By Maria Belen Bonoan

The 1991 Local Government Code, which initiated the decentralization process in the Philippines by empowering local governments to more effectively respond to their community needs, has always been referred to as radical and revolutionary. It now serves as an example for other countries on how local governments have accepted, adjusted, and adapted to this development panacea.

However, after nearly two decades of local autonomy, it has become imperative to know and describe the progress, initiatives, and innovations of local governments 19 years after the Local Government Code was passed.

The 11th Rapid Field Appraisal (RFA) – the first since 2001 – was conducted from February to May 2010 in 15 regions of the country, covering a total of 177 local governments.
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On Sunday, the world watched while the Taliban executed a young couple who had eloped by stoning them to death. The couple said they’d eloped because the young woman was promised in an arranged marriage to a relative of her lover, and she did not want to marry him. Nader Nadery, a senior commissioner on the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said in the New York Times, “We’ve seen a big increase in intimidation of women and more strict rules on women.” A recent Time Magazine cover story about a young woman maimed by the Taliban and recent opinion-editorials published by Human Rights Watch’s Rachel Reid and Tom Malinowski, have also served as reminders of the precarious status and future of Afghan women. Following the overthrow of the misogynistic Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the situation for women seemed to enter a promising era. A Ministry of Women was established, and a new constitution guaranteed women 25-percent representation in the legislature. But progress has been stymied in Afghanistan.
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By Thomas Parks and William S. Cole

The impact of international development assistance depends, to a large extent, on the ability and willingness of development actors to factor the political landscape into aid programs. It is not uncommon to hear of carefully conceived development programs, meticulously and thoughtfully designed with ample funding, that have been undermined by powerful local actors with other agendas. This same story is heard across the whole spectrum of development work. Programs that mobilize civil society or grass roots community groups to advocate for pro-poor reforms often fall short when faced with heavy resistance by powerful elite actors. In post-conflict environments, newly established state institutions that are designed with world class technical assistance to reflect state-of-the-art best practice do not function the way they were intended.
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By Véronique Salze-Lozac’h, Nina Merchant-Vega, and Syed Al-Muti

Any casual observer walking through the heart of a district capital like Bangladesh’s northeastern city of Sylhet or Rangpur, further north, would be impressed by the bustling economic activity. In the early morning, streets are filled with colorful trucks honking their way toward the market place. Their paths are crossed by overloaded rickshaws delivering raw materials to nearby tailors and small manufacturers. Despite such signs of a vibrant economy, doing business in Bangladesh is far from easy.

In Bangladesh, business people, such as this shop worker, face basic challenges that stunt their growth potential, including cumbersome administrative procedures and lack of transparency from authorities.

In Bangladesh, where The Asia Foundation works with micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the district level, business people often complain about cumbersome administrative procedures, unfair tax administrations, obsolete regulations, and an overall lack of transparency from authorities.
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Already the world’s most densely populated country, Bangladesh is expected to grow to over 200 million by 2025. While the country undergoes rapid urbanization and population growth, poverty remains severe, with 60 million Bangladeshis living below the poverty line. “Employment and private sector growth,” explains The Asia Foundation’s Local Economic Governance Project Director Syed Al-Muti in this video, “are key to breaking this cycle.” Unfortunately, significant barriers to doing business, like corruption, steep licensing fees, and local bureaucracy, are still stunting growth at the district level.

By Véronique Salze-Lozac’h and Khut Inserey

Just months ago, Choeung would never have dreamt of speaking in public. If told that he would speak in front of more than 300 people, including high-ranking officials, several deputy governors from seven provinces, and an under secretary of state, he would have laughed at such a good joke, and his fellow fishermen would have as well. But that was months ago, when Choeung and his colleagues from the community fishery of Stung Kambot in Kampong Thom province gathered for the first time to discuss constraints they faced in their fishing activities and how they could organize themselves to engage with the public sector and find ways to improve their businesses.

Community members from Cambodia's fishery and forestry sectors discuss common challenges and threats to natural resources at a cross provincial workshop attended by more than 300 people. Photo: Nicolas Axelrod/asiamotion.net

Early this month – less than nine months later – no one thought of laughing when Choeung took the microphone and stood in front of the large audience assembled in the Kampong Thom Provincial Hall.
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In late 2008, in the midst of the financial and economic crisis, factory owners in Bangladesh showed remarkable confidence in the future of their industry in Bangladesh. Government officials were also confident of the capacity of the private sector to adapt and remain competitive while workers themselves were confident of their capacity to deliver quality products at a competitive price. But, although Bangladesh has done well in the garment and textiles sector, if the country wants to expand even more and remain competitive, finds the first paper in The Asia Foundation’s new “Occasional Paper” series, it will need to make investments in human capital and technology, rather than just reduce input costs. Research for this paper included extensive interviews with factory workers and government officials, and seven focus-group discussions with 33 factory workers.

The paper offers policy recommendations to improve efficiency at the factory level, including providing improved benefits to workers and developing coalitions between the private sector and local and international NGOs, as well as factories, to establish industry standards. It also suggests reforms of the business environment that could provide an overall boost, not only to the garment industry, but to the economy as a whole. Download the paper.

In March, USAID and The Asia Foundation co-hosted a regional conference on “The Role of Religious and Community Leaders in Advancing Development in Asia.” The conference provided a forum where over 70 religious and community leaders from 14 countries could share their views and experiences from their respective countries. “We have people from so many different religious backgrounds and so many different countries talking together in partnership with the U.S. government about religion and development,” explains Ari Alexander, deputy director of the Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, in this new video in which participants share their perspectives. “For the first time in my life,” says Buddhist Maha Vihara Committee Member N.B. Dayananda, “I have come upon a scene where I have a fresh hope.”

Through the 18-month, USAID-funded pilot project Conflict Mitigation through Community-Oriented Policing (CMCOP), The Asia Foundation is playing a significant role in supporting both the police and Timorese communities to develop a new partnership, enhancing police legitimacy and responsiveness to community needs. CMCOP aims to improve the performance of police and build public trust by fostering collaborative community-police partnerships that use a problem-solving approach to respond to the security needs and expectations of the community. “For 24 years, until 1999, the police in Timor-Leste were under the command of the Indonesian military,” explains Asia Foundation Country Representative in Timor-Leste, Silas Everett, in this new video about the CMCOP program. “Today, people still hold memories of the fears they felt toward the police and the security forces at that time.”

This article is the first in a three-part blog series exploring the barriers to women’s advancement in Asia and how The Asia Foundation is working to address them.

By Jill Kosch O’Donnell

After months of advocating for access to credit from their local bank, the members of the District Women’s Business Forum (DWBF) in Sylhet, Bangladesh, have something to celebrate: 12 of them recently received bank loans to grow their businesses. One has already opened a new outlet for her business and hired 10 women to work there. Another has recruited five women for the planned expansion of her handicraft and garment enterprise. All of them are already in a position to repay the bank. Fifteen more loan applications are in the pipeline.

In many Asian countries, including Bangladesh, cultural tradition dictates that property and assets are almost always registered in the name of a male member of the household, denying Bangladeshi women the chance to gain collateral, needed to get bank loans to start businesses. Photo by Jon Jamieson.

These may be small numbers, but they represent a breakthrough that could add up for Bangladesh in the long run. Currently, women have extremely limited access to the capital that exists in their own country, which is a major impediment to expanding their businesses and creating jobs.
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