Walking the path of recovery, in yellow flip-flops in Lao PDR

November 25, 2019

Meuang, hands on at a reconstruction site in Hatxiengdee village.

Quick, mischievous eyes, a round face and a sweet smile betray the depth of the thoughts of 30-year-young Meuang Sombath. “My work made me confident, it helped me speak up on behalf of the thousands of women who lost so much in the floods”. Meuang coordinated UNDP’s cash-for-work implementation in the Central Lao province of Khammouane after this region was heavily affected by surging waters in the summer of 2018.

Storms and heavy floods ravaged all 18 provinces of Lao PDR, leaving 400,000 people in need and destroying over 100,000 hectares of paddy fields. Tens of thousands of farmers temporarily lost their livelihoods and the entire country faced the risk of malnutrition. Khammouane was one of the areas that suffered the most. 

Meuang feels comfortable working with men, be it villagers, government officials or internationals. Photo: Soukee, Mahaxay district government official

The UN Country Team received a grant from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) in the height of US $3.5 million to assist the Government of Lao PDR in delivering humanitarian assistance. Four UN agencies, FAO, WHO, WFP and UNDP jointly engaged to provide this support, each one with a specific role. UNDP’s interventions were made through cash for work programmes to villagers so they could restore and rebuild their livelihoods.

It was Meuang’s role to guarantee that everyone would be included in the decision-making process, especially women that are normally portrayed as the victims of natural disasters, and whose central role in response to disaster is often overlooked. She helped 6,265 flood victims, including almost 2,900 women from 64 villages to make a living when their usual income source, their rice field, was wiped out by the floodwaters. These villagers were first asked what in their opinion needed to be restored most urgently after the waters receded. “In Lao culture, women don’t usually speak up in rural communities,” Meuang says. “I made a point to encourage them to share their opinion, and, very often, they were surprised that they were being consulted.” 

Women, like here in Vanghuapha village, will speak up when they are encouraged. Photo: UNDP Lao PDR/Ildiko Hamos

Even though women are equally involved in all work, including heavy physical labour, men are often viewed as figures of authority and making public decisions and speaking on women’s behalf. During the cash for work implementation, Lao women in rural areas showed their strength, as both men and women over 18 years of age were offered equal opportunity and equal pay.

Together, they identified damaged roads, bridges and irrigation channels as most urgent repair projects in order to be able to access services and pick up their lives again. In exchange for cash compensation, they started rehabilitating the communal infrastructure themselves. This secured their income while repairing the damages caused by the flood. All in all, villagers, assisted by local authorities, reconstructed 147 kilometres of roads, one bridge and three water storage facilities, cleared 18 kilometres of irrigation canals and restored 348 hectares of agricultural land. 

Meuang is asking a lady from Namampha village how she spent the money she earned and if she felt safe and comfortable working together with men. Photo: UNDP Lao PDR/Chirasak Phengdouangdeth

“I found out that UNDP staff in the capital Vientiane listens to me when I speak with the authority of thousands of people behind me. When several hundred people need drinking water at the same time, there is no time to wait for lengthy administrative processes to take their course. I need to react, and I need to do so quickly. I am just a young woman from a developing country, and I would have never imagined that I could tell much more senior men what they have to do. I took a risk, thinking that I rather get blamed myself than allow my villagers to suffer even more. And it was worth taking that risk, because I got the job done.”

Risk-taking seems to come like second nature to Meuang, which is something very unusual for Lao women, and Lao people in general. After all, she is the only one in her flock of siblings who has left home to study in The United States, and now lives and works in the capital of Laos. As the eldest of six sisters, from an ethnic family in a small village, Meuang knows she is a role model for the younger girls in her family. When asked what drives her, Meuang’s voice becomes shaky. “When I was a little girl, I walked 5 kilometres without shoes every day to get to school. One day, I received an award for my good school performance. My father was in the audience during the handover ceremony, and seeing that I was embarrassed to walk up to receive my award barefoot, he gave me his own yellow flip-flops to wear.” 

The cash-for-work programme offered equal opportunity with equal pay for decent work to both men and women. Photo: UNDP Lao PDR/Ildiko Hamos

Meuang hands over construction equipment to villagers.

Meuang’s eyes tear up as she says: “Now I can buy myself any shoes I see in the shops in Vientiane. But I would never, ever want to replace my father’s shoes.”  

UNDP in Lao PDR

Story by: Ildiko Hamos-Sohlo, Communications Consultant

Originally published in the UNDP Asia Pacific Gender Equality Newsletter

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