by The Asia Foundation | February 17, 2023 | Media Coverage
February 17, 2023 — The Asia Foundation partnered with the Australian National University’s Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs to cohost a dialogue between Thailand and Australia. The dialogue brought together leaders from the government, the policy community, and the private sector to develop new ideas for the future of the bilateral relationship. The dialogue culminated in the report Dialogue to Strengthen the Relationship Between Thailand and Australia Synthesis Report.
The Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs in partnership with The Asia Foundation hosted a track 1.5 dialogue between Thai and Australian leaders at The Australian National University in September 2022 to support the current efforts to strengthen bilateral relations.
The Thai-Australian relationship has continued to improve in recent years, building on several positive milestones. In 2020, the Australian and Thai Governments elevated their bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership, designed to enhance economic links, deepen political-security engagement, intensify sectoral collaboration, and enhance people-to-people links. Australia was the first development partner to the Thai-led Ayeyarwady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS).
February 7, 2023 — SEA Today Live, an English-language news outlet based in Indonesia, interviewed Country Representative in Indonesia Hana Satriyo, The Asia Foundation, about the Let’s Read initiative. A recent report on learning loss during the pandemic by the World Bank estimates that the learning poverty rate in low- and middle-income countries has risen to 70 percent, meaning that today, as many as seven in ten children may not be able to read and understand a basic text by age 10. Satriyo highlighted how Let’s Read’s digital library and collection of local language children’s books are being used to encourage families to embrace reading in Indonesia and across the region.
by The Asia Foundation | February 3, 2023 | Media Coverage
February 3, 2023 — National Geographic Indonesia, Kompas, Antara News, and 19 local news sources spotlight The Asia Foundation’s partnership with the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI). Protecting and maintaining blue carbon ecosystems is essential to mitigating climate change. On January 30th, 2023, The Asia Foundation, IOJI and the Ministry for Environment and Forestry launched new research on the critical issues related to blue carbon management.
Article excerpt from National Geographic Indonesia:
Hasil studi oleh Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) mendorong pemerintah Indonesia untuk memasukkan ekosistem karbon biru (EKB) ke dalam kategori modal alami yang penting (critical nature capital). Sebab, ekosistem ini sedang terancam rusak oleh manusia. Padahal, ekosistem ini berperan penting dalam mengendalikan perubahan iklim.
“Sekalipun EKB memiliki potensi yang besar dalam mengatasi perubahan iklim dan meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat pesisir, kondisi EKB telah lama terancam oleh tekanan antropogenik,” kata Direktur Utama IOJI Mas Achmad Santosa.
Santosa menyampaikan pentingnya EKB ini dalam seminar peluncuran hasil studi IOJI bertajuk “Ekosistem Karbon Biru sebagai Critical Natural Capital: Blue Carbon Ecosystem Governance di Indonesia” pada Senin kemarin.
Generated translation of article excerpt:
The results of a study by the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) encourage the Indonesian government to include blue carbon ecosystem (EKB) into the category of critical nature capital. Because, this ecosystem is in danger of being damaged by humans. In fact, this ecosystem plays an important role in controlling climate change.
“Although EKB has great potential in tackling climate change and improving the welfare of coastal communities, the condition of EKB has long been threatened by anthropogenic pressures,” said IOJI President Director Mas Achmad Santosa.
Santosa conveyed the importance of this EKB in a seminar launching the results of the IOJI study entitled “Blue Carbon Ecosystem as Critical Natural Capital: Blue Carbon Ecosystem Governance in Indonesia” on Monday.
by The Asia Foundation | January 23, 2023 | Media Coverage
January 23, 2023 — Penang Monthly, a publication owned by the Penang Institute, features an article co-authored by The Asia Foundation’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) expert Nadya Subramaniam on how the TVET system in Malaysia has shifted notably towards efforts to streamline governance and improve collaboration with industry players.
TVET IN MALAYSIA originated from the colonial and early post-colonial governments’ need for trained and skilled manpower to run state agencies and projects. Over the last few decades, the TVET system has shifted notably towards efforts to collaborate with industry players. The Ministries of Education, Higher Education and Human Resources have been the more recognised public faces in matters of TVET.
by The Asia Foundation | October 10, 2022 | Media Coverage
October 10, 2022 — The Edge Malaysia, a business and financial publication, quotes The Asia Foundation’s climate consultant Darshan Joshi in a cover story on how carbon pricing works and how it will impact companies in Malaysia.
In contrast, “hydrogen is still quite expensive today. If the carbon price is lower than the cost of switching to hydrogen, companies will still prefer to pay the tax. [A carbon tax] will encourage companies to implement [low-carbon] technologies that are cheaper than paying the tax on carbon”, says Darshan Joshi, climate consultant at the Asia Foundation.
Pricing carbon will send a signal to market players that carbon emissions come with a cost, Joshi adds. It results in climate change impacts such as flooding, lower agriculture yields and spread of communicable diseases. It is also a key policy tool for governments to collect funds and invest in low-carbon solutions.
“Since 2009, we have spent an enormous amount of money [to incentivise the take-up of green solutions]. We have our feed-in-tariff (FiT), net energy metering (NEM), green investment tax allowance and so on to boost RE [renewable energy] take-up. Many are incentive- or subsidy-based. In the end, around 95% of our electricity generation still comes from fossil fuels. The impact hasn’t quite been there,” says Joshi.
September 14, 2022 — The Henry Luce Foundation recently elected Asia Foundation trustees Terry Adamson and Debra Knopman as co-chairs of their Board of Directors. The Luce Foundation is a long-time partner of The Asia Foundation in promoting leadership development through the Luce Scholars Program. Launched in 1974, the Luce Scholars Program is a unique exchange American-Asian exchange program that builds on both organizations’ commitment to building understanding and strengthening the relationship between the United States and Asia.
Following the decision of Margaret Boles Fitzgerald to step down as Chair of the Henry Luce Foundation after twenty years of leadership, the Board of Directors has elected two members, Terry Adamson and Debra Knopman, to serve as Co-Chairs for the next five years.
As Luce Scholars alumni and long-serving members of the Board, Terry and Debra bring extensive expertise in their respective fields as well as deep knowledge of the Foundation and its history to their new role.
August 25, 2022 — The University of Sydney names The Asia Foundation’s Senior Director of the Women’s Empowerment Program, Jane Sloane as the recipient of the University of Sydney’s 2022 Alumni Award for Service to Humanity. The award recognizes the personal contributions of university alums who, through service or philanthropy, improve the lives of those in need.
Winner of the University of Sydney’s 2022 Alumni Award for Service to Humanity, Sloane works for the international non-profit organisation, The Asia Foundation. As Senior Director of its Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Program, she and her colleagues support women to help broker peace agreements, to counter violent extremism and gain economic security and opportunities…
“The questions I kept asking were, ‘What about the women? How are women involved, how are we actually supporting women’s rights and empowerment?’” Sloane says.
“I needed to go deeper in understanding how different issues were affecting women directly. I also wanted to know what it meant to be advocating for gender equality, and to understand what really contributes to transformative change, in terms of realising women’s rights and gender equality and social inclusion.”
Carbon pricing is fast becoming a contemporary buzzword, with the adoption of carbon pricing instruments (CPIs) having grown significantly since 2010. While these instruments were confined, mostly, to European nations back then, today some 46 national jurisdictions operate in the presence of some form of carbon pricing regime. Developing countries are also showing an interest in their implementation; the World Bank indicates that Brazil, Indonesia, Morocco, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam — and indeed Malaysia — have announced that either a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme (or in some cases, a combination of both) is on the policy horizon.
The proliferation of CPIs is the result of numerous pressures, some more significant than others. First, the continuous nature of scientific discovery in the realm of climate change necessitates a stronger response to the issues of emissions growth and environmental degradation. Recognition of the need for policymakers to act is quite possibly at an all-time high; so is public pressure on policymakers to act.
A second factor is the need for governments to find alternative sources of financing to both pay back for Covid-related fiscal outgoings (including record-setting stimulus packages) as well as fund further climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Carbon pricing is fast becoming a contemporary buzzword, with the adoption of carbon pricing instruments (CPIs) having grown significantly since 2010. While these instruments were confined, mostly, to European nations back then, today some 46 national jurisdictions operate in the presence of some form of carbon pricing regime. Developing countries are also showing an interest in their implementation; the World Bank indicates that Brazil, Indonesia, Morocco, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam — and indeed Malaysia — have announced that either a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme (or in some cases, a combination of both) is on the policy horizon.
June 27, 2022 — Google blog The Keyword spotlights The Asia Foundation’s Go Digital ASEAN initiative in a piece written by Google’s President for the Asia Pacific, Scott Beaumont, on the company’s continued commitment to micro, small and medium enterprises in the Asia Pacific.
The Go Digital ASEAN initiative broadens digital skills participation in 10 countries for more than 200,000 people from rural regions and underserved communities—including women-led small- and micro-businesses, underemployed youth, ethnic minorities, and people with disabilities—to create a more inclusive ASEAN region.
May 23, 2022 — The Foundation’s Go Digital ASEAN initiative was profiled at the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit in Washington D.C. The summit underscored the importance of U.S.-ASEAN cooperation and included the 10-country regional initiative as key to increasing opportunities for education, training, and upskilling in Southeast Asia.
Private Sector Initiatives: Leading American companies have announced new initiatives to increase opportunities for education, training, and upskilling in Southeast Asia. Google will equip 200,000 small and medium enterprises in Southeast Asia with the skills to grow their business, through a $4 million grant to The Asia Foundation’s “Go Digital ASEAN,” and the U.S. Department of State and Google will partner to build digital literacy among youth at American Spaces located in Southeast Asia.
