The Mekong Center is building a more sustainable and inclusive future through science-based solutions for public policy and development practice. Bringing together scientists and decision-makers, the Mekong Center tackles the region’s most pressing challenges for climate, the environment and society by fostering knowledge co-production and scalable innovations for change.     

We do this by:

• running long-term, strategic research-for-policy programmes on the region’s most pressing challenges;
• building lasting relationships between researchers and the people who make and implement policy;
• convening and brokering dialogue between government, academia, civil society and the private sector; and
• providing independent, on-demand policy advice to governments, development partners and investors.

How we work

We work at the interface of science and decision-making. Our research is designed from the outset to answer questions that civil society, policymakers, practitioners and investors are actually asking, and we stay engaged long enough to see evidence put to use.

We organize our work around six thematic domains: Inclusive Development, Agrifood Systems, Forests for Life, State and Society, Water for All, and Climate Justice. We take a regional view, looking not only at national issues but at the flows of investment, trade, water, and people that connect the Mekong countries to each other and to the world.

Legal status and governance

The Mekong Center for Research and Policy Corporation is a not-for-profit corporation registered in the State of Delaware, USA, in 2025, and recognized as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal Revenue Service (EIN 33-4528812) in 2026. Gifts and donations are tax-deductible under US law. The regional headquarters of the Mekong Center was legally established in Lao PDR in 2026.

The Center is governed by a Board of Directors, which holds legal and fiduciary responsibility for the organization and appoints the Executive Director. Our work is guided by institutional policies on conflict of interest, inclusive human resources recruitment and management, fraud and anti-corruption, whistleblower protection, child protection and codes of conduct for all staff and associates.