The purpose of the Rural Livelihoods Improvement Programme in Attapeu and Sayabouri was to promote economic growth and livelihood improvements among the rural poor, including women and other vulnerable groups in the target area, such as unemployed rural youth and upland ethnic groups. The overall programme approach of supporting the national growth and poverty eradication strategy and working through the line agencies and mass organizations is seen to have been successful, as many outputs seem to have been achieved, especially for infrastructure-building. Considerable investment was put into capacity-building at district and provincial levels to improve participatory and gender-sensitive planning, implementation, assessment and long-term management. On the other hand, with regard to monitoring and evaluation (M&E), IFAD should pay greater attention and provide support at all stages in this area in collaboration with the government including proposing a solid basis for M&E in project design reports, providing support and guidance to project management in strengthening the M&E system and carrying out regular impact surveys.