Mr. Chairman,

1. At the outset, my delegation wishes to join other speakers in congratulating you and other members of the bureau on your election to the Third Committee of the 76^th Session of the General Assembly, and assure you of our full support and cooperation.  
2. My delegation aligns itself with the statements made on behalf of ASEAN; and G77, NAM, Like-minded Group, and China.

Mr. Chairman,

3. Unilateral and politicized approaches for resolving the human rights issues are contrary to the principles of the United Nations Charter, and that will only bring confrontation and division, rather than help to improve human rights situation on the ground.
4. It is for that reason, the Lao PDR highly values constructive engagement, a genuine dialogue-based approach with non-confrontation, non-politicization and non-selectivity, taking into account their national circumstances and particularities in each country for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Mr. Chairman,

5. Our world today continues to face numerous challenges caused by COVID-19 pandemic and climate crisis which have caused major impacts to social-economic development and increased heavy burden on national healthcare system and financing development activities for low and low-middle income countries, among others. Therefore, we urge the international community to continue providing support packages and other necessary assistance for LDCs in addressing the impacts, not only on economic front but social development as well as ensuring vaccine equity. My delegation, therefore, welcomes the General Assembly agenda on the “Recovering and building back sustainability towards achieving the 2030 Agenda, which reflects the importance of continued global dialogue on social development issues.
6. My delegation also welcomes the commitments made by all member states to the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, including the adoption of further initiatives by the General Assembly at its 24th special session with a view to addressing the needs for poverty eradication, promotion of full and productive employment and fostering social inclusion especially for women and girls, older persons, and persons with disabilities.
7. The Lao PDR supports the ongoing work of the Commission for Social Development in the follow-up and review of the implementation of the World Summit, aiming at achieving the agenda 2030. The successful implementation of this global agenda will ultimately provide significant contribution to improvement of people's well-being, social protection and human rights for all.

Mr. Chairman,

8. The promotion of social development is one of the top priorities in our Five-Year National Social Economic Development Plan for 2021-2025, adopted by the National Assembly early this year. In addition, social development has become an integral part in our National Development Strategy 2025 and the Vision 2030. The national plans and strategies have given particular attention to rural development and poverty reduction, increasing employment opportunities, improving living standard for the people, promoting gender equality, uplifting quality of education, proper management of labor market, enhancing effectiveness in public administration through the rule of law,  promoting green growth and environmental protection, sustainable use of natural resources, addressing the impact of climate change and UXO clearance which includes victim assistance.  
9. Other sectoral plans and strategies have also been put in place namely the National Strategy to promote 2030 Vision and Ten-Year Education and Sport Development Strategy (2016-2025), Health Sector Reform Strategy (HSRS) and Framework for achieving Universal Health Coverage by 2025, the National Women’s Development Plan (2021-2025), aiming at ensuring gender equality across all sectors.
10. Recently, the Government of the Lao PDR in cooperation with UNICEF has recently co-hosted the virtual event on “Achieving the SDGs of Ending Child Poverty: Exploring Innovative National Solutions” on 30^th September 2021 to share our national experience and best practices with other friendly countries and international organizations which support the said agenda.    

Mr. Chairman,

11. The Lao PDR has been committed to the promotion and protection of the right of persons with disability and remarkable progress has been achieved in this regard, including the recent amendment made on the Law on Persons with Disability, the adoption of policy and strategy as well as the plan of action on persons with disability for the period of 2021-2025 and 2026-2030, all of which will help to promote inclusive participation of persons with disability in our national social and economic development.
12. Another important achievement made is the adoption of National Social Protection Strategy (NSPS), the Land Law and Decree on Lao Workers Working Abroad that will provide benefits for vulnerable groups including the unemployed, small-scale and subsistence farmers and migrant workers. In addition, key data capacities have been strengthened through the launch of Lao Climate Services for Agriculture. The Lao PDR is proud to be among the first few countries within the LDCs to produce a dataset of the national agricultural livelihood and adaptive capacity dataset. Thanks to all the concerned UN agencies and development partners for their valuable assistance in the development and implementation of the afore-said national sectoral policies and strategies, all of which will help to further promote inclusive development in the Lao PDR.  

Mr. Chairman,

13. The Lao PDR stands ready to engage with United Nations, its Member States, and other stakeholders in our common endeavour to move forward and attain the SDGs, especially the goals and targets related to inclusive social development.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman