Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System

The project aims to protect the health of approximately 2.3 million people in Lao PDR by addressing the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on the health sector. It focuses on four key outcomes: strengthening climate-resilient governance and leadership, improving health information systems to include climate and weather data, enhancing health service delivery in rural provinces, and increasing community capacity to respond to early warnings. Key activities include upgrading the infrastructure and WASH services of 79 health facilities to be more resilient and energy-efficient, and providing financial support to 173 communities to implement health and climate resilience action plans. The project is designed as a two-phase approach, with Phase 1 serving as a model for potential nationwide scaling in Phase 2.

• Lao PDR is highly vulnerable to climate change, with temperatures increasing by as much as 0.05°C per year between 1970 and 2010, and projections indicating a mean annual temperature increase of 0.8°C by 2040 under a mid-emission scenario.
• Climate change impacts the health sector directly through extreme weather events (EWEs) that damage infrastructure and indirectly by increasing the incidence of diseases such as dengue, diarrheal disease, malnutrition, and heat-related illnesses.
• A 2021 WHO survey revealed that no health facilities in Lao PDR had staff trained on climate-related health outcomes, and only 1% had measures to reduce vulnerability to EWEs.
• The project will provide infrastructure upgrades to 79 health facilities to improve climate resilience and energy efficiency, which is expected to result in a mitigation co-benefit by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
• The project will support 250 target communities in developing health and climate resilience action plans, with 173 of these communities receiving 13,000 USD each to implement their plans.
• The project aims to reach 1,852,291 direct beneficiaries and 470,302 indirect beneficiaries across seven provinces: Salavane, Khammouane, Sekong, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Phongsaly, and Luang Namtha.
• Gender and social inequities limit the adaptive capacity of women and girls in Lao PDR, who often have less access to climate information and decision-making power despite their responsibilities for home safety during emergencies.
• The total investment for the project is 28,174,178 USD, with a GCF grant request of 24,978,084 USD and co-financing of 3,196,094 USD from the WHO, the Government of Lao PDR, and an individual donor.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2023). Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap030-sca-lao-peoples-democratic-republic-2.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System. 2023. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap030-sca-lao-peoples-democratic-republic-2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System |date=24 November 2023 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap030-sca-lao-peoples-democratic-republic-2.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2023strengthening, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{Strengthening Climate Resilience of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) Health System}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/sap030-sca-lao-peoples-democratic-republic-2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }