The overall goal of SDC’s engagement is to contribute to the creation of an environment allowing Lao citizens to rely on credible civil society organisations (CSOs) able to represent and respond to their concerns and demands and to contribute to make government more responsive, effective, and transparent in its action towards the reduction of poverty and marginalization. This long term goal (10 years) can be disaggregated into three specific, complementary objectives : (1) Credible CSOs providing services in complement or replacement of the Government provide the opportunity to give service users a voice in shaping policies, taking into account specific requirements according to gender, geographic location and social background. (2) The legal and regulatory framework as well as the capacity and practices of the public administration provide for a conducive environment to allow the emergence of an organized and accepted Civil Society. (3) The emergence of well-performing Lao civil society organizations and networks dedicated at least partly to advocacy and checks and balances allows concerned citizens to exercise their rights to participate democratically in public life.

The project in brief

Directorate/federal office responsible	SDC
Credit area	Development cooperation
Project partners	Contract partner International or foreign NGO United Nations Organization (UNO) Other international or foreign NGO North SDC Field Office United Nations Development Programme
Budget	Current phase Swiss budget CHF    1’578’000 Swiss disbursement to date CHF    1’456’680
Project phases	Phase 3 01.11.2022 - 31.10.2025   (Current phase) Phase 2 01.06.2016 - 31.10.2022   (Completed) Phase 1 01.05.2011 - 30.04.2016   (Completed)

Further technical details

• Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY
  Sub-Sector according to the OECD Developement Assistance Commitiee categorisation	Public sector policy and administrative management Democratic participation and civil society
  Type of support	Official development assistance (ODA)
  Type of collaboration	Bilateral cooperation
  Finance type	Aid grant
  Aid Type	Project and programme contribution
  Tied/untied aid	Untied aid
  Project number	7F07082