Lao PDR

Our Team

The UNDP Lao PDR team consists of 87 staff members; 60 are Lao nationals and 27 are from other countries: Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Uzbekistan.

The academic and professional background of the team includes international relations, government affairs, law, international development, social and political science, business, environmental science, forestry, disaster risk reduction, communications and more, providing a wide range of skills and expertise to support the implementation of the UNDP Programme.

Leadership

Mrs. Martine Thérer, Resident Representative

Mrs. Thérer, a national of Belgium is an accomplished senior manager, with more than twenty years of experience of the United Nations system at Headquarters and in the field. She has a strong background in strategic planning, including UN development planning and programming frameworks, processes and tools at country level, with a focus on forging partnerships around joint programmes and with a broad range of stakeholders.

Mrs. Thérer recently served as the Deputy Resident Representative in Morocco. She has also had senior roles for the agency in Tunisia, Haiti, Niger, at UNDP Headquarters, and at the office of the United Nations Secretary-General, at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Mrs. Thérer holds Master’s Degrees in Literature, as well as in Journalism and Communication from Université de Liege, and the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.


Mr. Lai Dao, Deputy Resident Representative

Lai Dao assumed his post as UNDP Deputy Resident Representative for Lao PDR in June 2024. He is a development practitioner with more than 30 years of experience with UNDP, IUCN, and the Government of Viet Nam.

Before joining UNDP Lao PDR, Mr. Dao held a position of Assistant Resident Representative, responsible for Climate, Environment, and Energy in Viet Nam, 2008-2024. He also has gained working experiences in other countries, including Bhutan, Myanmar, and Indonesia. He has a proven track record of pioneering new development solutions and turning innovative ideas into programming and practical solutions for achieving SDGs.

Obtaining education in Viet Nam and in the US, he holds a master’s degree in international business management, a bachelor’s degree in law, and a bachelor’s degree in hydrometeorology and water resources management.