Photo credit: Sarah Harvey
By Sarah Harvey, MAGG
Sabaidee Balsillie Community!
It has been six weeks since I arrived in Vientiane, Laos, to begin my internship with the Governance Unit at UNDP Lao PDR. I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to live and work in a new country and learn from the people around me. Settling into life in Vientiane has been an adventure in itself and it has been an absolute joy to experience a little more of Laos each day.
Workwise, I spent much of my first month becoming accustomed to “UN speak”: the many, many acronyms, project titles, and technical terms that seem to make up an entire language of their own. As I familiarize myself with the Governance Unit’s diverse portfolio of projects, I am gaining a clearer understanding of how UNDP operates in Lao PDR, with plenty still to learn along the way.
As I settle into my role, I have had the privilege of attending a number of events and conferences that have broadened my understanding of the development landscape in Lao PDR. These experiences have provided valuable opportunities to learn about issues beyond my immediate work, hear from different stakeholders, and better understand some of the challenges and priorities shaping the country.
One particularly memorable experience was attending the Third Review Conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM), hosted by Lao PDR in September. The Convention is an international treaty, adopted in 2008 and joined by more than 100 countries, that prohibits the use, production, transfer, and stockpiling of cluster munitions. The Review Conference brought together States Parties and other stakeholders to assess progress, address ongoing challenges, and develop priorities for the next phase of implementation, including an Action Plan for 2027–2030.
For Lao PDR, this issue is particularly significant. The country remains one of the most heavily contaminated by unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the world. During the Indo-China war, the United States dropped approximately two million tonnes of ordnance on Laos, including an estimated 270 million cluster submunitions (UNDP, 2019). An estimated 80 million unexploded items remain scattered across the country (UNDP, 2019).
Decades after the bombing ended, UXO continues to affect where people can safely live, farm, travel, and work. Contaminated land limits agricultural opportunities and access to essential resources, while the risk of accidents remains a daily reality for communities across the country.
Six weeks in, I am still navigating the acronyms, and continuing to learn about the many different projects and priorities that make up UNDP’s work in Lao PDR. Opportunities to attend events like the CCM Review Conference are helping me connect what I am learning at the office with the broader realities of life in the country.
There is certainly much more to learn in my short-time here, and I am looking forward to the weeks ahead in Vientiane!
https://www.undp.org/laopdr/blog/bloodshed-time-peace
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the BSIA, its students, faculty, staff, or Board of Directors.