The national mine action programme in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) made solid progress in 2017, particularly in formalising procedures and plans for the national cluster munition remnant survey (CMRS) that began in 2018 and which will form the basis for longer-term planning and prioritisation of clearance. Acceptance and adoption of an evidence-based methodology to survey and clear cluster munition remnants (CMR), in line with international best practice, is an improvement on the request- and response-based system of the past.