Policy impact in Lao PDR: from research to practice - Final Report

This project was primarily aimed at giving ACIAR a better understanding the culture of policy making in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos, Lao PDR) and to provide a summary of determinants and experiences to assist researchers working in Laos to better align their research to the policy-making environment. It also aimed to inform ACIAR of effective pathways and processes for engaging with policy making in Laos.

The Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (GoL) increasingly seeks evidence to support policy development. ACIAR aims to provide this evidence and expects its investments to be relevant to, and influence policy, and to build capability for the translation of scientific, social and economic information into knowledge for policy for development. There is a potential synergy between the ACIAR and GoL aims of using cutting-edge, world-leading research to produce policies that have optimal impacts. Yet, in practice, the relationship between research and policy has not been so clear-cut and there is a need for ACIAR projects to adopt approaches that are more effective in the Lao context.

This project examined ACIAR research investments in Laos in relation to the processes of policy-making to distil the factors that determine the processes through which evidence-derived recommendations transition into policy formation and implementation in Laos.

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