First, Minister of Health, Excellency Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, will elaborate on the critical need for a convergent delivery of prioritized multisectoral interventions.

Following him, Minister of Planning and Investment, Excellency Phet Phomphithak, will speak to the paramount importance of investing in nutrition within the current financing context of the country.

The challenges we face are hard, but not unsolvable. Better nutrition outcomes are within our grasp if we put our minds to it. We can take much reassurance from the commitment being shown today, right up to the highest levels of Government, to working towards a brighter future for the people of Lao PDR.

I hope we will all end the day with renewed inspiration, and a new sense of determination.

Thank you.