Public Administration News
Share
 |
Lao National Assembly Urges Govt to Focus on Social Development |
| Source: |
laovoices.com |
| Source Date: |
Friday, June 17, 2011 |
| Focus: |
ICT for MDGs
|
| Country: |
Lao People's Democratic Republic |
| Created: |
Jun 21, 2011 |
|
The National Assembly (NA) has found that social and cultural development over the past five years has not equalled the growth of the country’s economy.
President of the NA’s Cultural and Social Affairs Committee Prof. Dr Phonethep Pholsena reported the committee’s findings into the government’s performance during the ongoing NA session on Thursday.
Despite economic growth of 7.9 percent on average over the last five years, reductions in poverty and malnutrition of children under five and improvements in maternal health have not materialised at the rate anticipated.
“Health services are poor and family planning targets are not being met, meaning there are continuing high rates of infant and maternal mortality,” he said.
Prof. Dr Phonethep said the education system had seen s ome improvements but school enrolment figures in rural and urban areas remained disparate whilst the quality of education in Laos remains low compared to other count ries.
“We urge the government to monitor the quality of education and allocate more funding,” he said, saying the government should also monitor the quality of education received by Lao students in Vietnam.
Prof. Dr Phonethep, an Assembly member representing Champassak province, also said the speed at which payments were made to those who did good deeds during the struggle for national liberation or in clearing unexploded ordnance remains slow.
He urged the government to expand the social insurance system into the provinces to cover 50 percent of the population, while remaining focused on skilled labour development to meet the current and future needs of the country and enable workers to find skilled work abroad.
He said 5.9 to 8 percent of the potential Lao labour force migrates to find work in other countries. “If we manage this work well, we can expect to gain remittances totalling 7 percent of GDP.”
The NA observed that the imbalance between economic growth and socio-cultural development was the cause of anti-social behaviour.
Such behaviour includes extravagance, corrupt activities by officials, robbery, rising divorce, road accidents, drug use and trafficking, and domestic violence.
The NA suggested the government limit alcohol advertising to curb the number of road accidents. The government also needs to create more awareness in the fight against drugs and corruption in order to build a more just society.
Prof. Dr Phonethep agreed with the government’s plan to invest 35 percent of state investment funds into the socio-cultural sector, including education, but warned that the relevant sectors need to formulate clear plans on how best to utilise the funds at the local level, particularly in the poorer districts.
He said investing in education is investing in socio-economic development, which is a guaranteed form of sustainable development.
“If we increase the enrolment of young girls in school by 10 percent, we can increase our GDP by 0.3 percent,” he said, referring to a UN report.
Investing 8,000 kip in clean water can save 35,200 kip in illn ess and death from diseases, and investing 8,000 kip in immunisation can save 80,000 kip from the cost of illness and death caused by communicable diseases, he added.
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Tag This |
Lao National Assembly Urges Govt to Focus on Social Development The National Assembly NA has found that social and cultural development over the past five years has not equalled the growth of the country’s economy
 Tell A Friend |
|
 del.icio.us digg this Slashdot |
| Rate: |
0 ratings
|
Views: |
144 |
| Comments: |
0 |
Favorited: |
0 |
Bookmarked: |
0 |
Tagged: |
0 |
|
|
|
|