The USAID and Australia Mekong Safeguards Program focuses on several areas of collaboration including regional sustainable finance related to multilateral development banks; policy and knowledge-sharing workshops and dialogues to encourage use of tools, databases, reports, and analyses on sustainable infrastructure; and support for regional platforms led by strategic allies Australia and Thailand. We bring together disparate but like-minded regional partners to enhance shared strengthening of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards and practices employed in the Mekong subregion. 

Mekong Safeguards is working with multiple private sector developers and investors of clean energy projects in the region, to help them to strengthen their ESG policies and practices, including the integration of gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) considerations into project development and construction. Mekong Safeguards also supports the development and piloting of the Blue Dot Network (BDN) certification framework, launched by the U.S., Japan, and Australia. BDN is a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that meet robust international quality standards, including ESG standards and practices.