Despite significant economic progress over the last two decades, Lao PDR still has one of the highest poverty rates in the ASEAN region, with around a fifth of its 6 million people in poverty.
The country is also vulnerable to natural disasters, which can threaten families’ access to food, nutrition and their opportunities to earn an income. This report is a case study of Lao PDR’s national social protection system, which sought to identify the factors that would enable that system to be responsive to shocks and to support vulnerable families.