In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Dear readers,

Throughout the year, In Asia offers on-the-ground analysis from Asia Foundation experts and guest bloggers on pressing events and issues that affect the Asia-Pacific region. In Asia is taking a short break until the New Year, but stay tuned for our “Forecast: Asia in 2012″ edition on January 4. In the meantime, catch up on a few must-read pieces and highlights from 2011.

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Indonesia’s economy could grow even faster than its current rate of around 6 percent, according to a statement made by Vice President Boediono last week, if the government and private sector worked together to overcome a major technical hurdle – infrastructure. And, it’s not just Boediono who feels this way…

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The flooding that submerged one-third of Thailand this year was the worst the country had seen in 50 years. Sixty-five provinces and over 4 million people have been affected, tens of thousands have lost jobs, and nearly 700 were killed. Nine provinces remain underwater.

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After being hit by the worst flooding in half a century, Thailand and its residents are on the long road to recovery. Waters submerged one-third of the country, left nearly 700 dead, and caused millions in economic damage and lost revenue from major industries…

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While local governments are widely viewed as critical to development because they are considered citizens’ most accessible government unit, in many developing countries these local government institutions don’t live up to their potential…

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For 24 years until 1999, the police in Timor-Leste were under the command of the Indonesian military, and today, people still hold memories of the fears they felt toward the police and the security forces at that time. A national survey of community police perceptions…

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Earlier this year, Sumaiya Akhter, a 12-year-old resident of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, hanged herself from her ceiling fan with a scarf. She had been verbally harassed by Selim, an older neighborhood boy, on the way to and from school every day. Sumaiya told her parents, but just prior to her death, her mother scolded her for what was happening…

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Having worked with Indonesia’s higher education sector since 2000, I have come to believe that studying abroad is as close as one may come to a “sure thing” in Indonesian developmental assistance. Indonesian students and professors studying abroad are exposed to new educational techniques and knowledge…

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Law has little meaning when it is not widely understood. Concepts like “conflict of interest” or “integrity” are used repeatedly in theories and explanations of law, but they are not self-explanatory. Perhaps nowhere is this more the case than in Timor-Leste, where rule of law is in the early stages of institutionalization and not well-understood by most citizens.

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In the 60 years since The Asia Foundation began, the global development landscape and accompanying aid architecture has changed dramatically. Tackling the challenge of global poverty reduction seems to be on track. In the early 1980s, more than half of people in developing countries lived in extreme poverty.

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