The European Commission (EC) and United Nations entered into important new partnerships to support the Lao National Assembly yesterday.

Charge d'Affaires of the EC to Laos, Mr Henry Prankerd, and UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative, Ms Sonam Yangchen Rana, exchanged signed copies of financial agreements, under which the EC will contribute 13 billion kip (1.1 million euros) towards the total four-year budget of about 34.9 billion kip (US$4.1 million) for the Joint Programme of Support to an Effective Lao National Assembly.

Standing Committee member and Assembly Head of Office, Mr Thongteun Xayasene, also attended the event and thanked the international organisations, in particular the EC, for providing further support to the strengthening of the Lao National Assembly.

He recalled the time, at the beginning of the decade, when the EC decided to provide support for the development of the Lao national parliament.

“This was not an obvious decision to make. First and foremost, at that time international assistance in government capacity building was not a primary focus and the role of parliaments was often overlooked by many donors, if not simply dropped off the agenda,” Mr Thongteun said.

Of course, visible and quick results are hard to achieve when it comes to strengthening a complex institution, with a number of committees and procedures which may appear convoluted to many who are not familiar with them.

Nowadays, it is com- monplace to set parliamentary development programmes, and there are over 50 of them worldwide, through bilateral or multilateral support. These have yielded significant results, particularly in South East Asia .

“The recent strong eco-nomic development in our region, despite the global economic recession, cannot be sustained unless government policies are subject to adequate evaluation and scrutiny by the citizens' representatives and ministers are made accountable,” Mr Thongteun said.

Besides technical input from specialists and technical officials in drafting legislation, effective legislation must address the needs and concerns of the different components and groups of societies and be properly reviewed by parliaments in their full capacity.

Mr Prankerd said the renewed assistance would consolidate the work of the earlier phase of the project, initiated by the UN 10 years ago, and will help the National Assembly to further strengthen its legislative, oversight and representational capacity.

“Strengthening the capa- city of the assembly is an essential element for the development of the country and is necessary to enable the assembly to better perform its representational roles in a rapidly modernising society,” Mr Prankerd said.

Ms Rana said the EC and its member states are major foreign contributors to the development of Laos , and the objective of removing the country from the ranks of least developed nations by 2020 is a common goal for both government and donors.

“Progress towards this goal depends on improved governance, the advancement of public accountability, transparency, and certainty in legislation and regulations,” she said. The project will be implemented by the UNDP, but is jointly funded by a number of donors including six UN agencies, the EC and the governments of Singapore , Germany , Canada and Sweden .

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update September 11, 2009)