WB approves additional funding for local disaster recovery

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved US$50 million of additional financing for the Laos Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project and the Lao Road Sector Project phase 2.
The additional funding, approved in Washington, United States last week, will help reduce the financing gap for reconstruction following widespread floods in 2018, and prioritising investments in flood risk management and the road sector, which accounted for 75 percent of the total estimated damages and losses, according to a press release from the World Bank.
One half of the financing will support the ongoing Laos Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project to reduce the impact of flooding in target areas and enhance the government’s capacity to provide hydro-meteorological services and disaster response.
This will help restore riverbank protection, embankments, and canal improvements, as well as promote risk-informed planning and disaster preparedness in the three flood risk-prone provinces of Oudomxay, Luang Prabang and Borikhamxay.
The other half of the financing will support the ongoing Lao Road Sector Project II to repair damaged roads including sections of National Road 13 South and improve the climate resilience of road infrastructure.
The improvements include improved road designs, such as raising road alignment in areas prone to flooding, improving drainage systems, and applying bio-engineering solutions to protect road slope from land and mud-slides.
World Bank Country Manager for Laos, Nicola Pontara said, “In 2018, Laos suffered its most costly floods in a decade, which had a significant adverse impact on people’s lives and the economy of Laos”.
“This additional funding is geared at building climate-resilient infrastructure, including roads and riverbank protection, which will help protect people and assets in provinces where the risk of flooding is highest.”
Two tropical cyclones and a breached saddle dam in Attapeu province resulted in extensive flooding between July and September 2018, impacting most parts of the country.
The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment estimated total damages of US$371.5 million, equivalent to 2.1 percent of the country’s projected 2018 GDP, and 10.2 percent of Laos’ annual budget in 2018. Recovery needs were estimated at US$520 million, with the highest impacts identified in the transport, agriculture, and waterways sectors.
The World Bank’s IDA, established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. Global evidence shows that the poor tend to bear the brunt of natural hazards as they are often the least prepared and have limited financial capacity to cope.

By Times Reporters
(Latest Update December 19, 2019)