A/HRC/41/39/Add.2 Research found that, despite higher GDP growth than its peers, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic has lower rates of poverty reduction, in part due to reliance on foreign direct investment and the natural resource sector. 11 The Government has focused its efforts on graduating from least developed country status, which in itself will not solve any of the structural challenges. In fact, graduation will mark an end to access to certain aid and trade privileges, which may worsen the situation of the poor. 12 The debate should focus on ensuring tangible achievements in poverty reduction, rather than on the meeting of abstract indicators. 14. In the forthcoming Ninth National Socioeconomic Development Plan for the period 2021–2025, the Government should embrace growth strategies, budget allocations and tax policies that prioritize poverty alleviation in practice, rather than just rhetorically, which would not only protect the human rights of a large number of Lao people but would also generate more sustainable and effective development. 15. Existing growth strategies rely too heavily on hydropower, large infrastructure projects and land concessions that involve significant risks and uncertain rewards. They should be balanced by policies promoting other sectors, such as sustainable agriculture, urban development and tourism, which will require a well-educated, healthy and skilled workforce that can only emerge as a result of high-quality education, well-funded health insurance programmes that support the poorest people, the empowerment of women and truly accessible social protection. In order for infrastructure to contribute to poverty reduction, it must be approached in a participatory manner, guided by the interests of, and inputs from, poor and rural communities. International financiers should back projects in line with those goals. 16. In rural areas, the Special Rapporteur spoke with contract farmers who spoke of being stuck in a cycle of poverty, reporting that they struggled with centralized decisions about crop types. They deserve the autonomy to organize and make important decisions about what they grow and how they sell it, but also the type of support that the State can best provide, such as microinsurance programmes, which are of particular importance given that climate change increasingly affects fragile ecosystems, as well as information, advice, including on negotiating fair contract terms, and regional economic networks that allow for the greatest benefits from their labour. 17. The Government should take a more active role in poverty reduction and rely less on international donors and on the assumption that the benefits of foreign investment will eventually reach people in poverty. It should channel its efforts towards supporting communities and individuals and empowering them to be agents of their own development. A. Economic policy 18. There is a strong and direct relationship between how a government raises revenue and spends its budget and how it meets its human rights obligations. 13 Transparent budget linked to reducing poverty 19. Despite significant steps in recent years, including the 2015 Budget Law, key details about the Lao People’s Democratic Republic budget are not made publicly available, and the information that is available is often outdated and insufficient for those within the Government, donors and the public. 14 Repeated requests by the Special Rapporteur for 11 12 13 14 6 The Phnom Penh Post, “Poverty persisting in Laos despite economic growth”, 2 April 2019. Available from www.phnompenhpost.com/business/poverty-persisting-laos-despite-economic-growth. United Nations, Committee for Development Policy, “‘Impact Assessments’: What happens when a country graduates from the LDC category?”. Available from www.un.org/ldcportal/impactassessments-what-happens-when-a-country-graduates-from-the-ldc-category. OHCHR, “Realizing Human Rights through Government Budgets”, 2017, p. 12. Available from www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/RealizingHRThroughGovernmentBudgets.pdf. World Bank, “Lao PDR Public Finance Management Reform Grant”, project information document, 4 September 2018, p. 6. Available from http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/