Ethnic Communities Development Plan

IPP343 V2

Laos People’s Democratic Republic Public Disclosure Authorized

Laos Transport Sector Program

Improvement of National Road 1B Subproject

Ethnic Communities Development Plan

Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized

Ministry of Public Works and Transport Department of Roads Public Disclosure Authorized

February 15, 2009

1. Introduction

This Ethnic Communities Development Plan (ECDP) is prepared to ensure equitable sharing of the project benefits and mitigation measures by the concerned minority communities and individuals1 in the project area of the National Road 1B Subproject, which is part of Laos Transport Sector Project in Laos PDR. The ECDP for NR 1B Subproject is based on the initial environment and social assessment report, resettlement action plan report, and consultation with ethnic minority villages, and local provincial and district government agencies. A summary of distribution and socioeconomic characteristics of ethnic groups in the project areas, ranging from project province, districts to affected villages, will be the context for such assessment. Based on review of social and poverty conditions of ethnic groups in relevant districts and villages, adequate provisions to enhance the economic conditions of minority groups have been integrated in project design. Provisions for special mitigation measures have been included in the resettlement action plan, which will help ensure that ethnic groups adversely affected by resettlement will also benefit from the project. Current government policies and programs for ethnic groups further help to protect and enhance project benefits to ethnic groups. This plan targets the ethnic groups in the project area, which account for over 90% of the total population in the project areas.

1.1 Overview

Under proposed Laos Transport Sector Program, upgrading of National Road 1B is the subproject selected for the first year implementation. The subproject is located in Phongsaly Province starting from Pak Nam in Khoa District, passing Bountai District and ended at Ban Yo village in Bounneua District with 109 Kilometers. Phongsaly Province has been identified as having the largest percentage of total population in non-road-served areas, and Road 1B is the final remaining unpaved section on a road linking Vientiane with a Provincial Capital. There are total 29 villages of 3 districts located along the road corridor, including 20 villages along the road and 9 villages located within 5 kilometers of road alignment. There are 2,245 households and 11,760 people in these 29 villages, with 93% of total villages and 90% of total households and population as ethnic groups.

The upgrading or pavement of National Road 1B is anticipated to have positive impacts on ethnic groups living along the road or near the road, which will greatly improve accessibility for the during rainy season. As some ethnic groups in the Project areas are culturally, socially and economically distinct from more dominant groups. They are vulnerable to be disadvantaged in the development process, especially those who are living far away from the big cities, far from the main road or no road access at all.

1 Ethnic groups refer to those groups that are different from the majority ethnic group—the Lao.

2 The GOL is thus required to prepare an Ethnic Groups’ Development Plan (ECDP) to ensure that all the ethnic groups will benefit from the Project in a manner that is culturally, socially and economically appropriate to their particular circumstances.

This ECDP lays out the development strategy and program for the involvement of different ethnic groups in the project areas of NR 1B subproject. It aims to ensure that development progress fosters full respect for their dignity, human rights and cultural uniqueness. It furthermore aims to ensure compliance with the GOL policies concerning ethnic groups, as well as the World Bank’s policy on Indigenous Peoples (OP 4.10).

More specifically, it is to ensure that they do not suffer adverse effects during and after the development process. The basic strategy for addressing the issues pertaining to ethnic groups will be based on the informed participation of the ethnic groups themselves, which include identifying local preferences through direct consultation and incorporation of ethnic groups’ knowledge into project planning and implementation process.

In the development process, there is a small risk that some villagers could lose assets or access to resources that needs to be compensated under the compensation policy of the government and the Bank. Besides the compensation, the Project will assist villagers with the village small scale development projects to be based upon the village development potentials and the village preferences. This is to help them enhancing their capacity of income generation and improving their livelihood.

The ethnic peoples are more numerous in the more remote, upland forest areas than the lowland areas. These peoples are already disadvantaged in terms of greater poverty, less access to development (such as roads, schools and health clinics) and have a lower Lao literature than do the Lao and related Tai-Kadai ethnic groups.

The Project has been designed to take into account of these differences seriously through its extension and training strategies to the concerned villagers and their leaders. The institutional arrangements will include social and anthropological experts’ inputs. The department of Ethnic Affairs of the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) will be included in the inter-ministerial Project Steering Committee as well as in the monitoring of the Project social impacts. The Sciences, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) will be the counterpart of LFNC with regard to technological and environmental impacts.

The LFNC at province, district and village levels will be involved where appropriate in the implementation of the Project activities, especially in the participatory process. This will ensure the success of the GOL Ethnic Policy and enhance the sustainability of the village development projects.

1.2 Transport Improvement and Rural Development

In the remote rural areas of Lao PDR, where the ethnic groups are living, access to benefits from the national development programs is limited or lacking. For decades, development

3 projects have been constrained by the lack of adequate basic infrastructures such as road system and electricity.

One of the national programs to reduce the rural people’s poverty is to develop transport access in order to promote other rural development projects within these rural poorest areas. Along with increase income from marketing various agricultural products, the villagers can also engage in some small-scale market oriented businesses. Along with road improvement, rural electricity will become feasible, which could bring irrigation to the project areas by installing pumps along the rivers to convey water to the agricultural land which can be cultivated the whole year round. Domestic water supply will be also improved to enhance the people’s hygiene and health. Women and children do not need to get the water from far away for their family consumption. They can invest their time and efforts doing other income- generating activities such as weaving and looking after the home vegetables garden etc.

Forest nursery can be established to support the community forestry in the long term. In some places, fruit trees are worth to try. However the villagers need to cope with all the changes that need time and strong support from the government and private sector.

1.3 Ethnic Peoples’ Development Plan

The proposed subproject is anticipated to have positive impacts on all ethnic groups living along the road. The project sponsor has to prepare an ECDP to ensure that vulnerable ethnic groups do not suffer adverse impacts of the Project and that they receive benefits from the Project appropriate to their particular circumstances.

This ECDP describes the legal, cultural and socio-economic context surrounding ethnic groups in the project areas. The plan describes measures, institutional arrangements that address the particular needs and circumstances of ethnic groups being vulnerable to the development process as defined below.

The plan prescribes a process during project implementation that provides for:

(1) collection of more site specific information on ethnic peoples through participatory methods; (2) the informed participation of all members of ethnic peoples covered by this plan; (3) identification, in close cooperation with the given ethnic groups, of their specific needs and priorities to be incorporated into site specific community development activities; (4) procedures for participatory monitoring and evaluation of project activities and their benefits and impacts on ethnic groups; and complaint mechanisms.

4 2. Background

2.1 Project background

Under proposed Laos Transport Sector Program, upgrading of National Road 1B is the subproject selected for the first year implementation. The subproject is located in Phongsaly Province starting from Pak Nam in Khoua District, passing Bountai District and ended at Ban Yo village in Bounneua District with 109 Kilometers. Phongsaly Province has been identified as having the largest percentage of total population in non-road-served areas, and Road 1B is the final remaining unpaved section on a road linking Vientiane with a Provincial Capital. There are total 29 villages of 3 districts located along the road corridor, including 21 villages along the road and 8 villages located off the road but within 5 kilometers of road alignment. There are 2,254 households and 11,760 people in these 29 villages, which account for 12.7% of total villages, 17.8% of total households, and 18.3% of total population in these three districts. Among the total population and villages along the road corridor, 93% of villages and 90% of households and population are ethnic groups,

Between July and November 2008, under the comprehensive arrangement and coordination of MPWT, the project survey team made of staff from SD&XP and relevant provincial and district PWTD staff carried out consultation and impact survey for the proposed Road 1B. They were supported by key officials from local districts and villages and the affected people. The survey and consultation included holding meetings in villages along the road and identification of potential benefits and impacts by the proposed project. In order to analyze the potential project impacts and develop viable and practical RAP and ECDP, under the coordination of MPWT, the survey team conducted detailed social and economic survey on the project affected areas, which combined the collection of all the existing social economic data with sample household survey.

The existing social economic data were collected for both Phongsaly Province, and relevant three districts, as well as affected villages along the road alignment. Sample household survey was carried out among affected people, which was designed to obtain basic social economic profile of residents in the project affected area, including both Laos and ethnic groups. Based on the obtained data through investigation, the local social economic situation and the potential impact on the livelihood of the affected people were analyzed.

2.2 Ethnic Groups National Profile and Classification

Lao PDR is a cultural diverse country. In order to adapt to the new changes and bring forth unity among various ethnic groups in Lao PDR, the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) has identified 49 ethnic categories and well over 160 ethnic sub-groups.

5 Since the 1991 Constitution, the official terminology uses for describing the diverse population of the Lao PDR has been “ethnic groups”, whiles the term “ethnic groups” is used to classify the non Lao ethnic groups.

The “Indigenous Peoples” as described by World Bank is not commonly used in Lao PDR, but for the purpose of this report it is taken to be one and the same as “ethnic peoples”. In this development plan, the official terminology- Ethnic Group, defined in the Lao Constitution is used throughout the plan.

The Lao ethnic groups are categorized into four ethno-linguistic groups as below:

The “Lao-Tai” (also referred to as “Tai-Kadai”), which includes the dominant “Lao ethnic group” and the “lowland Tai” speaking groups. The “Lao-Tai” consists of 8 ethnic sub-groups as in Table 2-1. In the project areas, there is Leu Group, accounting 26% of total ethnic population in project areas.

Table 2-1: List of Ethnic Groups under Lao-Tai Linguistic Group Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic 1 Lao 4 Tai 7 Phutai 2 Leu 5 Nhuane 8 Yang 3 Xaek 6 Tai neua

The second linguistic group is “Austro-Asiatic, also called Mon-Khmer” group, which consists of 32 ethnic sub-groups. There are 4 Khmou group villages in the project areas, accounting for 21% of total ethnic population in the project areas.

Table 2-2: List of Ethnic Groups under Mon-Khmer Linguistic Group Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic 1 Khmou 12 Phong 23 Bid 2 Pray 13 Thene 24 Lamed 3 Xingmoon 14 Eudou 25 Samtao 4 Katang 15 Makong 26 Taoey 5 Yru 16 Triang 27 Katu 6 Yae 17 Brao 28 Kriang 7 Hahak 18 Oey 29 Suay 8 Jeng 19 Kadang 30 Pako 9 Nhaheun 20 Lavy 31 Nguane 10 Kmer 21 Toum 32 Tri 11 Moy 22 Kree

The “Hmong-Iomien” group which consists of 2 ethnic sub-groups: Hmong and Lomien. Lomien is also called Yao. There is only one Hmong village in the project area, accounting for 1.4% of total ethnic population.

Table 2-3: List of Ethnic Groups under Hmong-Lomien Linguistic Group Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic

6 1 Hmong 2 Iomien

The “Chinese-Tibetan” (also referred to as “Sino-Tibetan”), which includes the Chinese and Tibeto-Burman ethnic group and consists of 7 ethnic sub-groups. Among them, there are 11 Akha villages and 7 Siingsili Villages (also called Phounoy Group), accounting for 23.7% and 28.1% of total ethnic population in the project area.

Table 2-4: List of Ethnic Groups under Chinese-Tibetan Linguistic Group Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic Sub-Ethnic 1 Akha or Ko 4 Phounoy 7 Lolo 2 Sila 5 Lahou 3 Hor 6 Hayi

Although the Lao language is the official language, the other ethnic languages are still used among themselves. Most ethnic groups do not have the written language.

Traditional customs and religious beliefs vary according to the ethnic groups they belong to. Buddhists form the big majority and they mainly belong to the Lao ethnic groups.

2.3 Ethnic Groups in Project Area

Phongsaly Province is located in the north part of the country bordering with China and Vietnam. It has the jurisdiction over 7 districts and 557 villages with 16,270 square kilometers of land areas. The total population was 162,942 in 2008, with an average population density being 10 persons per square kilometers, which was second lowest in the country. There were 28,946 households in the province, with average household size being 5.7 persons. Among them, 12.6% are residing in urban areas, and 87.4% are living in rural areas. Among total rural population, only one third of them are access to road, and two thirds of them without access to roads. The 23 ethnic groups living in this province are mostly subsistence farmers and cultivate highland crops in an area that is 99.6% mountainous. According to the recent census (2005), among total population, 88.7% are ethnic groups, with 48.1% of them belonging Sino-Tibetan language groups; 23.4% being Mon-khmer language group, and 7.2% as Hmong-mien language group.

Among 557 villages in 7 districts and, there are 458 villages or 82% with at least over 79% of population as ethnic groups. Most of them or 269 villages belong to Sino-Tibetan language groups, and remaining 189 villages belonging to Mon-khmer and Hmong-mien language groups. Among those 99 villages of Lao-Tai language groups, 79 villages or 80% are ethnic groups other than Lao. There is a high concentration of poverty households in Phongsaly Province, with close to 60% of villages as poor villages and over one quarter of households as poverty households. There is similar proportion of poverty villages and poverty households in the project affected areas.

7 2.4 Government Policy, Plans and Program

A. GOL Plan for Poverty Reduction

The Lao PDR’s Five Year Plan from 2005-2010 has the aim to eradicate the poverty and set the goal that 50% of the poverty households should be eradicated by 2010 and up to 2020 the poverty should be eradicated throughout the whole country. To achieve such objective, the Lao Government Social and Economic development Plans have central relevance to ethnic groups in relation to poverty reduction. These include: (i) support for food security, (ii) commercial agriculture production, (iii) rural development, (iv) infrastructural development, (v) external economic relations, (vi) access to services. In 2000, in PM01, the government prepared a plan for decentralisation of poverty alleviation efforts that calls for establishment of the province as the strategic unit, the district as the planning unit, and the village as the implementation unit. In addition to these functions, villages are responsible for data collection on the living condition of families. The National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES) is based on analysis of poverty and its causes in Lao PDR. It states that the Mon-Khmer and Hmong-Mien and Sino-Tibetan ethnic groups are the poorest in the country and identifies several causes of poverty including problems pertaining in land availability for food production and income generation. The NGPES spells out support for multi ethnic development through support for poor district development, participatory development, capacity building of rural populations and local government for participatory planning. It identifies poor districts for targeting of poverty reduction programmes in the country as a whole. The project area is covered by theses poor ethnic groups.

B. GOL Policy and Legislative Framework on Ethnic groups

The 1991 Constitution defined Lao PDR as a multi-ethnic state, with “equality among all ethnic groups” as described under Article 8 of the Constitution below: “The State pursues the policy of promoting Unity and Equality among all ethnic groups. All ethnic groups have the rights to protect, preserve and promote the fine customs and cultures of their own tribes and the nation. All Acts of creating Division and Discrimination among ethnic groups are forbidden. The State implements every measure to gradually develop and upgrade the economic and social level of all ethnic groups”. The 1992 ethnic policy, Resolution of the Party Central Organization concerning Ethnic Affairs in the new Era, focuses on gradually improving the living conditions of the ethnic groups, while promoting their ethnic identity and cultural heritage. The general policy of the Party concerning the ethnic groups can be summarized as follows: • Build National Sentiment (national identity); • Realize Equality among ethnic groups; • Increase the Solidarity Level among ethnic groups as members of the greater Lao family; • Resolve Problems of Inflexible and Vengeful thinking, as well as economic and cultural Inequality;

8 • Improve the living Conditions of the ethnic groups step by step; • Expand, to the greatest extent possible, the good and beautiful Heritage and ethnic Identity of each group as well as their Capacity to participate in the affairs of the nation. Various organizations responsible to implement the above policies are as follows: • The “Ethnic groups Committee” under the National Assembly, is in charge of drafting and evaluating all legislation concerning ethnic groups, lobbying for its implementation and the implementation of its socio-economic development plans. • The “Institute for Cultural Research” under the Ministry of Information and Culture, is responsible for carrying out all ethnic research activities. • The “Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC)” as the mass (political) organization, is the lead institution for ethnic affairs. Despite the efforts made by the above institutions to improve the ethnic peoples situations under the 1992 policy laid down, many ethnic peoples still lag behind the Lao ethnic group such as the poverty rates, literacy and health. Many ethnic groups still cannot speak and read Lao language and thus unable to effectively make use of schools and health clinics, which have only Lao speaking staff. Most of the ethnic peoples are staying in the far remote areas of the country difficult to reach for proper village development like the Lao ethnic group villages. During the LFNC seminar in 1996, a new work plan addressing specifically the ethnic group issues was adopted. The 1996-2000 National Socio-Economic Development Plan (NSEDP) aimed at alleviating poverty among ethnic populations in remote areas. The present NSEDP (2001-2005) still focuses on poverty reduction in the poorest areas and links poverty reduction to stop “pioneer shifting cultivation or slash and burn new forest area” which affects the ethnic People very much. However, the “rotational cultivation” may still be maintained. The sustainable land and forestry development programs are promoted by the GOL. The Constitution of Lao PDR was passed in 1991 as a consolidation of the rights and responsibilities of the State and the people. Throughout the Constitution the term "citizens of all ethnicity" is used. The Constitution states that all citizens have rights in education, health, land use and ownership, domicile of choice, and economic development regardless of sex, religion, social status, education, or ethnicity; as well as freedom of religion, freedom of speech; freedom to peacefully assemble and to protest. All citizens have the right to work and carry out their chosen livelihoods. Articles 8 and 22, guarantee that there will be no discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or gender. Articles in the Constitution where ethnic People are specifically mentioned are as follows: Article 1 – Lao PDR is a nation unified and indivisible of all ethnic groups. Article 2 - all power is of people, by people, and for the use of the multiethnic people. Article 3 - the right of a multi-ethnic people to be owners of the nation is exercised and

9 guaranteed by the political system. Article 7 - mass organizations are the focal point for the solidarity and mobilization for citizens of all backgrounds and ethnicity as participating members in the safeguarding and edification of their rights and interests. Article 8 - the State will carry out a policy of unity and equality among the various ethnic groups. All ethnic groups have the right to preserve and improve their own traditions and culture and those of the nation. Discrimination between ethnic groups is forbidden. The state will carry out every means in order to continue to improve and raise the economic and social level of all ethnic groups; Article 13 - the economic system is for the purpose of improving the standard of living, materially and spiritually, of a multi-ethnic people; Article 19 - the State and the people will collaborate to build schools of all levels in order that a complete education system will be available to all, especially areas inhabited by ethnic People; and Article 22 - all Lao citizens, regardless of their sex, social position, education, beliefs or ethnicity, are equal before the law.

C. Other GOL Related Policy and Legislation

The 1997 Land Law: The GOL considers Land as the National Community Property that is administered by the State for use and as a mean for all Socio-Economic Development. All the lands must be used effectively and to be based on the macro-level and micro-level development planning. There is no personal ownership of land, but the citizens are allowed to use it and have a customary right to its resources. The Land Law also stipulates that, in case of public infrastructure development projects cause damages to trees, crops or buildings of the private owners, the land owners have the rights to be compensated for the damages… Ethnic groups maintain land tenure user rights equal to all Lao citizens with certain specifications (see Section 3.1.5.1) and even preferential access and customary user rights to certain forest products (Forestry Law, Article 30; MAF Regulation 535; MAF Orders 54 and 377). Customary rights on land use among the ethnic groups are passed down from generation to generation. Traditionally, no land titles were involved and no boundaries were officially demarcated. In remote rural areas, these customary rights are still practicing to the acceptance of the local authorities widely. The GOL has developed a “Land and Forest Allocation” program with the aim to allocate the land to individuals and to demarcate the village forest and land boundaries for proper land use planning and forest management in a sustainable way. The land and forest allocation program has two main components. Firstly the allocation of potential agricultural land and degraded land to households, on a three-year temporary land use certificate, for crop cultivation, tree planting or grazing; satisfactory performance permitted households to gain the land title. Secondly, the allocation of forests within the village boundary to village community for sustainable management, village forest is classified for use, protection,

10 rehabilitation, etc. and agreements on rules managing each forest type are signed. The main objectives of the land and forest allocation program are: (i) to promote crop production to replace shifting cultivation through allocation and titling of production land, (ii) to protect forest through forest classification and, (iii) to utilize the allocated forests on sustainable basis. Many ethnic groups have traditionally recognized certain areas of forest as sacred forest sites. In addition, among ethnic groups, individuals or households were considered to be the owners of specific trees, such as those used for resin-tapping or that may have ancestral spiritual significance. These are important aspects of village cultural and economic life that need to be investigated and strictly respected. There are also other related policies and laws / regulations such as the GOL Resettlement and Compensation policies, the ADB and World Bank guidelines on the same issues. These aim at ensuring that the losses incurred by affected people are redressed such that Affected Persons share project benefits, are assisted to develop their social and economic potential in order to improve or at least restore their incomes and living standards to pre-project levels.

D. World Bank Policy on Indigenous People

Indigenous Peoples (OP 4.10): These instruments represents the World Bank’s commitment to poverty reduction and sustainable development by enshrining respect for the cultures, environments, economies and rights of indigenous peoples. Under the OP and BP, projects affecting indigenous peoples (IP) must ensure: • IPs are engaged in an a process of free, prior and informed consultation • The consultation process results in broad community support for the project • Social analysis is undertaken to ensure potential impacts on IPs are identified • An IP plan is developed to ensure IPs receive culturally appropriate project benefits, and that adverse impacts are avoided, minimized, mitigated, or compensated. The OP and BP also mention that where IPs are the sole or overwhelming majority of project beneficiaries, a separate IP Plan is not required, and that requirements outlined above be integral to the project documents (Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) and SIA).

11 3. Ethnic Groups in Project Areas

3.1 Methodology

The ECDP is based on a process of extensive consultation with different ethnic villages in the project area, and a combination of different approaches and methods, which included key informant interviews, participatory focus group discussions, survey among small sample households, and the collection and analysis of secondary data. 1) Free, Prior and Informed Consultation with Ethnic Villages In the process of preparing ECDP and RAP, extensive consultations had been carried out by the project team among villages in the project area. Most consultation meetings were participated by staff of provincial and district public works and transport departments, district Lao Front for Construction, and staff of sub-district government which familiar with local ethnic languages. The consultation meetings often started with introduction of the road improvement project, scope of work, and implementation schedule, which was followed by free expression by villagers with their comments and opinions on potential benefits, impacts, concerns and suggestions. For those villages involved with potential resettlement impacts, detailed impact survey and discussion of compensation and rehabilitation options were also carried out. It is based on such extensive consultations that the local communities expressed their strong support of the Project along with some concerns and suggestions. 2) Interviews with Key Informants In addition to village consultation, the consulting team also collected a great deal information from interviewing key informants, which include key provincial and district agencies, all village chiefs, and small shop owners. The emphasis was placed on (a) inclusion of the agencies concerned with addressing poverty issues, ethnic minority issues and gender issues, and (b) inclusion of the agencies or businesses that are likely to be directly affected by the construction of the proposed project. 3) Participatory Focus Group Discussion Participatory rapid appraisal activities were conducted among different stakeholders in order to assess the general social and economic conditions of the affected communities and to identify any key social issues that are of concern to the affected people, especially among the male and female residents in villages along the road. A total of 42 focus group discussions were conducted among 21 villages along the road. 4) Household Survey The household survey was conducted for 13 sample households, covering most relocated households and those seriously affected. About 46% are ethnic group households. The purpose of the household survey was to obtain the views and ideas of project area poor and non-poor people and assess their strategy for dealing with flood impacts and issues. Household selection for the survey was determined after completing a participatory wealth ranking of the village or urban community.

12 5) Secondary Data Collection In order to facilitate the social analysis, a great deal of information was collected by the consulting team. This included reference to the statistical yearbooks to obtain key information on the province and districts, including socio-economic data, ethnic groups data, and poverty reduction information. A summary of these consultation activities, including key informant interviews, focus group discussions and sample household surveys is presented in Table 3-1. Table 3-1: Public Consultation and Participation for Social Analysis Study Assessment No. of Target Groups Method Location Participants Provincial Planning Interviews Phongsaly District 6 Department Provincial Lao National Front Interviews Phongsaly District 7 Village committee of different economic Questionnaire conditions and ethnic and Interview 29 villages in 3 districts 435 background Semi-structured Men and women groups group 21 villages in 3 districts 420 discussions owners of all 9 affected shops interviews 7 villages in 2 districts 18 Provincial Public Works and Transport – Interviews Phongsaly District 8 Provincial PMO Provincial Lao women union Interviews Phongsaly District 7 District PWTD Interviews 3 districts in Phongsaly Province 9 District Lao women unions Interviews 3 districts in Phongsaly Province 6 District Lao National Front Interviews 3 districts in Phongsaly Province 6

3.2 Ethnic Groups in Lao PDR

3.2.1 Definition and Categories The Lao PDR is a multi-ethnic country with 49 ethnic groups being divided into four main languages groups: Lao-Tai, Mon-Khmer, Sino-Tibetan and Hmong-Mien. Scholars have classified up to 132 ethnic groups with the Lao PDR. The latest official ethnic group classification for was compiled by the Department for Ethnic Affairs of LFNC in 2002. Information regarding these main ethnic groups is presented below.

• Tai-Lao groups reside primarily in the lowland regions of the country and for the most part cultivate paddy crops, practice Buddhism and are integrated into the national economy (as groups referred to as Lowland Lao or Lao Lum). This group includes the Tai-Lao, which is the dominant group, and various other related ethnic groups such as the Tai-Dam, Tai Lue, Phuan and other Tai speaking groups. The Tai-Lao groups represent approximately 50% of the population in the Lao PDR.

• The Mon-Khmer groups, often called Upland or Lao Theung, live at mid-slope elevations on hillsides. These groups practice swidden agriculture and are reliant on forest products. Mon-Khmer groups are relatively isolated from the dominant lowland culture,

13 although there has been assimilation and integration with other ethnic groups in the country. The Khmu, Makong, Kata, Laven and other smaller groups are the original inhabitants of mainland Southeast Asia. They presently make up approximately 35% of the population in the Lao PDR.

• The Sino-Tibetan groups, referred to as highland Lao or Lao Soung, dwell for the most part in highland areas and practice slash and burn agriculture These groups include the Akha, Lahu, Lisu, and Pounoy among others, and are recent arrivals from Southern China and form about 5% of population in the Lao PDR, residing mainly in northern areas of Laos.

• The Hmong-Mien groups, including the Hmong and Yao, are also referred to as Lao Soung since they tend to inhabit highland areas in the northern and central provinces of Laos. They also practice swidden agriculture. These groups are also recent arrivals from Southern China and comprise about 10% of population in the Lao PDR.

Figure 1: Ethnic Distribution in Laos

3.3 Ethnic Minorities in Phongsaly Province

14 average population density being 10 persons per square kilometers, which was second lowest in the country. There were 28,946 households in the province, with average household size being 5.7 persons. Among them, 12.6% are residing in urban areas, and 87.4% are living in rural areas. Among total rural population, only one third of them are access to road, and two thirds of them without access to roads. About 58% of villages are poverty villages and 26% of households are poverty households.

Average GDP is approximately US$388 per capita by August 2008, which 6.62% higher than last year. Among total GDP, about 52.7% of the income came from agricultural production, 25.8% from handicraft and industry, and 21.5 from service sector. The province had a total of 11,370 ha of farmland, including 6260 ha of lower land paddy and 5110 ha of upland rice. Total grain production was 36,429 tons in 2008, averaging 220 kg per capita, which is 37% less than sufficient grain consumption level for the country (350 kg per capita). Located in the remote regions, majority of population are ethnic groups, and most of them are subsistence farmers and cultivate highland crops in an area that is 99.6% mountainous. According to the provincial data, there are as many as 82% of households and 79% of population of are ethnic groups. Table 3-2 provides basic social and economic data of Phongsaly Province and three project districts: Khoua, Bountai, and Bounneua.

Table 3-2: Basic social and economic data for Project Province and Districts Item Unit Province Khoua Bountai Bounneua

1. Number of Districts Piece 7 1 1 1 2. Number of Villages Piece 557 99 57 68 3. Total household No. HH 28,406 4,831 3,103 3,477 4. Total population Person 162,942 26,114 17,125 18,648 5. Ethnic village Villages 458 82 50 59 5a. Percent of Total Villages Percent 82% 83% 88% 87% 6. Ethnic households HH 23,369 3,726 2,571 2,895 6a Percent of Total Households Percent 82% 77% 89% 87% 7. Ethnic Population Person 128,031 20,376 14,416 14,968 8. Percent of total Population Percent 79% 78% 84% 80% 9 Female population Person 80679 13,047 8,602 9,051 10. Male Population Person 82,263 13,067 8,523 9,597 11. Number persons per Person 5.7 5.4 5.5 5.4 household 12. Geographic area km2 16,270 1,769 1,402 1,259 13. Number of Person per km2 Person/km2 10 15 12 15 14. Number of Poverty Villages Piece 323 47 22 33 15. Percent of Poverty Villages % 58.1% 47.5% 37.9% 48.5% 16. Number of Poor Households HH 7,500 985 713 926 17. % of Poor Households % 26.4% 20.4% 23.0% 26.6% 18. GDP per Capita $USD 388 242 370 340

15 19. % of GDP for Agriculture % 52.7% 70.2% 77.9% 79.8% 20. % GDP for Industrial and % 25.8% 10.8% 10.2% 10.0% Handicraft 21. % GDP in Services % 21.5% 19.0%. 11.9% 10.2%. 22. Farmland area Ha 11,370 3383 1841 2,150 23. Grain production volume Ton 36,429 8,458 4,603 5,031. 24. Per capital grain ownership Kilogram 220 324 269 270 25. Per capita farmland Ha 0.07 0.13 0.11 0.13

3.4 Minorities in Project Districts

Khoua District is located in the southeast of Phongsaly Province. It borders Samphan District to the north, Bountai District to the west, Mai District to the east, and Oudomxai and Louangphabang Provinces to the south. The total area is 1,769 square kilometers. The district has 99 villages with 4,831 households and a total population of 26,114. Among total villages, 83% of them are ethnic villages, and among total households and population, 77% of households and 78% of population are ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups include Khmou Population, accounting for 55.4% of total, and Akha Population, accounting for 16.6% of total population. In Khoua District, in spite of efforts made on poverty alleviation, by the end of 2008, there were still 47 poverty villages and 985 poverty households in the district, accounting for 48% of total villages and 20% of total households in the district. By the end of 2008, the District had 3383 ha of farmland and the per capita farmland was 0.13 ha. The total grain production is 8458 tons and the per capita grain production is 324 kilograms. Most of economic activities are agricultural production with major agricultural products include rice, corn, sugar cane, and vegetables. Total industrial and handicraft output in 2008 was about $48,748.

Bountai District is located in the middle of Phongsaly Province. It borders Khoua District to the south, Bounneua District to the north, Phongsaly District to the east, and China to the west. The district has a total area of 1402 square kilometers. By the end of 2007, the district had 57 villages, 3,103 households and 17,125 persons. Female population accounted for 50.2%. Among total villages, 88% of them are ethnic villages, and among total households and population, 89% of households and 84% of population are ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups in Bountai District include Leu, Singsili, and Akha.

In the district, in spite of efforts made on poverty alleviation, by the end of 2008, there were still 22 poverty villages and 713 poverty households in the district, accounting for 39% of total villages and 23% of total households in the district. The poverty households refer to those with per capita income below $120 per year. By the end of 2008, the total farmland in the district was 3383 ha and the per capita farmland was 0.11 ha. The grain production volume was 4603 tons and the per capita production volume was 269 kilograms. Its major agricultural produce includes rice, corn, sugar cane, vegetables.

16 Bounneua District is located in the north part of Phongsaly Province. It borders Bountai to the south, Phongsaly District to the east, Ngon U District to the north, and China to the west. The district has a total area of 1,259 square kilometers. By the end of 2007, the district had 68 villages, 3,479 households and 18,559 persons. Female population accounted for 48.5%. Among total villages, 33 villages or 49% are poverty villages; and among total households, 926 households or 27% are poverty households. Among total households and persons, 87% of households and 80% of population are ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups include Leu (11.1%), Singsili (16.9 %), and Akha (42%).

In total, among three project districts, there are 225 villages, 11,685 households and 62,437 persons. Among them, Lao-tai group has only 34 villages, 2,493 households and 12,677 persons. The main ethnic groups include Leu and Tai Dam from Lao-Tai Group, Khmou from Mon-Khmer Group, Akha and Singsili from Sino-Tibetan Group, and Hmong from Hmong- mien group. Among them, Akha, Khmou and Hmong ethnic groups appeared to have relatively lower incomes and higher poverty ratio compared with other ethnic groups. Located in high mountainous areas with poor access, harsh climate, low education and limited paddy all contributed to relatively poor conditions among these ethnic groups. Among these ethnic groups, there are wide spread practice of inter-marriages between the Singsili and Lao, Khmou and Singsili, But very few between Hmong and Singsili or Khmou or Akha, Language - Although some of older Akha and Signsili people in remote villages still speak their own languages, most of them can speak Lao fluently. This is particularly true for young people. In most of village consultation meetings most participants – man and women, elderly and young, were able to voice their opinions freely in Laos.

Table 3-3: Ethnic Groups in Project Districts Language Number of Number of Population Females groups Villages Households Lao-tai 34 2,493 12,677 6,372 Mon-khmer 75 3,432 18,186 8,968 Hmong-mien 6 243 1,482 704 Sino-Tibetan 110 5,517 30,092 15,053 Total 225 11,685 62,437 31,097

3.5 Ethnic Minorities in Project Area

The project area refer to the area along the NR 1B corridor includes both villages along the 109 km of road and those villages located within 5 km of distance from the road. There are 29 villages along the road corridor with 21 villages along the road and 8 villages off the road but within 5 km of alignment. Among them, there are 7 villages from Khoua District, 14 villages from Bountai District, and 8 villages from Buounneua District. According to the survey, among 29 villages, there are a total 2,245 households and 11,760 persons with 5,791 females or 49.2%. There are 1665 ha of farmland in these 29 villages, including 57% of upland rice and 43% of low land paddy. In average, each household has about 0.74 ha of farmland with 0.32 ha of low land paddy and 0.42 ha of upland rice. In addition, there are 1191 ha of economic crops, mainly rubber trees, 4,470 ha of fallow land, 69 ha of construction land and 11,968 ha of forest land, including 9,243

17 ha of protected forest land. In 2008, the total rice production in the affected villages was 3,740 tons, averaging 318 kg per capita. Compared with average rice sufficiency level estimated in Lao PDR of 350kg per person per year, average consumption of the affected villages have rice deficit of about 32 kg per person per year, or an equivalent of 376 tons per year. Such condition was much better than the average level in Phongsaly Province, which averaged 220kg per capita.

The main occupation of the people is shifting cultivation, producing subsistence rice, corn, cash crop, vegetables and cassava for household consumption and for animals with surplus sale to the markets. In addition, farmers also get their income from collecting Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP’s), such as bamboo shoots, and wild mushrooms, providing migrant labors, and engaging in small trade. Although all these villages have access to road and water supply, they are not connected by electricity grid. Almost all villages have only elementary school, and only three villages have secondary school, and one village has high school. There are 6 clinics and 4 markets in these villages. Among total 2245 households, 387 households or 17.2% are considered as poor households.

Due to located in the mountainous areas along National Road 1B, majority of villages and population are ethnic groups. For example, among total 29 villages 27 of them or 93% are ethnic villages; and among total households and population, 90% of households and 90% of population are ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups include Leu (23.4%), Singsili (23.2%), Akha (21.7%), Khmou (20.7%), and Hmong (1.2%). Lao accounts for 9.8% of total households in the project areas. See Table 3-5 for detail.

Table 3-4: Ethnic Groups Distribution in Project Affected Area Total Total Ethnic Total District Villages Ethnic Percent Population Ethnic Percent Villages Household HHs Population Khoua 7 5 628 409 65.1% 3334 2195 65.8% Bountai 14 14 1123 1123 100.0% 5942 5942 100.0% Bounneua 8 8 494 494 100.0% 2484 2484 100.0% Total 29 27 2245 2026 90.2% 11760 10621 90.3%

In spite of high proportion of ethic groups, due to most of villages are located along the road with relatively easy access, the economic condition appears to be better than the provincial or district average. For example, among total household in the 29 villages corridor, only 17.2% are poverty households. Such proportion is considerably lower than that in three project districts (20.4% to 26.9%) or provincial average (26.4%). If only includes those 21 villages along the road, such percentage is even lower than that.

Table 3-5: Key Ethnic Groups in Project Affected Area % of Key Ethnic % of Total % of Total Villages Households Population Poverty Groups Households Population Households Lao 2 219 9.8% 1139 9.7% 9.6% Lue 4 525 23.4% 2730 23.2% 3.8%

18 Singsili 7 521 23.2% 2520 21.4% 6.1% Akha 11 488 21.7% 2984 25.4% 47.5% Khmou 4 465 20.7% 2233 19.0% 9.2% Hmong 1 27 1.2% 154 1.3% 44.4% Total 29 2245 100.0% 11760 100.0% 17.2%

Among different ethnic groups, those Akha and Hmong groups appeared to have relatively high concentration of poverty households than other ethnic groups. Among these two groups in project areas, those households under the poverty line account for 48% and 44% respectively, which is significantly higher than the average poverty ratio in the project areas. Located in high mountainous areas with poor access, harsh climate, low education and limited paddy all contributed to relatively poor conditions among these ethnic groups. Level of poverty appeared to be directly link with level of accessibility of the villages. Among the 11 Akha villages, those 5 villages and 205 households located away from the road but within 5 kilometers of corridor have relatively higher poverty ratio than the group average, reaching 67.3% of total Akha households. For the 6 Akha villages located along the road, their poverty ratio was only 33.2%, less than half the ratio among villages off the road. Here, lack of access is one of key factor in contributing poverty in those poor communities.

3.6 Ethnic Distribution in Project Affected Villages

In terms of ethnic group distribution among project affected villages, the proposed Road 1B Improvement Subproject would involve land acquisition and resettlement impacts for only 7 villages from 2 districts in Phongsaly Province. They include 5 villages in Khoua District, and 2 villages in Bountai Districts. In 2008, there were 445 households and 2,230 persons in these 7 villages, averaging 5.01 persons per household. Female population accounts for 55.7% of total population. Among these 7 affected villages, 5 of them are ethnic villages with 82.1% of population as ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups include Kopala and Hor - both are branch of Akha group, Khmou, and Hmong. See Table 3-6 for details.

Table 3-6: Demographical Profile of Affected Villages Ethnic Name % of % of No. Village Household Population Female Group Ethnic Poverty HH HH I. Khoua District 408 1970 1000 319 78.2% 13.7% 1 B Sinsay 53 264 140 0 Lao 0.0% 17.3% 2 Lau Lee 42 290 147 42 Kopala 100.0% 24.4% 3 B Kokphao 35 156 77 0 Lao 0.0% 30.0% 4 B Buamphan 122 532 264 121 Khmou * 99.2% 10.1% 5 B Nam Lee 156 728 372 156 Khmou 100.0% 4.1% II. Bountai District 90 524 383 90 - 100.0% 39.1% 6 B Aya 25 156 86 25 Hmong 100.0% 44.4% 7 B Sanomay 65 368 297 65 Ko 100.0% 36.9% Total 498 2494 1383 409 82.1% 17.3% Source: Statistic Center of Phongsaly Province and Planning Department of each District

19 There are 361 ha of farmland in these 7 villages, including 69% of upland rice and 31% of low land paddy. In average, each household has about 0.72 ha of farmland with 0.22 ha of low land paddy and 0.5 ha of upland rice. In addition, there are 141 ha of economic crops, mainly rubber trees, 748 ha of fallow land, 19 ha of construction land and 1,535 ha of forest land, including 955 ha of protected forest land. In 2008, the total rice production in the affected villages was 785 tons, averaging 315 kg per capita. Compared with average rice sufficiency level estimated in Lao PDR of 350kg per person per year, average consumption of the affected villages have rice deficit of about 35 kg per person per year, or an equivalent of 87 tons per year. Such condition was much better than the average level in Phongsaly Province, which averaged 220kg per capita.

Although all these villages have access to road and water supply, they are not connected by electricity grid. Each village has only elementary school, and only one village has secondary school. There are 3 clinics and 2 markets in these villages. Among total 498 households, 87 households or 17.5% are considered as poor households.

3.7 Ethnic Distribution among Affected Households

In terms of land acquisition and resettlement impact, a total of 46 households will be affected by resettlement, including 23 households to be affected by house demolition and 23 households to be affected only by removal of various attachments. Among them 18 households or 39% are Laos, 26 households or 57% are Khmou, 1 household or 2% are Akha, and 1 household or 2% are Hmong.

In order to better understand the project’s impacts on individual households, the ECDP preparation team conducted a sample survey within the project affected villages. A total of 13 affected households were randomly selected as sample households, accounting for 28.2% of the total affected households. Most of sample households are those who will be affected by house demolition or shop relocation. The selected sample households came from 4 affected villages, accounting for 16% to 80% of total affected households in these villages. See Table 3-7 for the specific allocation of sample households.

Table 3-7: Distribution of Sample Households in Affected Villages Affected Affected Sample Ethnic No. Village Sample Proportion Household Ethnic HH Households Name I. Khoua District 1 B Sinsay 5 4 80.0% Lao 2 Lau Lee 1 1 0 Kopala 3 B Kokphao 13 3 23.1% Lao 4 B Buamphan 18 18 3 16.7% Khmou *

20 Affected Affected Sample Ethnic No. Village Sample Proportion Household Ethnic HH Households Name 5 B Nam Lee 8 8 3 37.5% Khmou Sub-Total 45 27 13 28.3% - II. Bountai District 6 B Aya 1 1 0 0.0% Hmong 7 B Sanomay 0* 0 0.0% Ko Sub-Total 1 1 0 0.0% Total 46 28 13 28.2% Note: In Sanomay Village, two collectively owned water pipeline and water tap will be affected..

To have a better understanding of basic social economic profile of affected households, the ECDP preparation team conducted detailed social economic survey among 13 sample households. Among them 6 households are ethnic groups, accounting for 46% of total samples. Table 3-8 lists the results of these sample households.

(1) Family structure and employment The 13 sample households have 59 people in total. Every household has 4.5 people in average. Among them, 6 households and 28 persons are ethnic groups, which account for 47% of total population. All of them are Khmou, Yang, and Lue ethnic groups. Among total sample population, there are 33 adult labors, 5 elderly (ages 55 or older) and 21 children.

(2) Agricultural production According to the investigation, there are basically no enterprises in the project affected area. Farmers mainly work in crop production and small trade. Due to closeness to the roads, 5 households have income from small shops, 2 households have income from temporary gasoline stations, and 7 persons have income from small trade. Most farmland grows grain crops, including low land rice, upland rice and corn for their self consumption. In total the sample households have 7.5 ha farmland and the per capita farmland is 0.13 ha. In 2007, the annual grain production volume was about 18,900 kilograms and per capita grain volume was 320 kg. Because the existing production facilities are not well developed, and the irrigation conditions are not good, the current rural resource development and utilization level is not high. There is still room for further improvement of the farmland productivity.

Table 3-8: Basic information on the sample households in Project Affected Areas Investigation indicator Unit Ethnic Lao Investigation indicator Unit Ethnic Lao 2. Transport and I. No. of Sample Households HH 6 7 communication 1. Total Population Person 28 31 (1) Mobile phone Piece 2 3 Including: women Person 12 15 (2) Fixed telephone Piece 0 2. Total No. of labor forces in Person 15 18 (3) Motorcycle Piece 3 4 HH Including: women Person 8 9 (4) Truck Piece 0 1 3. Average dependents per Person 0.86 0.72 V. Annual total income US$ 5,982 15,835 labor force (1) Income from II. Agricultural production US$ 1,647 1,2825 Planting

21 (2) Income from 1. Farmland Ha 3.46 4.03 US$ 488 47 Animal 2. Per capital farmland Ha 0.12 0.13 (3) Income of NTFP US$ 271 294 3. Total Grain Production Tons 8.8 10.1 (4) Income of Shops US$ 0 0 (5) Small Trade & 4. Per capita Grain Production Kg 314 325 US$ 0 353 Other III. Persons working in non- VI Annual total Person 2 12 4,880 7,854 farm sectors expenses % in the total labor forces % 13.3% 66.7% (1) Food US$ 600 2,729 Including: (1) small shops Person 5 (2) Heath Care US$ 420 1,024 (2) gasoline stations Person 2 (3) Education US$ 1,278 1,259 (3) small trade Person 2 5 (4) Social Welfares US$ 647 399 IV. Durable consumer goods of (5) Clothing US$ 318 850 HH 1. Home electric appliance (6) Transport & Other US$ 1278 971 (1) TV set Set 2 3 (7) farm input US$ 0 622 VII Annual Per Capita (2) DVD\VCD Set 1 1 US$ 214 491 Income (3) Electric fan Set 0 0

(3) Living environment and housing conditions All sample households are located along the existing road and have relative easy access to the outside, although quality of roads are difficult during rainy season. There are shuttle buses to district center or Phongsaly capital city.

According to the survey, there are 552 square meters of houses, averaging 42 square meters per household. Among them, there are 2 concrete houses, 7 wooden houses with iron sheet roof, and 4 bamboo houses. Our observation of the households indicates that except those concrete houses, most of the wooden and bamboo houses were simple and primitive and easy to be moved into new locations.

The area affected by the project has no electricity grid connection. The lighting is mainly relied on kerosene lamp with some households use solar power. Most of the water used by people and animal is tap water from mountain, and water supply is basically guaranteed. In terms of residential energy, they are mainly using fire wood collected in the areas. In terms of household durables, the 13 households surveyed have 6 black white TV sets, 5 kerosene lamps. As for transport and communication, there are only 2 motorcycles, and 1 small truck and 5 mobile phones among 13 households. These are the major transport and communication tools and devices of the local residents.

(4) Household income structure According to our survey statistics on economic income of the sample households, in 2007, the annual per capita income of the sample households was $234, including $46 per capital agricultural produce income, accounting for 20%; $15 per capita forest product, animal product and by-product income, accounting for 6%; $147 per capita for shops or gasoline stations, accounting for 63%; and $28 per capita for small trade and other non-agricultural

22 income, accounting for 12%. Therefore, the income of the sample households is mainly from commercial activities, supplemented by income from agricultural income, and small trade. However, among 6 ethnic group households, none of them own shops or gas stations therefore, their income was significantly lower than the 7 Lao households who own 5 shops.

(5) Household consumption structure According to our investigation on 13 sample households, in 2007, the annual per capita expense of the sample households was $160, including $11 per capita agricultural production expense, accounting for 6.6%; $149 per capita daily life consumption, accounting for 93.4%. Among total expenses, the food and beverage consumption expense was largest with $55, accounting for 34.2%. It followed by education expense with $32 per capita or 20%, and medical expense with $28 per capita or 17.1%. The remaining per capita expenses are clothing with $12 or 7.6%. The household consumption structure indicates that the daily life consumption level of the residents in the project affected area is still low. People’s consumption is basically concentrated in basic consumption.

(6) Per capita net income According to the analysis of the economic income and consumption expenses of the sample households, by the end of 2007, the per capita net income of sample households was $223, with $214 per capita for 6 ethnic households and $491 per capita for 7 Lao households. Lack of income from shops or gasoline stations from 6 ethnic sample households was the main reason for such income disparity.

3.5 The Main Ethnic Groups and Their Distribution

To have a better idea about different ethnic groups in the project areas, particularly project affected villages, the following section introduces the basic social and cultural background of these ethnic groups based on publication from Lao Front for National Construction in 2005.

3.5.1 Akha

The Akha originally settled in Kuaichao and Yunnan, which are provinces of China. After moving down to the Southern part of Yunnan, they later moved to Va and Xiengtung districts of Burma, and then to Lai Chao district of Vietnam. Only later did they settle in the mountainous areas in northern Laos during the last 200 years. Escape from war the need for land for cultivation were the main reasons for their migrations. The natural richness and mild weather throughout the year are other factors that attracted them to settle in those areas. The total population of the Akha in Laos is 90,698, or 1.6% of total population in the country based on 2005 census.

There are many sub-groups of Akha. In the project areas, the relevant sub-groups include Kapala and Kher. The Akha language is in the Tibetan-Myanmer branch of the Austro- Asiatic language linguistic family. Akha has no written alphabet.

23 Although there is no written history about Akha, they have a rich oral history of their traditions and culture. The Akha heavily believe in spirits and it is not easy for them to give up this tradition, as their belief in spirits is strongly ingrained in their culture.

The Akha practice a mix of animism, naturalism, and spirituality. Most Akha villages are located in altitudes between 600 and 1000 meters, and are usually on a hillside in some cleared forestland. An average village has between forty and fifty houses.

The Akha have two styles of houses. One style is to build on stilts, so the house is about 1 meter above the ground. The other style is to build the house on the ground. Floors are bamboo mats, wood planks, or hard earth, depending on the style of the house. Walls are made of woven bamboo and the roof is heavy thatch. Akha houses have no windows, but are well protected from wind, raid, and cold weather. A wall that divides the house into areas for men and areas for women separates the houses.

Akha women perhaps have the most colorful and interesting costumes of the entire ethnic group in Laos. There are many different styles of dress, but a common style is as follows. Elaborate headdresses are worn that are made of a series of bamboo rings covered with straw. This is covered with silver balls and silver coins, with colored threads at the sides. Colorful short shirts are worn with tight-fitting jackets. The shirts are often dark blue or black and the legs are covered with leggings that go from the knee to the ankle. This is a rough description of the dress, as it can vary among the different Akha groups. The men tend to wear more modern clothing; however some still wear the traditional blue loose-fitting trousers and blue jacket.

The Akha traditionally practiced a primitive form of slash and burn agriculture that would leave the soil exhausted after three or four growing seasons. Their three main crops are dry- land rice, maize, and cotton. They would also grow vegetables, peanuts, spices, and sometimes tea. However, one crop the Akha have grown for a long time is opium poppies, which have led to problems, including addiction to opium. The Akha are also skilled foragers at finding many wild fruits and vegetables. They are skilled hunters, using traps, crossbows and old muskets to hunt large and small game. They also breed cows, buffalos, pigs, and chickens. However, it is at animal husbandry, raising many types of animals such as cattle, buffaloes, horse, goat, pig, dogs, and chickens. However, it is unpopular to eat those animals as daily food, unless there are special traditional celebrations or occasions there are guests.

3.5.2 Khmou

Khmou language is classified into the Mon-Khmer language group of the Austro-Asiatic language linguistic family, the branch is Khmuic branch. There are distinct regional dialects among the language. Khmou also like to learn the languages of other ethnic groups. In 1980s, linguists carried out some studies and used Latin alphabets to write in Khmou dialect. This alphabet still exists and is being used. The total population of khmou in Laos is 613,893, or 10.9% of total population in the country based on 2005 census.

24 Khmu’s Villages are administratively managed according to the official system, which a village chief, a committee and mass organization. A traditional council of elder plays an important social and cultural role. The shifting cultivators are often organized in working groups, which took a somewhat different from during the co-operative period, for highland paddy cultivation work. These groups of approximately ten families are re-organized on an annual basis according to neighborhood relationship and land allotments.

Khmou like to build their houses on low wooden stilts, about 1 to 1.5 meters above the ground. A family which just ensures regular food sufficiency contents itself with a bamboo mat walled house with no windows and roof made of thatch or bamboo tiles.

Both men and women also have sacred textiles, which they have collected over the span of a lifetime and keep stored either in large ceramic jars or metal trunks. This sacred textiles, mainly tube-skirts are woven for the Khmu by in large tapestry designs. The Khmu wear such textiles during rituals, for instance a burial, healing rites and a number of religious ceremonies. In addition to those textiles they also use sacred garments to place on altars or cover a coffin.

Kmou generally have practiced slash and burn agriculture for growing dry-land rice. They also grow crops such as cassava, maize, peanuts and some vegetable. They also grow tobacco. They have some buffalo, goats, pigs and chickens. They also like to fish and hunting, In addition, they also collect non-timber forest products for sale and exchange. They also skilled in metal works and weaving bamboo and rattan to make basket, fish trap and some other tools for household use or sometime sell.

3.5.3 Hmong

The Hmong are an ethnic group that has lived in the territory of Laos since the middle of the nineteenth century. They live in numerous areas of the northern provinces of Laos all the way down to Bolikhamsay Province. The total Hmong population in Laos amounts to 451,946 persons, or 8% of total national population (according to 2005 censes). Among them, female population is 224,257 persons. The Hmong language is of the Miao-Yao Group of the Austro-Asiatic language linguistic family. The language branch is Miao. They have two alphabets, one using Latin characters. The Hmong language varies slightly from one location to another, but all Hmong can understand each other.

The Hmong practice a mix of animism, naturalism, and spirituality. Most Hmong villages are between 1000 and 1500 meters high and many villages can only be reached by foot or horseback. Most villages never have more than 50 houses. Some villages are made of a single clan. The Hmong house is rectangular and is built on the ground, not on stilts like many other groups. It is made of wood, bamboo, and has a thatched roof. There is a fireplace in the corner for cooking and heating, and one end of the house is partitioned off for sleeping quarters for the entire family.

25 Costumes vary among the different Hmong groups, but they are varied and ornate. Among women, these can be black loose trousers or pleated skirts with batik patterns and motifs of green, yellow and red embroidery. Long sleeve jackets with narrow collars and curved edges are also worn. Some Hmong also wear a black kerchief that is decorated with silver coins. Both men and women wear a great deal of jewelry of solid silver. These are rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.

The Hmong generally have practiced slash and burn agriculture for growing dry-land rice and maize. They also grow crops vegetables and different root crops for their daily consumption. They are very skilled at animal husbandry, raising many types of animals such as cattle, buffaloes, horse, goat, pig, dogs, and chickens. In addition, handicrafts are very important in Hmong society. Hmong men are skillful in carpentry and blacksmithing, making a variety of tools and utensils from both wood and iron. Silversmith skills are also common to produce various jewelries that the Hmong love to wear. Women are skillful at knitting and embroidery of different styles and patterns. They are well known for the elaborate and ornate embroidery and batick patterns.

3.5.4 Singsily (Phounoy)

Singsily Group, also known as Phounoy, has lived in Lao for many centuries. Most of them live in northern mountainous provinces, such as Phongsali, Luangnamtha, Udomxay, Bokeo and Luangphabang Provinces. The total population of Singsily in Laos is 37,447, or 0.7% of total population in the country based on 2005 census.

The Singsily language is classified as Tibetan-Burma branch group under Sino-Tibetan language group. The Singsily groups have no alphabet and no written language.

Most Singsily groups practice a branch of animism and ancestor worship. They believe in spirits of sky, wind, water, streams, forest and other nature- related places. The most important spirit is the spirit of land (datong) and spirit of water (da ahakhang).

Singsily village are usually located near streams in mountainous forests, between 600 to 1000 meters altitude. The Singsily groups prefer to build the house on wooden stilts. The houses are made of clay and wood with wall often made of clay in order for the protection of cold weather.

Singsily have generally practiced slash and burn agriculture for growing both dryland rice and wet rice. The most common crop is glutinous rice, which they grow in upland. The Singsily are know as a very diligent people, especially the women who are very skillful in sewing.

3.6 On Going Ethnic Development Programs

Since ethnic groups account for 80% of total population in Phongsali Province or 90% in project areas, most of provincial development programs are targeting ethnic group

26 population in the province. The unique status of high concentration of ethnic groups in the province allows phongsaly Province to obtain additional central government support for the ethnic group population. The province has its own master plan and sector development plans support the development of ethnic groups. The sector development plans include: • poverty reduction and development plan • agricultural and forestry development plan; • industrial development plan; • women’s development plan; • children’s development plan; • educational development plan; • transport development plan; • public health development plan; and • Others. These plans are often linked with various programs, e.g., land conversion program is linked with forestry development plan and food for work program in linked with poverty development plan. Budgets for implementing these plans, as well as for other activities, are pre-determined and specified. In other words, there is hardly any flexible money available for additional activities imposed by such project like this World Bank Road Development Project2. In addition to the sector development programs, there are specific ethnic group development programs in the project province that are administrated by Phongsaly Provincial Lao National Front. These programs are formulated based on the needs of each district through bottom- up and top-down approaches. Ethnic development programs include the provisions of social infrastructures (primary/secondary school, health center, village enhancement with fencing around village or sub-village, and recreation facilities), infrastructures improvement (rural road, water supply and electricity connection), and capacity building (training on farming, and other income-generating activities). The ethnic development programs often join hands with poverty reduction programs. Table 3-9 provides a preliminary list of on-going programs for the ethnic villages in the project districts.

Table 3-9: Ethnic Development Programs in Phongsaly Province (2008-2010) Investment Implementati Programs Sponsor Agencies (US$) on Agencies Promotion Production Development Provincial Agricultural Activities in Bountai, Bounneua, May, and 58,901 PAD Department Ngonu districts Agricultural Development and Processing Provincial Agricultural Project for Bountai, Bounneua, May, 1,176,471 PAD Department Khua and Ngonu districts Rice and crops seeds supporting Project Provincial Agricultural for Khua, May and Bountai and Ngonu 57,647 PAD Department districts Fertilizers supporting Project for whole Provincial Agricultural 23,529 PAD Phongsaly Province Department

2 Specifying budget uses is also an anti-corruption measure.

27 Irrigation Project (3,588 subproject) for Provincial Agricultural 3,209,412 PAD Phongsaly Province Department Provincial Public Rural Access Road for Phongsaly Works and Transport 2,823,529 PPWTD Province Department Provincial Education Primary and secondary school facility 662,526 PED Department Provincial Education Minority Children Education Support 23,529 PED Department Villages Development for the poor District Provincial Planning 136,941 PPD (Ngon U, Samphan) Department Remote village Development Programs GAA,LAO- Ausaid and 326,410 PPD for May, Khua and Bountai districts Red cross Provincial Lao National Rice bank Project Grant 10,154 PPD Front Rice Bank Ausaid Ausaid 7,328 Ausaid Rice Bank EU Grant 39,428 EU Rice Bank Lao-America Lao-America 27,778 Lao-USA Rice Bank for Opium reduction Lao-USA 8,674 Lao-USA Total 8,592,258 Source: Phongsaly Party congress report and planning 24/9/2008).

28 4. Project Benefits and Impacts

4.1 Approach and Process

The proposed NR 1B is the part of section linking Vientiane and Phongsaly Province. In order to minimize any potential social impacts and reduce project cost, the upgrading of the existing NR 1B will be based on existing right of way with only 7.5 to 8.5 meters. In order to have a better understanding about the proposed Project and ensure adequate consultations with affected villages, during the preparation of initial social assessment, resettlement action plan and ethnic group development plan, a series of meetings were held with key provincial and district government agencies and affected villages. The government agencies include provincial planning department, provincial public works and transport department, provincial Lao Front for Construction, and Provincial Lao Women Union, as well as similar institutions in the 3 project districts. More importantly, a series of consultation meetings were held in all 21 villages along the road in order to identify project impacts, and consult with affected people on their potential concerns. The consultation meetings were participated by village committee members, village chiefs, village representatives, and affected households. They began with meetings with village committee members and followed by group discussions with males and females villagers. There were two meetings in each village. One meeting took place before the impact survey. It was participated by the survey team, local government officials and villagers. The main content of the meeting was to introduce the project, the object, and proposed survey and consultation activities. After impact survey, the team met village representatives again in small group discussions to discuss issues concerning land acquisition and resettlement as well as other concerns. The survey team made of staff of consultants, ethnic agencies in district and province, and public works and transport departments in provincial and district levels. Following group discussions, individual interviews were carried out with those households to be affected by land acquisition and resettlement. It is through such extensive discussions and consultations, the potential project benefits, impacts and concerns were identified and various mitigation measures to enhance project benefits and reduce potential impacts were explored.

4.2 The Benefits of the Project

The National Road 1B with a total 109 kilometers is passing from Pat Namnoi in Khuoa District to Bam Yo in Bounneua District. The road is unsealed road constructed in the 1990s, officially classified as gravel but the surface is a mixture of gravel, stone, earth. Although it is regarded as all-weather road open for 12 months of the year and the overall condition is considered to be fair to good by an unsealed road. However, in some sections the road is difficult in rainy season, especially for conventional light vehicles. The first 75Km section is in mountainous terrain. The remainder of the road the terrain is rolling and mountainous. A number of minor roads connect with NR 1B, all of which have earth surface.

29 Discussions with local officials and villagers indicated that the people of Phongsaly Province, especially the project districts are often suffered from poor accessibility during the rainy seasons, and serious dust in the dry season. Such problems hinders the economic growth in the region by limiting trade of agricultural products and also causes potential health risks for those villages along the road. Therefore most of villagers expressed the strong support for the project, which will install pavement on the existing road. All of them requested the Project to start as soon as possible. The villagers said that if the road needs more land along the road, the villages would be wiling to make contribution to the project. The reason for such strong support is that most of them can see clearly what benefits the proposed road project could bring to their communities. Even those affected households were ready to move out as long as there are fair compensations. The proposed NR 1B subproject will benefit all people in Phongsaly province, which include urban and rural, male and female residents, industrial managers, staff of the enterprises and institutions, local government officials and small shop owners. Majority of project beneficiaries are ethnic groups. For most local villagers, the implementation of the Project will create many temporary and long term employment opportunities for road construction and maintenance, which could help them build their savings and improve the poverty conditions. According to estimate, the construction of NR 1B would require 243,245 day person temporary employment in 3 years, which could bring $972,245 income to local villagers. At least 80% of labors and $875,682 of wages will go to ethnic groups in the project areas. Such amount could allow 1,351 individuals working for 6 months. Each unskilled labor could earn at least $720 during the construction, which is more than two times of that their current annual income. In addition, some villagers could also benefit from providing commercial activities during the construction, which include provision of food and accommodation services, as well as provision of construction materials to the contractors. Such commercial activities could enable most ethnic villagers to obtain more cash income from the Project. When the road construction is completed, additional $38,150 of maintenance fund will be spent each year along the road. Assuming that one villager will be assigned to maintain 1 km of the road maintenance, at lease 109 villagers will be selected to carry out road maintenance activities, which could earn about $250 per year for those benefited households. In addition to employment benefit, the improved transport condition will lead to increase agricultural production in the region by reducing transport cost and increasing farm input, and increase of non-farm economic activities by encouraging tourist activities and outside investment. All of them will direct benefit local villages, including most ethnic villages. For business and enterprises, the improved Road 1B will mean the reduction of cost or time caused by poor road condition, which will result in higher profits for the companies, more wages for the employees and more tax revenues for local governments.

30 In addition to economic benefit, group discussions among stakeholders also identified a range of non-economic benefits by the Project, which include: (1) a better living environment along the road with improved drainage and reduced dust; (2) an improved transport and access for local villagers, and (3) an enhanced non-farm employment capacity through participating in Project construction, and job skill training for affected communities. Even for those people outside the road corridor, improvement of accessibility mean less interruption of transport and market activities, and less interruption of government programs and services, which are critical for most rural poor. The project itself is an ethnic minority people’s development project because it will directly strengthen connection to the political, economic and commercial center of Phongsaly Province with country capital. Table 4-1 lists main benefits of the project listed by key stakeholders in the project areas.

Table 4-1: Positive Impacts Identified by Different Groups of Beneficiaries Stakeholders Potential Project Benefits • Protect lives and houses from dust • Improve traffic along the road • Increasing business and make more income • Create more temporary jobs during construction so that they Male villagers along the road could earn more cash income for their households • To achieve that, contractor should give local villagers priority for hiring unskilled labors. • More job opportunities for road maintenance after completion • Improve sale of agricultural products with new road • Livestock shipment will be easier with new road • Reduce cost of transport with less trip and less time Female villagers along the road • Reduce dust with road pavement and improve health conditions for their families. • Will have more reliable transport to see doctor and for children to go to school • Reduce fuel and maintenance cost with new road • Reduce transport time Bus drivers and traders • Increase traffic volume and passengers and more income could be made from improved transport activities. • Less broken down of cars and reduction of maintenance cost • No dust impact and better working environment • Can build a permanent business house or house structure Shop Owners along road since no need to worry about relocation again • The shops along the road will have more business due to increase traffic; • Unpaved roads require a great deal of government budget for routine maintenance and repairs; which amounted to 1.5 billion kip per year; • With new roads, the land slide and road broken could be avoided or minimized during rainy seasons, so that no interruption of road traffic in the project areas; Government Officials • The new road with better transport will attract more investors to the area for future development. • The new road will improve the access for the local population; • The improved road with all season access will enable agricultural products including livestock to transport quicker

31 and less cost for the local villagers;

4.3 Potential Negative Impacts of the Project

During the consultation and focus group discussions held in the selected villages, different groups of individuals also identified a range of potential negative impacts to be brought by the proposed subproject based on their own interests. Among these potential negative impacts, the land acquisition, demolition of houses and relocation of population were considered the major negative impacts by the project. However, since the upgrading of NR 1B will be based on existing alignment, the potential resettlement impact will be quite limited. According to the detailed impact survey, the construction of NR 1B will require a total of 23 households to relocate due to demolition of their houses and shops, and another 23 households for moving their rice storage to nearby locations or losing part of his fence. In general the impacts will be small. After extensive consultation with affected villages, the house demolition and property removal impacts could be mitigated by providing affected people compensation funds based on replacement value, and alternative housing land by the affected villages and paid by the Project. After resettlement, all affected people will be able maintain their previous living standard and can continue their farming or trade activities. For temporary land occupation, efforts will be made to avoid occupying farmland or adequate compensations will be paid to affected people for their lost yields and the project owner will be responsible to restore the land areas into their original condition after construction. Following the World Bank requirements, a resettlement plan has been prepared by the project sponsor. According to national laws and regulations and based on consultation with affected people a set of compensation rates has been adopted for the Project. For house demolition, the compensation will be set at $45 per square meter for concrete structure, $15 per square meter for wooden houses, and $10 per square meter for bamboo structures. Along with compensation for affected structures, replacement housing plots and moving allowance will be provided. For various attachments, the compensations at replacement value will be provided, so that affected assets and village facilities could be restored into original conditions. For temporarily occupied land, if productive land is involved, the affected villages or individuals will be provided compensation for the lost yield, plus compensation for restoring them into original conditions. However, since the RAP has not yet been disclosed to the local communities and affected people, some people interviewed did not have clear idea about the potential land acquisition and resettlement impact to be brought by the Project. They express desire of having more information regard to compensation policies and potential negative impacts. It seems that during next stage of resettlement planning more meaningful participation should be organized with affected communities and individuals, and more disclosure should be carried out in order to improve basic understanding of the resettlement preparation for the Project and address concerns raised by the project affected people. Apart from land acquisition and resettlement, the villagers also identified other potential negative impacts during and after the road construction. They are mainly referring to

32 temporary environment impacts during road construction and potential safety concerns when the new road is completed. For example, the villagers voiced some concerns regarding potential noise and dust impacts during road construction, increasing traffic around their villages, and possibilities of water pollutions caused by soil erosion and wastewater discharged from construction sites. In addition, villages and local officials also mentioned potential safety concerns after road construction with increasing traffic volume and increasing speed. For these types of concerns, detailed mitigation measures have been developed and included in the project design documents, as well as project environment management plan and project safety component. More specific concerns raised by different stakeholders are summarized in Table 4-2.

Table 4-2: Potential Negative Impacts Identified by Different Stakeholders Stakeholders Potential Project Impacts • Loss of houses or attachments due to road construction • Lost the time to move the house or property to be affected • Increase dust and noise by heavy trucks during construction Male villagers along the road • The good road will lead to increasing speed and traffic on the road, which might cause more accidents for children or livestock • Dangerous of fast drive cars or trucks • Dust and trafficking will cause problem during construction • The improved road could lead to increase traffic speed along the roads, which might create more accidents for children and animals. • During construction, the dust and pollution might cause some Female villagers along the impacts on villages living along the road, and having some road environment and health impacts; • More serious impacts are land acquisition and house demolition as well as removal of assets • The relocation of houses will create hardship and inconvenience for affected households. • Inconvenience or interruption of road traffic during construction, which might increase operation cost and reduce profit for the Bus drivers and traders transport business operators. • During construction, the existing roads and drainage might be damaged, which might create problems vehicles. • More serious impacts are lost of shops, and relocation of shops would result in loss of income and profit. • The improved road could lead to increase traffic speed along the roads, which might create more accidents for local villagers and Shop Owners along road animals. • During construction, the dust and pollution might cause some impacts on shops along the road, and having some environment and health impacts; • Take time to restore the business or reconstruct house caused by road construction. • lost time for other activities to do • Large number of construction workers and increase traffic might Government Officials bring some disease in the project areas, including HIV, more education is needed; • Sometime there might be conflict between constructor’s workers and villagers due to misunderstanding. • The improved road could lead to increase traffic speed along the

33 roads, which might create more accidents for children and animals.

4.4 Expectations and Suggestions

In general based on extensive consultations with local ethnic communities, majority of villagers expressed their strong support for the proposed improvement of NR 1B subproject. To most villages along the road, the implementation of the subproject will greatly improve transport condition to the local communities, particularly during rainy seasons, which will reduce transport cost and increase flow of goods and people in the project areas. The pavement of existing road will reduce dust during dry season, which will create more heath environment for villages along the road. More importantly, the proposed subproject will create both short term and long term employment opportunities, which would bring significant amount of cash income for local ethnic communities. During the consultations, local villagers also identified a number of potential negative impacts brought by the subproject. They include limited amount of land acquisition and house demolition, potential construction impacts on local water supply, access, and health environment. For potential land acquisition and demolition impacts, detailed resettlement action plan has been developed based on consultation with affected people in order to restore their livelihood and income to the levels before the project. For other temporary construction impacts and road safety impact after road completion, detailed environment management plans and road safety education program have been developed, which will address all these potential impacts identified by local villages. With such understanding, all the groups interviewed expressed their earnest desire to carry out the road improvement project as soon as possible, as the project will direct benefit to the region and different communities. In expressing their support and concerns, the stakeholders also provided their comments and suggestions regarding proposed road improvement project, which include: • During the construction, detailed environment programs and social action plans should be made to address various concerns and enhance potential benefits for the Project; • The project sponsor should organize construction in such a way that proper traffic flow will be maintained and local economic activities will not be affected. • During construction, environment management plan should be carefully implemented, which include measures such as regular watering and spreading to minimize the dust, setting up proper safety and warning signs near village areas, consulting villages prior before construction, and limiting speed of heavy trucks.

34 • The project sponsor and contractors should employ more local unskilled labors and try to use more local materials and supplies so that more economic benefits could be obtained by local villages including many ethnic villages.

35 5. Action Plan

5.1 Specific Measures/Activities

Table 5-1, Table 5-2 and Table 5-3 present the proposed measures, targets, budget and implementation timing. The proposed measures consist of the following three categories:

• Measures to avoid or mitigate adverse impacts • Measures to enhance positive impacts • Measures to ensure project benefits accrue to affected minority populations in a preferential or in an equitable manner.

The scale and scope of the proposed measures are subject to modification from time to time depending on the finalization of project design and various other factors. For the mitigation measures listed in Table 5-1, some of them will be directly funded by the Project but included in separate programs. For example, for land acquisition and resettlement impacts, detailed compensation and rehabilitation measures are included in the RAP. For construction related impacts, most of them will be included in civil contracts of project and closely monitored in the environment management plan. For road safety education program, it will be funded by the Project and carried out along with project implementation. In terms of community enhance measures indicated in Table 5-2, most of them are on-going programs funded by the local governments or foreign donors, except for skill training program targeted to villages along the road. For project benefit measures (Table 5-3), they are mainly referring to employment benefits brought by the Project. For temporary employment, they will be carried out by individual civil contractors to be monitored by project sponsor and external monitoring agencies. For road maintenance employment, they will be carried out by provincial public works and transport department to be monitored by external monitoring agency.

Overall, there are only two specific measures to be accomplished under ECDP due to limited impacts. They include road safety education and skill training, which will be carried out in local languages in villages along the road. Nevertheless, ECDP through its monitoring program will play an instrumental role to ensure that all identified measures will be implemented in accordance to relevant plans or programs and the basic needs and requirements of local ethnic communities will be addressed during project implementation.

5.2 Mitigation Measures

Construction-related Disturbances. The construction of the proposed NR 1B subproject will directly affect 29 villages with 27 as ethnic group villages from three districts in Phongsaly Province. Some disturbances might occur during project implementation. The total ethnic population affected by construction noises and other hazards from these villages will be about 10,621. The environmental impact assessment and environment management plan considers and addresses all these potential environment concerns and health hazards

36 identified. For instance, nighttime construction is prohibited thereby mitigating the issue of excessive noise for people living close to the expressway construction sites. Regular spreading of water is required along the construction road, particularly near villages to minimize potential dust. The proper treatment of solid waster and wastewater by construction camps to avoid any pollution to stream water near the villages. The construction of crossings and warning signs will address the concerns of road safety. The restoration of damaged irrigation and drainage systems will preserve surface water sources of local people from pollution caused by construction.

HIV/AIDS and STIs Awareness and Prevention. Although Phongsaly Province is not a high risk area for HIV/AIDS, in order to ensure that Phongsaly Province will continue free of HIV/AIDS, province CDCs (Centre for Disease Control), in accordance with the Lao PDR Law on Prevention and Treatment of Epidemic Disease, will take measures to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other STIs. The project sponsor and the contractors will support CDCs to take prevention measures for workers and local communities during construction and to transport operators and truck drivers during operation of project facilities such as establishment of health clinic at construction camps, HIV/AIDS and STIs prevention posters, HIV/AIDS and STIs education programs in local languages, and implementation of the international anti-AIDS programs.

Gender Equality. In order to ensure the fair distribution of the project benefit to the women, women’s participation in terms of decision making will be secured in accordance with government laws and regulations during the implementation of Ethnic Communities Development Plan. The Lao Women Union, which has a mandate to advocate women and children rights, and disseminate information of livelihoods improvement through newsletter and regular group meeting, will extend their activities in the project affected area as a part of their regular activities and organize the woman representatives to participate in Resettlement committee and grievance committee

Road Safety. The Project include a road safety component, which include both engineering measures in the road construction design, and road safety education program to be implemented by provincial public works and transport department among villages along the road and villages throughout project districts. While most of engineering aspects of road safety measures will be included in the project construction, the road safety education program for those villagers living along the road and school children will be implemented by Phongsaly Provincial Public Works and Transport Department prior to the completion of NR 1B subproject, which will be carried out in local ethnic languages by both district and subproject officials who could speak local ethnic languages.

Resettlement. The resettlement implementation responsibilities belong to the project sponsor and local governments. In order to ensure successful resettlement implementation, a Provincial Resettlement Committee (PRC) will be established in Phongsaly Province. The officials from Phongsaly Provincial Public Works and Transport Department, Lao Front, Lao

37 Women, and other key agencies, as well as relevant district officials will be the members of PRC. Its main responsibility is to strengthen the leadership of the project, formulate resettlement policies, smooth the resettlement implementation, and coordinate among departments. A resettlement office will be set up within PPWTD for the Project, which is responsible for coordinating overall resettlement planning and implementation activities for the proposed project. Their responsibilities includes (1) conducting inventory and social economic surveys, and providing assistance in preparing RAP; (2) signing compensation agreement with affected households and villages; (3) allocating compensation funds to concerned parties; and (4) coordinating and supervising resettlement implementation.

They will work closely with local district governments and concerned villages in conducting site survey, keeping records, organizing consultation, developing and implementing RAP, managing and allocating the resettlement funds, training resettlement staff, signing compensation agreements with affected households and villages, and being a main channel of grievance for the resettlers. In the affected villages, compensation committees will be established, which will work closely with provincial and district resettlement offices for carrying out resettlement implementation for the project.

The costs to of land acquisition are included in the overall budget of the Project. The total costs of land acquisition and resettlement are estimated to be $59,106, of which $40,721 for house and shop compensation and rehabilitation, and $2,139 for affected attachments. The land acquisition and resettlement will be implemented in two years. The cost estimate for land acquisition includes provision of contingency set at 14% of total amount of compensation budget.

Following the compensation standards and policies set up in the RAPs, the project resettlement office of MPWT will sign compensation agreements with Phongsaly Provincial Compensation Committee, which will sign compensation agreements with concerned villages and households for both house demolition and impacts on attachments, as well as temporary land occupation. The delivery of compensation funds will go from the provincial resettlement committee to affected villages or households. To ensure that resettlement funds will be used effectively and exclusively, the different levels of governments will carry out auditing on the use of resettlement funds each year.

In terms of resettlement implementation schedule, it will be closely related with construction progress. Land acquisition for both of the gas exploration and transmission components will be completed one month before the start of the civil work construction. The proposed schedule is expected to ensure that all affected persons, prior to their actual losses: i) will have been adequately consulted about the Project, its impacts and compensation entitlements; ii) will have received compensations in a timely manner; and iii) have been provided with means to establishing livelihood.

Table 5-1: Mitigation Actions Proposed Targets/Indicators Beneficiaries Budget (CNY) and Timing Measures Funding Source

38 Implementation of EMP, All environment Protection of including prohibiting measures are included in ethnic villages nighttime construction, All 11,760 persons in project contractor budget, and 2009- from restoring damaged irrigation area, including 10,621ethnic cost of monitoring EMP 2012 construction and drainage systems, and people from 29 villages totals $168,000 to be disturbances: mitigating other environment included in the total impacts project cost. Health clinics in construction Included in the project camps

HIV/AIDS and STIs Ethnic residents in project area Compulsory requirement Control of prevention posters especially along the road to contractors to take 2009- transmissible HIV/AIDS and STIs alignment. action under the 2012 diseases education programs supervision of county Implementation of the Over 300 construction workers CDCs (Center for international anti-AID Disease Control) programs 29 meetings in 29 villages to Included in project cost 11760 persons from 29 Road Safety be carried out in local to be implemented by villages, including those 10,621 2010- Education languages provided by Phongsaly Provincial ethnic persons in 29 villages 2013 Program district and sub-district Public Works and along the road corridor officials Transport Department Special assistance to Among 46 affected households vulnerable people, including Compensation at and 240 persons, 2 households $150 per household for replacement value will be are vulnerable households house reconstruction, and paid to all affected account for 4.3%. 23 Special support $30 per household for households. Total households would be affected 2009- to resettlement transfer assistance. resettlement budget is by lost houses or shops. 2011 affected people Options of rehabilitation for $59,106 with1% total Another 23 households would relocated households and budget for vulnerable be affected by lost respect to specific tradition support. attachments, such as fence, Employment skill training by rice stores, and so on. minority trainers

5.3 Enhancement Measures

Micro-Credit Program. Under the coordination of provincial poverty reduction offices, Phongsaly Provincial Lao Woman Union have a Micro credit (mostly to ethnic) rural areas, which cover three project affected villages in Bountai District. The total budge is $15,000 for 4 year as to 2012. Most of them will be targeting to ethnic women. Most of small loans will be used for the income generating activities such as weaving and handicraft activities. Repayment period ranges from 0.5 to 4 years with annual interest rate of 10% per year.

Tourism Development. Province governments and their tourism agencies will take the following promotion actions for tourism development:

• Support construction of tourist facilities in the project areas by providing bank credit for those who would like to build small guest house, restaurant and other tourism facilities or ethnic cultural programs. • Preparation of tourism brochures and posters to distribute and display in the rest areas and service stations of the town station as bus station or radio. They are also to be distributed in various tourism agents in cities. • Introduction of the tourism resources with access map on various websites. • Serviced training for bester service for restaurants and services places

39 Technical Advice and Training. As components of the resettlement action plan for income recovery, PPWT sectors will provide special technical advices and training to the project affected farmers (men and women) on cash cropping, livestock management, and non-farm skills, as well as job introduction for migrant labors. Skill training will also be provided to enable ethnic people take employment opportunities from construction of NR 1B subproject.

Ethnic Children Education Support. The Provincial Program for Ethnic Children Education Support will cover a group of villages in the province, including some villages in the project areas, such as 3 villages in Bountai District, 4 villages in Bounneua, and 3 villages in Khoua District, the source fund as show in table below.

Rice Bank Project Grant. The Provincial Rice Bank Grant will cover some villages in Phongsaly Province, including some villages in the project area, with 4 villages in Bountai, 4 villages in Bounneua and 3 villages in Khoua District. The source fund is show in table below.

Remote Village Development Programs. The Provincial program on Remote Village Development Program will cover some villages in the project area, with 3 villages in Bountai District, and 4 villages in Khoua District, the source fund as show in table below.

Table 5-2: Enhancement Measures Proposed Budget Targets/Indicators Beneficiaries Source Timing Measures (US$) Cover all villages in Phongsaly Micro credit Rural areas in Bountai district 2008- 15,000 Province (mostly to ethnic) District including 3 2012 Lao Front project affected villages Advice on agricultural 1793 ethnic PPWT in Year affected ethnic people in techniques and population in 7 5,000 Phongsaly 2009 to 5 villages no-farm skills villages Province 2010

41 villages Year Rice bank Project BounNeua, Bountai, including 3 40,000 EU Agency 2007 to Grant Samphan Districts affected 20012 villages Provincial Year Ethnic Children Samphan, May, Khua 25 Education 25,000 2007 to Education Support and Bountai Districts villages Departmen 20012 t 6 villages – Provincial Year Rice bank Project Phongsaly, Khua and including __ Lao 10,000 2007 to Grant Bountai districts project affected National 20012 villages Front Remote village 15 villages – Provincial Year May, Khua and Bountai Development including __ 137,000 Planning 2007 to districts Programs project affected Departmen 20012

40 villages t

5.4 Project Benefit Measures

Employment Measures. It is suggested that employment of local ethnic people as unskilled labors for the construction of NR 1B as a potential contract item between Phongsaly Province PMO and contractors. The contract will specify that contractors should employ at minimum, 75% of local unskilled labors. Full wages will be paid to local people employed for the construction of the NR 1B. On-the-job training will be provided for workers and special attention will be paid to the illiterate workers by project sponsor and contractors.

Table 5-3: Project Benefit Measures Proposed Actions Targets/Indicators Beneficiaries Budget (US$) Timing Over 8,108 person- Employment of groups months unskilled labor, 1,216 ethnic About $972,245 as unskilled labors for 80% are to be awarded labors (6 2009- Included in civil construction of the flood to ethnic population months each in 2012 works contracts related works Contractors use 75% of average) local labors minimum About $38,150 Employment of groups at 109 positions for hire, of each year 87 ethnic 2013 maintenance and other which 80% would be Included in villagers onwards associated activities groups operating budget

5.4.1 Budget and Financing Sources

The sources or funding for the various activities will need to be determined during loan negotiation between WB and the Government (MPWT). Depending on the structure of the loan, funding for some ECDP activities could be made available as a specified budget item from the Project, such as funds covering local employment, resettlement compensations, road safety measures and environment mitigation measures, while other enhance measures for local ethnic villages will be mainly funded by defined government sources or donor agencies.

5.4.2 Implementation Arrangement

Ministry of Public Works and Transport through its implementation agency - Phongsaly Provincial Public Works and Transport Department and contractors, will play a leading role in implementing most of the construction-related measures previously presented. Specifically, Phongsaly Provincial PWTD will be directly involved in construction of NR 1B subproject through finance provision and construction supervision.

Local provincial and district governments will take the leading role in implementing the supportive measures such as technical training, tourism promotion and micro-credit. These actions, routine work of local governments, will undoubtedly be implemented regardless the

41 project. Several government agencies will be involved including provincial LFNC, provincial resettlement committee, provincial Lao Women Union, and relevant district and sub-district governments.

5.4.3 Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the ECDP is required to ensure the plan is implemented properly and meets the objectives specified. The final M&E plan will be formulated shortly before project implementation. The World Bank will assist MPWT PMO in formulating the M&E plan.

The objectives of the monitoring are (i) to ensure that the adverse impacts identified in the ECDP; (ii) to monitor whether the time lines are being met; (iii) to assess if the mitigation and enhancement measures are sufficient; (iv) to identify problems or potential problems; and (v) to identify methods of responding immediately to mitigate problems.

Implementation of the ECDP will be regularly supervised and monitored by the provincial public works and transport department. The findings will be recorded in quarterly reports to be submitted to MPWT, which will summarize into the project progress reports to be submitted to the WB every six months. Such internal monitoring and supervision will:

• Oversee that the ECDP is implemented as designed and approved; • Verify that funds for implementing ECDP are provided in a timely manner and in amounts sufficient for their purposes and that such funds are used in accordance with the provisions of the ECDP; and • Record all claims and their solutions and ensure that complaints are dealt with in a timely manner.

An independent monitoring organization (IMO) is to be retained by project sponsor to carry out external monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the resettlement plans, this agency could be engaged to monitor the ECDP. The independent agency will be an academic or research institution, NGO or an independent consulting firm, all with qualified and experienced staff and terms of reference acceptable to WB. The external monitoring agency will visit a sample of ethnic households to:

• Determine whether the procedures for community participation and implementation of the activities has been done in accordance with this ECDP; • Assess if the objectives of ECDP have been met; • Gather qualitative of the social and economic impact of the project implementation on the ethnic communities; and • Suggest modification in the implementation procedures of the ECDP, as the case may achieve the principles and objectives of policies of ECDP.

The external monitoring reports will be submitted directly to WB and project sponsor.

42 43