General

The purpose of the project is to contribute to rural poverty reduction in the areas of intervention. Its development objective is to deepen the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of public investments from central, regional and local governments to improve the well-being of the rural population and increase the value of their natural, physical, human, social and financial assets.Specific objectives include:(a) Strengthening the capabilities and skills of groups and associations of poor rural people to participate fully in local development and increase productivity and competitiveness, including full access to citizenship; (b) Transferring funds to groups of organized rural families and associations of rural men and women to enable them to competitively: (i) improve their natural resources and human settlements; (ii) access grant funding to carry out profitable business ventures in a wide range of initiatives; and (iii) mobilize savings and provide access to microinsurance, especially for rural women; (c) Improving the management capacity of local governments to meet the relevant demand of poor rural people, in order to promote self-development and leverage resources available to municipalities working with the project; (d) Strengthening the institutional capacity of the implementing agency to: deepen a territorial and micro watershed approach; mobilize additional private investment to complement project investments adequately; implement an intercultural approach; institute monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms; introduce a gender dimension into its projects; and further strengthen its operational capacity at the district level.The project is in compliance with IFAD policies on: (i) targeting, by focusing activities on poor rural people; (ii) gender, through positive discrimination measures and capacity-building of women's groups; (iii) middle-income countries (MICs), by building knowledge management and supporting South-South cooperation; (iv) rural finance, by supporting access to banking services and building financial assets; (v) rural enterprise, by reducing the limitations and inequities facing poor rural people in investing in small- and medium-sizedenterprises; (vi) indigenous peoples, by assisting communities in fully exploiting their traditional knowledge, culture, governance systems and natural resources; (vii) land, by respecting the land interests of rural people and promoting participatory land-use planning and management at the local level; (viii) private sectordevelopment, by strengthening the capacity of poor rural people and their organizations to deal with new market forces and partner with the private sector on fair and equitable conditions; and (ix) climate change, by furthering the use of climate analysis as an instrument of social and environmental assessment to seekmeasures to reduce or eliminate risks.

General

Focus is on strengthening social protection systems and on policy advocacy work at global level. It also includes support to agricultural research for development and people centred land governance with specific emphasis on securing equitable tenure rights of women, indigenous populations and pastoralist communities

Objectives

Goals include strengthened social protection systems and benefits, reduced inequality and more inclusive and sustainable markets, with improved access to resources and benefits especially for the rural poor. Strengthened engagement of Irish companies and development agencies in African Agriculture sector.

General

The LIWG advocacy strategy consists of the following key elements: 1. Promoting dialogue on land issues between its members (especially bridging the Lao-English culture and language divide) 2. Promoting INGOs support for NPAs working on land issues as a new part of civil society 3. Influencing GoL policies and legislation, mainly through the National Assembly, NLMA and MAF 4. Raising awareness on land issues among development partners 5. Raising awareness among private sector and foreign investorsto adopt principles of socially and environmentally responsible investment 6. Liaising and cooperating with other civil society groups in international advocacy campaigns LIWG programme 2014-2015 comprises of five key themes and 22 outcomes: 1. Awareness raising, training and capacity development: Local and international civil society organizations, Development Partners, and private sector are supported so that they are more willing and better able to enhance gender equitable community control over land, forests, and natural resources. Targeting Lao civil society (NPAs): Outcome 1: Lao civil society to have an enhanced capacity to regain and create space in which to engage on land related matters with the Lao Government, especially MoNRE and MAF,and other decision-making bodies like the National Assembly. Outcome 2: Lao civil society to be increasingly considered an essential partner in reaching national development goals, and to beon a more consistent basis included in decision-making and platforms relevant to land. Targeting Development Partners and non-member INGOs: Outcome 3: Increased capacity within INGOs and Development Partners also in view of the rapid staff turnover within agencies to understand the key land issues in Laos in order to better address them. Outcome 4: Land issues are mainstreamed and incorporated into DP strategies, and they are in a better position to enhance community control over land, forests, and natural resources, adapting social and environmental guidelines, as well as promoting gender equity in relation to land. Targeting private sector: Outcome 5: Increased awareness of social and environmental guidelines within companies, following the international and national law and the principles of corporate social responsibility. 2. Coordination, networking and promoting dialogue: Collaboration and engagement of different stakeholders, both national and international, is promoted to enhance dialogue and sharing of information in view ofincreasingleverage of activities towards enhanced gender equitable community control over land, forests, and natural resources. a.National level activities: Outcome 6: Strengthened dialogue and cooperation among national stakeholders and wider space and platforms available to exchange information. Outcome 7: Deeper understanding of selected priority land related themes within LIWG members and other relevant agencies. Outcome 8: Development Partners increasingly support the objectives and work of the LIWGand deliver key messages to other stakeholders. LIWG has strengthened its position vis-à-vis DPs as a relevant actor on land related matters in Lao PDR. b. Regional and international level activities: Outcome 9: Increased leverage of Lao-based civilsociety organizations# work in terms of promoting greater community control over land, forests, and natural resources. Outcome 10: Higher pressure for transparency and rule of law, and adoption of social and environmental guidelines and the principlesofCSR among foreign investors active in the Lao PDR. 3. Government Policy Support: Government policies and legislation concerning land, with a focus on implementation and rule of law, protect the long term interests of people of Laos by enhancing local communities# gender equitable control over land, forests and natural resources. a. Dialogue on land issues with the National Assembly (NA): Outcome 11: Land and forest tenure of rural communities and equitable sharing of benefits from land-related investments are increased. Outcome 12: Decision-making processesat the NA are strengthened by targeted information on current land related issues. Outcome 13: NA has increased capacity in handling land related petitions. b. Dialogue on land issueswith the Lao Government: Outcome 14: Decision-making processes within the Lao Government are strengthened by targeted information on current land related issues. Outcome 15: LSSWG becomes an important platformof dialogue, feeding into the policydiscussion in the SWG-NRE and the annual RTM process. Outcome 16: Civil society has increased opportunities to take part in decision making platforms related to land currently influenced by the Government, private sector and the DPs. c. Paralegal and legal approaches: Outcome 17: Increasing number of land disputes is investigated through strengthened existing land grievance mechanisms and the establishment of new ones where necessary. d. Cooperation with the Lao media Outcome 18: Laopublicbecomes increasingly aware of main land issues in Laos. Outcome 19: Increased awareness of CSO contributions to national development goals, in particular in relation to land. 4. Research and documentation: Increased wealth of in-depth information on specific cross-cutting issues is widely available to enhance and support the work in enhancing local communities# gender equitable control over land, forests and natural resources. Outcome 20: Higher understanding of local level processes in relationto land, and increased flow of information from the local level to the central level. 5. Sustainability of LIWG activities: Outcome 21: LIWG ensures its status as an important stakeholder around land issues in Laos, and cooperation with other key stakeholders, in particular Government, NA, and DPs, is enhanced. Outcome 22: Sustainability of LIWG work is ensured over long term either through an independent Secretariat or as part of other arrangements. Most suitable modes of working are identified accordingto thecontext in 2015.