Gender and Development

Lao People's Democratic Republic

East-West Corridor Project, 1999

Reconsidering Highway Traffic: Women, Children and HIV/AIDS

Highways and other transport infrastructure are commonly recognized as a prerequisite and foundation for economic and social development. Experience shows that accessibility is essential to rural development, employment and income-generation opportunities. Poor accessibility hinders farmers' adoption of new technologies and use of information and support services. Accessibility is also important for the development of off-farm employment as it increases the rural population's mobility, providing the opportunity to travel to areas where there is demand for labor. Improved roads and lower transport costs also deliver cheaper goods and provide better access to markets for local produce.

There are in addition important social benefits from good roads. Roads provide health, education and community development workers with improved access, resulting in the likelihood of more regular service provision to rural communities. Community members also benefit from improved access to district and provincial level services. Good roads can for example mean the difference between life and death in cases of serious accidents or birth complications. In general levels of nutrition, health and wealth are better for those living on or close to roads.

Yet, despite the benefits of such projects, there are often unforeseen and hidden social and economic costs. One difficulty is that roads don't discriminate on the basis of content. They carry manufactured goods to consumers and farm produce to market as readily as illicit drugs, trafficked human beings and communicable diseases. Transport corridor routes can often have a significant impact on the transmission of STDs and especially, HIV/AIDS both within countries and across borders. Good project management recognizes and seeks to address such issues within the project, along with other social dimensions such as resettlement and compensation, and environmental protection.

ADB-financed East-West Corridor Project, spanning Thailand, Lao PDR and Viet Nam will function as an international land bridge, connecting northeast Thailand to the coastal cities of central Vietnam via central Lao PDR. While in essence a transport infrastructure project, this project includes a number of features specifically designed to address social development issues such as trafficking of women and children and transmission of HIV/AIDS in the region.

Project Design

The project is designed with the primary objectives of economic growth through increased international trade and traffic flows, and poverty reduction by providing poor and disadvantaged groups with better and cheaper access to markets, employment and social services. Studies demonstrate the strong relationship between inaccessibility and poverty. A World Bank Study found that in the Lao PDR the prevalence of poverty was significantly lower among households living in villages accessible by truck compared to households living in villages that were inaccessible or only accessible in the dry season.

Poverty reduction is a priority in the region and along the highway route. About 47 percent of the population (166,000 people) in the impact area of the project live in poverty. The areas through which the proposed East West Corridor will pass are amongst the poorest and most remote in Viet Nam and Lao PDR. For example, in the case of Lao PDR, in the Phin and Xepon Districts of Savannakhet Province, many remote villages are accessible only by river or walking trails. The Province is initiating local road improvement projects to achieve access to selected remote villages covering 44 kilometers of roads in Xepon and 67 kilometers in Phin. Notwithstanding its significance as an international link, improvements to the East-West corridor are a key first step to upgrading the overall Savannakhet provincial road network.

Social Impacts

An investigation into the social impact of this project was conducted during the fact-finding phase of the project preparatory technical assistance (PPTA). An analysis of women's share of the benefits and costs of the project was included as part of a broader investigation into the social impact on men and women in the project area. This investigation revealed that while women will benefit substantially from the project, they will also shoulder a disproportionate share of its negative impacts.

Women account for about 51 percent of the population in the project area and are likely to be major beneficiaries of the project. For example, it was found that women in the project area have primary responsibility for marketing activities, operating shops, roadside stalls and restaurants. In both Lao PDR and Viet Nam, women dominate local marketing, selling or exchanging village produce at district and provincial markets in order to bring back consumer items to sell locally in the village. Current road conditions make travel expensive and uncomfortable. Road improvements will lead to more frequent public transport, cheaper travel, shorter travel times, and more comfortable traveling conditions. As one woman in Lao PDR remarked, she will no longer get a sore back when she travels to Savannakhet for business. Better roads and lower transport costs will not only provide access to cheaper goods and better access to markets for local produce. Increased traffic trade will provide women with improved opportunities to earn much needed income from roadside stalls selling a multitude of consumer products and agricultural produce.

Reduction in travel time will have other positive impacts for women as they are frequent road users for family and social reasons. Timesavings and more comfortable traveling conditions will positively contribute to improving women's quality of life as they go about completing their day-to-day responsibilities, which include farm work, marketing, household work, childcare and other reproductive activities. For example, rural women and girls use roads for collecting fuel-wood and water. Improved roads facilitate the use of handcarts with potential for reduction in daily workloads. A paved road will also mean reduced dust pollution and hence, less cleaning and washing thereby further reducing women's workload.

Women and children's access to health, education services and other community services will be improved as a direct consequence of road improvements. Travel time to the nearest health center could potentially be reduced by half with an improved road. Such benefits are especially relevant for women and children in Laos and Viet Nam, where treatable illnesses are the major causes of morbidity and death.

Notwithstanding these positive impacts, there are some potentially negative impacts of this project for women in the region. Women and girls could potentially account for the majority of casualties from this project if it results in an expansion of prostitution and trafficking in women and girls. The influx of large numbers of male construction workers, generally unaccompanied by their families, will most likely be accompanied by the introduction of large numbers of sex workers operating close to construction campsites. Following completion of the road, popular truck stops could become centers where sexual services are provided. This could lead to an explosion in the incidence of STDs and HIV/AIDs in the region as the project road provides improved linkages between Thailand, with high rates of HIV/AIDS, and Lao PDR and Viet Nam, both with lower rates of HIV/AIDS. The increased risk of transmission exists both during the period of road construction and following completion. Female sex workers are not of course the only candidates for contracting STDs, including HIV/AIDS. Male construction workers, truck drivers and male migrants are also identified as major high-risk groups.

Male and female migrants could potentially increase the risk of STD and HIV/AIDS transmission to the rural areas. In the case of the East-West Corridor increased risk of transmission through return migrants is a concern since people from the local areas are likely to migrate to larger urban centers for employment. In the Lao PDR, for example, people from the local areas are likely to migrate to Savannakhet or even Mukhdaharn for employment. Savannakhet has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the Lao PDR. In 1997 there were 205 reported cases of HIV/AIDS in Lao PDR of which 93 were in Savannakhet. The high rates in Savannakhet is due mainly to the large number of women who migrate to Thailand (Mukhdaharn) to work in the sex industry. With a new bridge linking Savannakhet and Mukhdaharn, travel between the two urban centers will be made easier and faster. Women could easily live in Laos and commute to Mukhdaharn each day.

Likewise, improved roads and easier cross-border movement of goods and people can lead to increased trafficking of women and children. Research and studies in the region indicate that large numbers of women and children are increasingly being trafficked across the borders. A 1998 ILO study estimates that since 1990, 8,000 women and children were trafficked from Myanmar, China's Yunan Province, Lao PDR, Viet Nam and Cambodia into Thailand; and since 1995, a further 3000 Vietnamese women have been smuggled into Cambodia for prostitution. Of these, over 15 percent were under the age of 15 years. Police estimates from Viet Nam suggest that as of May 1996, over 5000 women had been sold to China. These studies show that trafficking is increasing rapidly in the Mekong sub-region and is a cross-border issue with regional and global dimensions. Women and children are trafficked for a wide ranging of purposes although primarily for the sex and entertainment industry and sometimes, as cheap labor. In the Mekong sub-region, an expanding commercial sex industry is leading to increased demand for the services of sex workers. Male client preferences are for younger women and girls due to the fear of HIV infection. The legal framework to prevent trafficking, protect victims, penalize traffickers remains inadequate at national and sub-regional levels.

Gender Inclusive Design

A number of measures were consequently included in the project to mitigate against the likely negative impacts on women and children.

During Construction

To address these issues during the construction stage, the civil works contractor will be required to engage a suitably experienced government or non-government organization to develop and implement an information, education and communication (IEC) campaign for workers. With advice and assistance from this organization, the contractor will be required to provide its workforce with appropriate means of protection against sexually transmitted diseases. The contractor will also be required to extend the IEC program to surrounding communities living in the project road corridor. The supervision consultant will monitor and control the contractor's performance of these activities. To assist here, the consultant team will include an appropriately qualified specialist, who will ensure the activities conducted under the project are coordinated and consistent with the governments' broader strategies for addressing the problem of STDs and HIV/AIDS.

Post Construction

In addition, the governments involved have agreed to continue a coordinated program of IEC activities after completion of the project along the highway corridor and at major truck stops. This will be done in coordination with their health ministries, donors such as the UNDP-AIDS and NGOs working on the issue of STD and HIV/AIDS transmission.

Strengthening Institutional Mechanisms against Trafficking

To prevent trafficking of women and girls, the governments have agreed to institutionalize and strengthen coordination mechanisms at sub-regional, inter-country, national and local levels. This will involve coordination with regional (UNDP, ILO), national (ministries of women's affairs) and non-governmental organizations to identify potential geographical problem areas along the corridor, and explore possible actions to decrease the risk. Governments have also agreed to familiarize their border control officials of this problem and to provide them with training and information on trafficking. NGOs will be contracted to provide this sensitization program for border control officials. The need for close monitoring at the borders was also noted. An information pamphlet will be prepared and distributed to immigration and border control officials.