Opening Remarks at the UN-INGO Meeting

Good afternoon colleagues and my Co-chair, Jesper Lauridsen. On behalf of the UN County Team, I am pleased to welcome all INGO Network members to UN House and to our dialogue today.

The full room today shows that this UN-INGO platform is relevant and useful, and a clear signal to us to continue this engagement and partnership. Today we build on our previous meetings, where we agreed that UN–INGO engagement should become more practical, structured and action-oriented. 

This is even more important in the current global context, where we are all facing similar challenges of financial pressures and uncertainty. ODA declines while development and humanitarian needs aren’t going down. The ongoing crisis in the Middle East adds to the long list of conflicts in the world, with impacts being felt far and wide. This current escalation is particularly detrimental, causing worldwide spikes in energy prices, transport, fertilizer and manufacturing costs, and cost of living and food prices.

Speaking for the UN, the global context compels us to rethink how we work, focus our efforts where they matter most, and strengthen partnership for greater impacts. Last year, UN Secretary-General began the UN80 Initiative, a major reform effort to build a simpler, more effective and coherent UN System that delivers better for people and planet amid shrinking resources and rising needs. The various reform initiatives are underway with deliberations ongoing among UN Member States as we speak. We can come back to UN80 at the next UN–INGO dialogue when we have more concretics. I’m sure that many of your organizations are undergoing similar reviews and self-reflections

Against this background, today’s agenda focuses on some key issues affecting our work and the practical opportunities for stronger collaboration.

First, we will present the 2025 UNCT Results Report and provide a brief update on the preparation of the Lao PDR–UN Cooperation Framework 2027–2031. We will share what the UN has delivered collectively, and how we are shaping the next Cooperation Framework in response to national priorities and changing realities.

We appreciate your engagement on this process to date. We will touch on how inputs from previous UN–INGO consultations have contributed to the independent evaluation of our current five-year framework, the Country Analysis, and the design of the next Cooperation Framework.

Second, we will hear a briefing from the 5th National Conference on Cooperation between the Government and INGOs, including an analysis of the draft INGO Decree. This is important for our understanding of the regulatory and operating environment for INGOs in Lao PDR, and to visualize how INGOs can continue contributing to development change on the ground and in policy spaces.

Third, at the Network’s request, we will present our analysis of impacts of the Middle East crisis on Lao PDR and our regional neighborhood. Our goal, first and foremost, is a shared understanding of the impacts on vulnerable communities we all serve.

Fourth, we will discuss some concrete ideas for UN–INGO cooperation in 2026. 

This collaboration is beginning to happen in practical ways. The IASC platform is a good example. It brings us together for coordination on disaster preparedness and response, including information-sharing, analysis of emerging risks, and synergies among all partners. The IASC meeting held on 8 May, with INGO participation, showed the value of bringing field-level perspectives into preparedness and coordination.

The UN values the role INGOs play in disaster risk management in Laos through local presence, community networks and operational experiences. INGOs contribute actively through cluster-level coordination, technical exchanges and information-sharing. 

There are good collaborations at UN agency level with INGO partners in this sector in particular, but also others. And as we look to our collaborations in 2026, we can build on what has already been raised in previous UN–INGO discussions.

We do not have to be all-encompassing and exhaustive in our plans. Our issue-specific partnerships will continue simply because we value each other’s role and business models. 

What we can focus on instead is identifying a few practical collaborations at the level of systemic issues and concerns, where joint UN–INGO action can add value over and above individual projects and partnerships.

This could include joint analysis, coordinated advocacy, stronger preparedness, community-level evidence, and shared messages on issues affecting vulnerable groups. I know there are some ideas that colleagues will present to us, and I think they are a good starting point on which we can build upon with your collective feedback and steer.

Ultimately, our goal is to work better together, sustain and grow our partnerships on the ground, and bring stronger evidence from communities into policy dialogue.

Or simply put, to support each other in the spirit of solidarity and shared purpose.

Thank you for being here. I look forward to an open and practical discussion today.