The Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) has announced its support for the next stage of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) Southeast Asia Hub at the Global Heat Forum in Bangkok on 8 October 2026.
This includes funding for targeted efforts in Indonesia and Thailand in 2027, alongside preparations for a second Southeast Asia Heat Health Forum. Tools, evidence and lessons from these efforts will be shared across the region to strengthen coordinated action on extreme heat.
Established in January 2025 as GHHIN’s first regional hub, the Hub brings together governments and partners to strengthen collaboration, advance evidence and support action on extreme heat across Southeast Asia. GHHIN is a global network of policymakers, scientists and practitioners and an initiative of the World Meteorological Organization, World Health Organization (WHO) and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The Hub is based at the Heat Resilience & Performance Centre (HRPC), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS Medicine), and draws on more than a decade of heat resilience research and the university’s role as a neutral platform for regional convening.
PAA complements this as a catalytic funder and impact partner, bringing experience in building funder collaboratives and cross-sector partnerships that direct capital towards shared outcomes.
Across Southeast Asia, action on extreme heat is growing but remains fragmented. While early warning systems and municipal heat action plans are expanding, many countries still lack a standing mechanism for robust coordination between health, labour, urban and disaster agencies. Data varies across countries and successful pilots can often lose their institutional footing once funding ends.
PAA’s support will build on the Hub’s regional foundation by advancing sustained, country-led action while strengthening the evidence and shared learning available across Southeast Asia.
In Indonesia, the Hub is building on the ongoing Project KATALIS-HEAT, delivered with WHO Asia-Pacific Centre for Environment and Health (ACE), WHO Indonesia, and the Ministry of Health. The work strengthens national coordination and advances city-level heat action in Makassar and two additional cities.
Efforts in Thailand are at an earlier stage, with partner consultations and a rapid stocktake laying the groundwork for longer-term action and helping stakeholders to agree on shared priorities for the next phase of work.
Lessons from both countries will flow back into the Hub’s regional platform, enabling governments elsewhere in Southeast Asia to build on tested approaches rather than start afresh.
