The impact of COVID-19 has no boundary and affects us all. But the most affected continues to be the most vulnerable.  The UN Country Team socio-economic impact assessment, led by UNDP which surveyed 1200 households in June 2020, found that close to 50% of respondents lost jobs due to the pandemic. Moreover, 99% of those individuals had no social security and 70% had no health insurance. When we dig behind these figures we see that certain groups are affected more than others, and this negative impact continues on into 2021. 

Hormsupharb Village, had a unique character. Homely, and very inviting. Although it was merely a half an hour ride away from the downtown area of Vientiane Capital, somehow it felt more rural compared to the distance we spent getting to The Aid Children with Disability Association (ACDA) office.

There were several people sitting and chit-chatting around some sewing machines, while others sat on the rattan mat pulling spare cloth bits from bags beside them. It was impossible to hold back our smiles as they joked with one another and showing how comfortable they were to be together. Manith Philavanh, clad in a vibrant, orange-colored t-shirt gleamed as she welcomed us into the humble building.

According to Manith, the Association has branched out to extend their support beyond persons with disabilities to a wider group since the pandemic started last year. Manith and her colleagues in the Association were successful in applying for funding under the Public Sector Innovation Facility (PSIF), which is a unique new mechanism designed to support collaborations between local government and local organizations to address community challenges, supported by the Swiss Development Cooperation, UNDP, and led by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Between 2019-2020, her association received funding of 60 million kip from the PSIF, which they used to support over 100 persons from 27 families. Those families invested in small-scale but strategic activities such as mushroom farming, goat herding, chicken farming, and aquaculture.  Manith shared, “the ideas were all expressed by our members. We try not to push what we want them to do. If they can be part of the initiative as much as they can- they will be more dedicated to following through with their activities.”

With a small initial investment of 2.2 million kip per family, the community was able to be self-reliant and the future looked promising.  For instance, at the beginning of the project, the families growing mushrooms were able to generate 100,000 kip per day from mushroom sales. 

But unfortunately, this success did not last for long. Soon after the lockdown was enforced in April 2020, the supply of mushroom spore, mainly sourced from Thailand, was disrupted due to temporary border closers. As a result, the mushroom production was halted, forcing the families to find alternative sources of income to cope with the ongoing crisis. However, because a large proportion of the funds received was already invested in the mushroom housing facility, the families either would have to look for new financing or alternative ideas that wouldn’t require too much extra investment.

After the lockdown was loosened in late May 2020, the families then explored other means to help them survive the pandemic. One idea was sewing foot mats using fabric scraps. The spouse of one of the community members, who works for a garment factory, discovered that there were bags and bags of spares that would go unused, and this left-over material could hold some potential.

One of the newly-finished foot mats produced by the team.

The Association wasted no time in showing their resilience and started sewing spare cloths into foot mats that can be used by all households and at a reasonable price. The families added to their new enterprise by recycling plastic coffee sachets into sustainable baskets or bags that customers can take to the market.

This new venture started off quite well, earning families around 500,000 kip per month. When the second lockdown was imposed in April 2021, again difficulties struck. It was now a challenge in getting the fabric scraps because of travel restrictions and the temporary closure of factories. These days, the group can barely make 100,000 kip per month in sales–a reduction of 80% in income.

The case of Manith and her team shows us the fragility of our efforts to support those in need. Unpredictable circumstances as such, can cause the road to a better livelihood for beneficiaries to be filled with obstacles, despite innovative and effective initiatives like the PSIF. To ensure that future projects can maximize the use of funding and sustainability, financial knowhow and guidance in business adaptability should be fully transferred to the recipients. Guidance on building resilience should be incorporated into such support programmes, in anticipating times of the crisis. Assessment of the risks and likelihood of challenges should not be seen as acceptance of failure, but more of anticipation of the unexpected.

Nevertheless, what remained etched in our minds was the sense of community and togetherness the Association demonstrated. Despite the unforeseeable challenges they met, they never halted. Their sense of belonging enabled them to find ways to sustain themselves. Just as Manith expressed, “you’re only as hard-working as how much you truly want to have something done.” Her group was given the chance to work with local government, to share their ideas, and afforded the trust to implement them. In return they showed their resilience and deep commitment to their local community. And despite the challenges Manith maintains that they’ll keep pushing, and hopefully set an important precedent for other communities across the country, to reach out to local government, to work together, and to keep going despite the setbacks.

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Written by:

Ms. Aksonethip Somvorachit, Communication Analyst; and 

Mr. Somsay Ouanphilalay, Economist, UNDP Lao PDR.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and not the United Nations Development Programme.

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The Public Service Innovation Fund (PSIF)  is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, through UNDP and the Ministry of Home Affairs under the National Governance and Public Administration Reform Programme (NGPAR). This blog reflects the experience based on one of the pilot initiatives aimed to promote partnership between the local authority and community to build an innovative and sustainable livelihood for the people.