Lao PDR is regularly impacted by flooding which causes widespread damage to infrastructure and impacts livelihoods. Muang Xay, the capital of Oudomxay Province in northern Lao PDR, has been impacted by a number of large flood events. To address these challenges, the World Bank, with support from the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, provided technical assistance to the Government of Lao PDR to improve the understanding of the underlying disaster risks and help identify opportunities for investing in integrated urban flood risk management.
As part of World Bank’s technical assistance, a study was conducted by Deltares, Earth Systems, Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre and Vientiane Geomatic Services, assessing investments proposed by the GoL from different perspectives, including disaster risk, benefit-cost analysis (BCA), social and environmental impact, and urban planning and design. Stakeholder consultations were conducted in the form of several workshops and numerous interviews.