Vientiane – Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) recently organized a Kick-Off Meeting to introduce the Migration Profile project on Wednesday (13/7).

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the effective migration governance in Lao People’s Democratic Republic based on the evidence-based migration management policies and policy framework, which takes into consideration gender equality. The Migration Profile is both a report and a capacity-building tool, which is country-owned and prepared in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders. It promotes evidence-based policymaking and mainstreams migration in the development and policymaking process in the country.

Migration Profile is an international flagship report drafted by IOM member states to strengthen migration management capacity. Lao People’s Democratic Republic joined IOM as the 171st Member State in June 2018. As a relatively new member, IOM aids its member states to enhance migration data collection, monitoring and reporting in a more harmonized manner.

“The Migration Profile project supports evidence-based policy making through accurate and improved disaggregated data as well as strengthened government coordination mechanism. The report will also serve as a reference and capacity building tool to better understand the migration trends and priorities for the country,” said Shareen Tuladhar, Chief of Mission, IOM Lao People’s Democratic Republic.

The Migration Profile envisages to be a reliable and comprehensive migration resource tool for the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic and relevant stakeholders to inform revisions and/or development of migration policy instruments in the near future.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Sthabandith Insisiengmai, the Vice Minister of Planning and Investment, and Shareen Tuladhar. Representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Education and Sport, Ministry of Home Affairs and Lao Women’s Union, and the United Nations Residence Coordinator’s Office attended the event to mark the project launch.

Insisiengmai expressed during the meeting that “migration should be one of the government’s priorities as it contributes to socioeconomic development and poverty reduction in the country. Thus, evidence-based data on migration will be very critical to develop policies and actions to address emerging migration issues and challenges,” Insisiengmai added.

The participants also established an Inter-Ministerial Working Group (ITWG) to contribute to the implementation of this project by the end of 2023. It is expected and encouraged that the ITWG will continue its function after the project completion and will be engaged in the development and consultation of policy discussions on migration issues, particularly those identified by project findings and recommendations.

The Migration Profile is built on the foundation of the Sustainable Development Goals and significantly contributes to the 9th National Socioeconomic Development Plan 2021-2025, particularly outcome six of the Development Plan.

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For more information, please contact Mr. Thanakone Ousavang, National Project Officer at tousavang@iom.int.