UN expert: Lao PDR’s economic strategy entrenches poverty
VIENTIANE (28 March 2019) – Lao PDR has pursued a top-down approach to economic growth and poverty alleviation that is all too often counterproductive, leading to impoverishment and jeopardising the rights of the poor and marginalised, according to a UN expert.
“Despite important progress in reducing poverty, the Government’s economic growth strategies have too often destroyed livelihoods, entrenched vulnerability, and actually made some people poorer by taking away their access to land, livelihoods, and resources,” said Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, at the end of an 11-day official visit to the country.
Press conference video:
cr: UN Lao PDR
