By Nilan Fernando

Nilan Fernando is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in Sri Lanka. He can be reached at nfernando@asiafound.org.

Situated at Sri Lanka’s highest point, the Nuwara Eliya District is one of the county’s most popular tourist destinations with refreshingly cool breezes that offer a respite from the sultry tropics of the lowlands. The hillsides shimmer a vibrant green from the tea bushes that produce the famous Ceylon tea enjoyed throughout the world. The residents of this mountain retreat, however, have a far different story to tell.

A combination of factors, including erosion, heavy rains, and urbanization, have greatly increased the risk of landslides in the area, making residents of Nuwara Eliya vulnerable. In January, 2007 alone, for example, landslides and flooding displaced over 18,000 people from Walapane and Hanguranketha, resulting in a massive need for shelter and aid. While immediate aid is obviously crucial, much of the area’s infrastructure and morale was also badly damaged, making long-term, post-disaster rehabilitation and development essential.

When disasters occur, those affected rely on the local government for immediate relief and short- and long-term rehabilitation. Without comprehensive relief and aid, affected areas are also in danger of experiencing conflict between host communities and the internally displaced.
Read more »

By Mumtaza Abdurazzakova and Kate Francis

Mumtaza Abdurazzakova is The Asia Foundation’s Director for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs Initiatives to Strengthen Policy and Advocacy (MISPA)project in Afghanistan. Kate Francis is the Foundation’s Deputy Director of the Women’s Empowerment Program based in Washington, D.C. They can be reached at mabdurazzakova@asiafound.org and kfrancis@asiafound-dc.org, respectively. All names below have been changed.

Ara called in to Radio Zorha in Kunduz Province, imploring her fellow Afghans to be aware of the dangers of being tricked by promises of a better life through employment opportunities in foreign countries. Upon hearing radio messages about human trafficking, she wanted others to hear the story of her 16-year-old son who had left with a group of friends to find work in Iran, and hasn’t been heard from since. Had Ara heard about human trafficking earlier, she would have counseled her son to make different decisions.

Sadly, Ara is not alone as she awaits news of her son. The outpouring of personal stories and cautionary tales from radio listeners across Afghanistan who have heard the Ministry of Women’s Affairs’ radio campaign on human trafficking is an indication that the problem is as vast as it is complicated. Many listeners have called in to express concern about issues ranging from the kidnapping of women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation, to drug cartels deceiving illegal immigrants into unknowingly smuggling drugs to Iran.
Read more »

By Hallie Schiffman-Shilo

Hallie Schiffman-Shilo is The Asia Foundation’s Program Assistant for the Women’s Empowerment Program based in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at hshilo@asiafound.org-dc.org.

Human trafficking is one of the most egregious human rights abuses. Each year, millions of men, women, and children are trafficked within their own countries or abroad into exploitative, abusive, and often illegal labor sectors. Many trafficking victims are forced into sexual slavery, domestic servitude, or hard labor and suffer from both physical and psychological abuse. Official statistics are hard to determine because of the illicit nature of trafficking. However, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 12.3 million people in forced or bonded labor, forced child labor, or sexual servitude at any given time. Furthermore, an estimated 80 percent of transnational trafficking victims are women and girls.
Read more »

By Damcelle Cortes

Damcelle Cortes is an Asia Foundation Program Officer in the Philippines. She can be reached at damcellet@asiafound.org.

For almost three years, Erlinda Cadapan has been searching for her daughter, Sherlyn. A student of the University of the Philippines, Sherlyn was abducted in June 2006 with another female student and a farmer in Bulacan, a province a few hours north of Manila. Like any mother longing for her child, Erlinda has been exhausting all means to find her daughter. Camp searches, court petitions, advocacy meetings, and exhumations have become part of her grueling daily routine. She would rather face her daughter’s death than live in complete uncertainty about what happened to her. In 2008, when Erlinda heard that authorities in Pangasinan Province found a corpse of a woman of similar build as Sherlyn, she insisted on recovering the body. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), along with a human rights organization, conducted an exhumation. But upon investigation, they found the remains were of another young woman, not Sherlyn.

Erlinda is among the hundreds of mothers and relatives of desaparecidos who are in a devastating, never-ending quest to find their loved ones. In their situation, investigations that provide leads, searches, and exhumations that could eventually direct them to their missing kin are paramount. Unfortunately, relatives of the missing cannot confidently rely on the authorities to assist them. Security forces are often implicated in the commission of abuses. Cognizant that the state cannot renege from its primary duty of protecting guaranteed rights and freedoms, the 1987 Constitution aptly created the Commission on Human Rights as an independent body to investigate, report, and monitor human right violations.
Read more »

By Dr. Carter Tseng

Dr. Carter Tseng is Give2Asia’s Chairman of the China Earthquake Committee. Founded by The Asia Foundation in 2001, Give2Asia provides advised grantmaking and consulting to philanthropists and donors. Read a report on Give2Asia’s work in earthquake-affected areas. For more information on Give2Asia’s work, please contact Gillian Yeoh at gyeoh@give2asia.org or 415.743.3336.

A year has passed since the Sichuan Earthquake and, while much has been accomplished, there is still so much more to be done. Last month I again had the opportunity to visit the earthquake affected area along with several Give2Asia colleagues and donors. As I have been from the start, I was impressed by the resilience and optimism of the people we met. Despite the loss of their homes, jobs and, in some cases, loved ones, they are moving forward and working hard to rebuild their lives.

Most of the 5.5 million people who lost their homes in the earthquake are still living in temporary shelter communities, and many of these people will never be able to return to their original towns and villages because of the damage done by the quake. While the government is providing some subsidies for home reconstruction, many of the victims do not have the means to raise the additional funds needed to rebuild their homes. However, this is just the start to the challenges the survivors face. The economic hardships created by the disaster make it difficult for these families to send their children to school, which will have a long-term impact of the prospects for their children’s futures. Income-generating opportunities are limited in many of the affected communities, resulting in significant migration of young men and women looking for work in other parts of China. The people there need skills training, capital, and leadership training to reinvigorate the area’s economy.
Read more »

By Véronique Salze-Lozac’h

Véronique Salze-Lozac’h is The Asia Foundation’s Regional Director for Economic Programs and is based in Cambodia. She can be reached at vsalze-lozach@asiafound.org. Last week, The Asia Foundation’s Cambodia office released the second Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES) survey, which ranks all 24 provinces on the quality of their economic governance. Findings from the report have been cited in articles in Agence France-Press, Voice of America, and two articles in The Phnom Penh Post (one here, the other here).

The recent release of two reports – one from the World Bank/IFC and the other from the IFC/Asia Foundation – compelled more than 200 Cambodians to gather on May 25th in a conference room overseeing the Tonle Sap river. They were business owners, public officials, and development organizations, all keen to discuss ways to make the life of business owners in Cambodia easier and more productive.

The lack of information on regulations, time-consuming procedures, unofficial charges, and the poor delivery of essential public services hamper business growth.   Making it easier, cheaper, and more transparent to start and operate a business could significantly help Cambodia compete in both the international and domestic markets, according to the World Bank/IFC Second Investment Climate Assessment (ICA) and the Provincial Business Environment Scorecard (PBES), published by IFC and The Asia Foundation.  At a time of unprecedented global financial and economic crisis, the issue is not anecdotal. Cambodia urgently needs to improve its business environment at the national and provincial level if it wants to mitigate the shock of the international crisis.
Read more »

By Melody Zavala and Syed Zahid Abbas

Melody Zavala is The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Program Director. Syed Zahid Abbas is the Books for Asia Director in Pakistan. They can be reached at mzavala@asiafound.org and zahid@pk.asiafound.org, respectively.

Book Fairs take place all over the globe. In some places, such as at this weekend’s Book Expo America in glitzy New York City, the purpose is to promote beautiful new books from America’s top publishers. In grittier places, such as Pakistan’s volatile North West Frontier Province and Balochistan, the goal of book fairs is to spark an interest in higher education and extend much needed books to the country’s hardest-to-reach areas. In these remote areas of Pakistan, The Asia Foundation puts brand new textbooks donated by American publishers on display to help university students and teaching staff understand the resources available to them for free through our Books for Asia program. For over 50 years, the Books for Asia program has provided more than 3 million books to Pakistan’s students, researchers, and marginalized groups. While these donations present numerous transport challenges, the results are worth the extra effort and much appreciated. This week, our colleague, Mr. Syed Zahid Hussain, was interviewed during a three-day book fair held at the University of Balochistan. His remarks in The Asia Pulse capture just how valuable these donated books are.
Read more »

By Almerio Borges and Hugo Fernandes

Almerio Borges is The Asia Foundation’s Mobile Library Project Officer and Hugo Fernandes is the Foundation’s Books for Asia Manager in Timor-Leste. They can be reached at aborges@asiafound.org and hfernandes@asiafound.org, respectively.

Last summer, we drove a mobile library - a specially equipped mini-bus fit for travel on our small island nation’s rugged roads - outfitted with books, audio recordings, and visual media from Dili to remote parts of the country. Nothing like it had ever existed in Timor-Leste before, and what we saw on our travels to all 13 districts of the country confirmed the deep intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm this young nation has for books.

In Timor-Leste, 36 percent of the population is under the age of fourteen, 61 percent is between the ages of 15-64, and nearly 50 percent of the total population is illiterate. In this new, democratic nation with no lending library and no postal system, pervasive poverty and a lack of public access to information hampers the development of a culture of reading.
Read more »

By Bishnu Sapkota

Bishnu Sapkota is The Asia Foundation’s Program Advisor in Nepal. He can be reached at bishnu@taf.org.np.

Nepal’s peace process has seen significant achievements in the last three years, but not all has gone well. In retrospect, Local Peace Committees (LPCs) feature as one of the most prominent failures.

Initially, the peace committees were designed to sustain peace by providing a common forum for people to locally implement national peace agreements. LPCs were to promote the notion that the responsibility to maintain peace at the local level lies with the people. They would bring together political parties, NGOs, and relevant local government agencies to prevent potential conflict, resolve them as they arise, and promote peace in the district. Following intense discussions, the LPCs were officially approved by the Cabinet in late 2006.  The Cabinet made provisions for peace committees to be created in each of the 75 districts of the country. However, the committees never could quite achieve any of the stated objectives.

Here’s what I think went wrong.
Read more »

By Melody Zavala and Sukla Dey

Melody Zavala is The Asia Foundation’s Books for Asia Program Director. She can be reached at mzavala@asiafound.org. Sukla Dey manages the Foundation’s books program in Bangladesh.  She can be reached at sdey@asiafound.org.

Dhaka University has one of the oldest and most respected law programs in Bangladesh; its graduates go on to become champions of justice and equality in a country where both are in short supply. As Bangladesh’s largest public university, its students arrive from all corners of the country – from thatched houses in rural villages to the bustling apartment blocks of downtown Dhaka. Yet, despite its national prestige, the university lacks sufficient resources to provide its students access to critical, contemporary legal reference books. Without a lending library, the university’s 900 law students vie for a limited supply of outdated texts in a cramped reading room, which allows for only a modest round table and 12 chairs. 
Read more »