Who does what (and how) in Laos' health aid ecosystem? Laos Aid Mapping for health: Processes & Stakeholders

L-HEART is a three-month Seedling led by the Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER) and the University of Health Sciences, Lao PDR (UHS-Laos). External development assistance for health has supported major gains in low-income settings, yet recent economic and geopolitical shifts have pressured aid volumes. For the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), where external support still considerably helps to finance essential services, smarter coordination and targeting of limited resources are increasingly important.L-HEART will test feasibility and lay the groundwork for a multi-year study to strengthen donor coordination and optimise health-aid use in Lao PDR. Specifically, we will: (i) map who funds what, where, and through whom in the health sector; (ii) document how coordination functions across national platforms—especially the Sector Working Group for Health— and within pooled or joint mechanisms (e.g., HANSA, UN joint programmes, the Luxembourg–Ministry of Health Joint Participatory Mechanism); and (iii) advance collaboration with UHS-Laos and co-develop an evaluation scoping brief (towards a future pre-analysis plan) that outlines candidate indicators, data sources, and plausible evaluation designs for a follow-on study.Methods combine quantitative diagnostics—fragmentation via the HerfindahlHirschman Index, top-3 donor concentration, pooled-funding share, and network centrality (degree/betweenness)—with qualitative insights from 10–12 key informant interviews with the Ministry of Health, coordination bodies, and development partners. Outputs include: (1) an open actor–portfolio dataset (2019–2025) with codebook and flow maps; (2) a coordination memo with network visuals and quantitative indicators; and (3) an evaluation scoping brief (towards a PAP) detailing candidate indicators, data-access steps, and options for rigorous outcome evaluation in the subsequent project. The Seedling aligns with Luxembourg’s development-cooperation priorities on coordination and country ownership and contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on health, reduced inequalities, and partnerships.