In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Asia Foundation counter-trafficking expert Nandita Baruah recently joined international trafficking experts and Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca to discuss trafficking challenges in Asia at forums in Washington, DC, and in New York (watch video). From her home in Phnom Penh, Baruah spoke with In Asia about Cambodia’s progress in the fight against human trafficking and obstacles that [...]

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This year marks the centennial celebration of International Women’s Day, and its theme – promoting equal access for women to education, training, and science and technology – resonates personally for Chroeung Sok Vorn, a rice farmer from Cambodia’s rural Kampong Cham province. “I’m a poor widow. Even though I have many children, I still encourage all of them to go to school…”

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For over one million people, Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake is the pulse of life. Southeast Asia’s largest freshwater lake is a natural floodplain reservoir and drains into the Mekong River via the Tonle Sap River. Every year, the lake observes a phenomenal natural occurrence: the Mekong rises and flows into the Tonle Sap, expanding its area over five times…

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In January, development and philanthropy veteran and former president of the American University in Cairo David D. Arnold began as The Asia Foundation’s new president. In his first interview, he speaks to In Asia about development challenges in Asia, the shifting economic landscape, and the Foundation’s cutting-edge work in good governance. Read the interview.

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One year ago in this blog, Asia Foundation chief economist Bruce Tolentino expressed “cautious optimism” about the prospects for global recovery and Asian growth in 2010. His positive prediction for Asia was more than fulfilled, in spite of a dispiriting lag in U.S. recovery and severe economic crises in the Eurozone. In 2010, Asia’s diverse [...]

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On a recent visit from Phnom Penh, In Asia spoke with chief of party of The Asia Foundation’s Counter Trafficking in Persons program in Cambodia, Nandita Baruah, about Cambodia’s recent strides in the fight against human trafficking and on-the-ground challenges that still remain. Baruah recently joined international trafficking experts to discuss human trafficking challenges in [...]

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This article is the final installment in a three-part blog series exploring barriers to women’s advancement in Asia and how The Asia Foundation is working to address them. November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the beginning of the 16 Days Campaign, a coordinated series of worldwide events [...]

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These are boom times in U.S.-Southeast Asia relations. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represents the United States at the 17th ASEAN Summit this week in Hanoi – the highlight of which is to be U.S. participation, for the first time ever, in the East Asia Summit (EAS). Secretary Clinton is also expected to travel to [...]

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In the enormous hotel conference room early the morning of September 21, I couldn’t help but be ecstatic – hotel staff had been frantically adding chairs right up to when we were to start – and by then almost 500 people from civil society, government, the donor community, along with students from a dozen colleges [...]

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I arrived in Cambodia during the dry season in February. A few months later in May, the rainy season was just around the corner. Like many places, the passing of the year there is defined by these seasonal transitions. Cambodia’s rice farmers rely on rainwater to feed their crops, and Cambodia’s fisherman anticipate the natural [...]

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