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Opening Remarks by
Sandra Nicoll, Country Director
Lao PDR Resident Mission, Asian Development Bank
at
Gender Action Plan Monitoring Workshop
Strengthening Capacity for Enhanced Operational Effectiveness
Wednesday 16 July 2014, Vientiane

Mme. Sisomboun Ounnavong,
Director General, Department of International Cooperation,
Ministry of Planning and Investment;

Participants,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to join you for the opening of todays
Gender Action Plan Monitoring Workshop on Strengthening Capacity
for Enhanced Operational Effectiveness. On behalf of the Asian
Development Bank, let me warmly welcome you all to this workshop.

ADBs Strategy 2020 - which is our long term strategic framework,
includes gender equity as one of the five drivers of change for achieving
inclusive and sustainable growth and reducing poverty in the region.

ADB has a long-term partnership with the Lao Government in
supporting gender equality in the country. We have supported the Lao
Womens Union and the National Commission for Advancement of
Women in the past and are continuing to do so. We also currently
support a technical assistance project to for the National Commission for
Advancement of Women Network in the Ministry of Public Works and
Transport. Similarly, other assistance is strengthening gender
mainstreaming capacities of executing agencies in the Ministry of
The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its
Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility
for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily
conform to ADB's terminology.
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agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism,
and other government agencies.

The majority of ADB-financed investment projects have a strong
focus on gender equality and womens empowerment, and most projects
include a gender action plan, which aim to increase womens access to
social services, increase access to skills development and job
opportunities, and enhance participation in decision-making process.

Our past experience has shown that the implementation of gender
action plans has faced challenges due to limited awareness of project
team members and capacity gaps affecting implementation. To improve
project outcomes, there is a need to improve skills and knowledge of
project team members to better monitor and implement gender action
plans.

In this context ADB has organized todays workshop in partnership
with the Ministry of Planning and Investment. I trust this workshop will
provide you an opportunity to learn more about effective approaches
and tools for better implementation of gender action plans, and at the
same time provide a venue to share good practices and experience from
different projects.

I look forward to a successful workshop and I strongly encourage
you all to become actively engaged in the presentations and
discussions.

Thank you.