
These objectives naturally align with a common goal of the PRFs “parent” ministry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the World Bank. The Poverty Reduction Fund is an important tool in the country’s efforts to achieve the SDGs, and like the World Bank it emphasizes improved livelihoods and nutrition in poor communities, along with better agricultural production so that people can sell surplus livestock and crops. The incidence of poverty in Laos has fallen from 46% to around 18% over the last 30 years, and the PRF has played an important role in this.

The World Bank is just one of the government’s partners supporting the Poverty Reduction Fund (PRF), which is making a difference in the fight against poverty in priority districts across the country. This year’s theme for the day is "Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting all People and our Planet." This means we need to build stronger, more resilient societies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic while tackling persistent poverty, responding to the global challenge of climate change, and realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). On End Poverty Day, we try to increase awareness of this and call for actions that actively address poverty. This is an issue which should concern us all, for there are enough resources in the world for everybody to live comfortably, without suffering lack of food, shelter, education, healthcare, and all the other markers that are used to indicate poverty. There are poor people everywhere in the world, often living in the richest cities that humans have built.

Let me be clear: poverty is not a problem specific to Laos, and not even a problem confined to less developed countries. October 17 is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, or End Poverty Day as it is often known, one of the most important days on the calendar for people working in governments and development agencies all over the world.
