A/HRC/41/39/Add.4 5. Under the heading “2. The Extent of Poverty in Lao PDR” para 3 The local districts have used their capacities to seek for international assistance in poverty reduction projects such as: PRF, AFN and other INGO projects. The Poverty Reduction Fund has produced assessment tools for all projects to use for evaluating and monitoring progress in poverty reduction in the project areas. Due to the fact that in recent years the country has been hit by natural disasters, poverty has always been an important agenda for the government to attest in connection with natural disaster. 6. Under the heading “2. The Extent of Poverty in Lao PDR” para 4 Upon checking with the district authorities, with whom Special Rapporteur has met, they said that at the meeting the district authority reported 84.6% of the villages had electricity, not 100% but they have planned to cover 100% of the villages in the near future. This could be a discrepancy in translation. 7. Under the heading “3. The Failure of Economic Growth to Alleviate Poverty” para 1 The Lao government policy is a mixture between the Top-Down and the Bottom-Up approaches. In reality, the poor and vulnerable groups have benefited from the development projects, particularly they have lifted their living conditions, and have permanent land for cultivation, permanent income source. Their livelihoods are much better than before although it took them quite a long time to adapt to the new environment. They eventually are happy with their new livelihoods because of the development projects. 8. Under the subheading “Land issues” para 2 This is a one-sided assessment on a larger spectrum of development, investment and poverty reduction made by the International Rivers which is one of NGOs abroad that oppose to the development in Laos. Therefore, it is suggested that the SR should reflect on this in a more constructive way. 9. Under the subheading “Land issues” para 3 This paragraph does not reflect the true situation. In reality the people whose land is affected by development project received due compensation according to the law and regulations. In some cases, there were people who received compensation of more values than their previous land. 10. Under the subheading “Land issues” para 4 As far as the Government’s responsible committee is aware, the Special Rapporteur never visited Vang Vieng or Vientiane province. The governor of Vientiane province has never spoken to the Special Rapporteur. This statement is not factual, therefore, this paragraph should be removed. 11. Under the subheading “Land issues” para 5 and 6 The Law on Resettlement and Livelihood emphasizes the assurances of the interests of the State, investor and the people at the same time. Therefore, some information in this paragraph gives a wrong impression. The drafting of the new Land Law has gone through a wide consultation process with the participation of the State agencies, private sector and 3