Lao PDR Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Management Project II (WB-P510690)

Regions
  • East Asia and Pacific
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Laos
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
A
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
May 22, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Laos - Department of Meteorology and Hydrology; and others
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Climate and Environment
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 60.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 100.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ WB website

Updated in EWS Sep 29, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Jun 17, 2025

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Contact the EWS Team

Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the objective of this project is to enhance flood resilience in target areas of Lao PDR and strengthen the Government’s capacity for hydrometeorological service delivery and post-disaster response financing.

The proposed project takes an integrated approach to disaster risk management, supporting activities across the four thematic areas of urban flood risk management, hydromet and early warning systems, disaster risk financing and insurance, and mainstreaming disaster risk management (DRM) in development and investment planning.

* Component 1 will finance flood protection infrastructure investments in urban areas across three provinces and technical studies for informing future flood risk management in urban areas across two additional provinces.
* Component 2 will finance improvements in delivery of hydrometeorological services and pilot solutions for last-mile early warning dissemination.
* Component 3 will strengthen financial resilience to natural disasters by financing insurance premium to facilitate continued access to sovereign risk insurance and related technical assistance activities.
* Component 4 will include overall project management and coordination and activities for mainstreaming DRM considerations in development and investment planning.

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The overall Environmental and Social Risk of SEADRM II is classified as "Substantial" considering that the project will finance civil works for flood protection infrastructure such as riverbank protection embankments, canal improvements, water gates with pumping stations, river-side parks and tree-planting across target provinces. Environmental risk is mainly associated with construction activities and includes Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) of project personnel; traffic accidents due to the transportation of construction materials and operation of project’s vehicles, and machines; physical and health impact on public spaces and local communities caused by pollution generated from construction activities; sedimentation and erosion due to site clearance, operation, and management of quarries and borrow pits; other hazards due to the operation of worker’s camps and maintenance of project equipment and machinery; and health and safety of local communities who live and work near the construction sites.

Social risk is primarily related to potential resettlement; land acquisition and economic displacement, particularly in villages located along riverbanks where the works will be undertaken; OHS and CHS risks. During the construction, CHS concerns include the risk of children drowning incidents, road safety risk, livelihood and business disruptions and reduced access to rivers and water sources used for daily livelihood activities (e.g., washing, bathing, fishing). Labor influx may elevate risks of SEA/SH, and potential risk of communicable diseases (air, wastewater born, sexually transmitted diseases).

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Total Project Cost: US$ 100.00 million
IDA Credit: US$ 60.00 million


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

CONTACT POINT - World Bank

Task Team Leader: Hemang Karelia
Title: Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist
Email: hkarelia@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Hang Thu Vu
Job Title: Senior Financial Sector Specialist
Email: tvu4@worldbank.org

TTL Contact: Veronique Marie Morin Floissac
Job Title: Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist
Email: vmorin@worldbank.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint

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How it works