Our work in Vietnam tackles the environmental and social impacts from hydropower projects on community livelihoods. There are over 800 small and medium hydropower projects in the planning or construction phases in Vietnam, but the environmental and social risks of these projects have not been adequately considered in the planning process. Working in collaboration with a research team from the Centre for Sustainable Development of Water Resources and Climate Change Adaptation (CEWAREC), our evidence-based research will be used to provide policy recommendations and mitigation measures to protect communities and their livelihoods in Vietnam, as well as downstream impacts that may affect communities in neighboring Lao PDR. Successful implementation of this compliance study and strengthening safeguards related to livelihoods of vulnerable populations offers replicable best practices and case studies for scale-up across the region.