In Asia: Weekly Insight and Features from Asia

Since Sri Lanka’s decades-long civil war ended in 2009, we’re now witnessing the beginning of reconstruction in the country’s battered North and East. The government is rapidly investing in roads, rail, ports, and telecommunications that help connect marginalized communities with the vibrant, growing capital of Colombo. Meanwhile, the local economy is coming to life, and small businesses – typically on the margins of the private sector – are eager to take advantage of their long pent-up demand to grow their businesses. This is welcome news for people that have endured so much, but there are of course still challenges.

After a 30-year war that has rewarded Sri Lanka's banks and enterprises for playing it safe, they are hesitant to take on risk by offering loans to small businesses. Recently, however, new initiatives are reviving trust between banks and businesses owners. Photo: Karl Grobl.

“The small and medium enterprise sector is the backbone of the Sri Lankan economy – even more so in the North and East,” Anushka Wijesinha, Research Economist at Sri Lanka’s Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) who has been studying access to credit, recently said to me. “The majority of large businesses continue to take a wait-and-see approach, but it’s the small businesses that are ready to take some risks.”

Unfortunately, as ready as the smaller businesses are to take these risks, they lack the collateral needed to do so. Micro and small business owners constantly say how difficult it is for them to even get credit to expand their business, for example. Most small businesses can’t meet banks’ collateral requirements to get a loan, even though Sri Lanka’s financial system is flush with more liquidity than ever, due to lower interest rates and government policies and programs that are meant to push credit down to the grassroots.

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Colombo is shedding its image as Sri Lanka’s charming but dilapidated capital. Pulsing with new energy and growth, major investments and improvement is palpable since the end of the war. But in the North and East and bordering regions, clashes, attacks, and decades of economic neglect have left a legacy of division and hardship. The government has responded by linking these cities through improved roads, rail, and telecommunications; business owners and local leaders want to catch up with the rest of the island nation. Entrepreneurs and local officials hold the keys to growth and peace in these former conflict-affected towns. This new slideshow series shows how The Asia Foundation is working in Jaffna, Vavuniya, and Batticaloa to spark private sector growth by helping local governments and businesses work together.

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 because they suffer from inadequate capacity and resources. Nevertheless, local governments can do better despite these constraints.

Despite the relative stability in Sri Lanka following the end of the civil war, local governments are limited in their ability to work effectively due to vague and at times contradictory expectations. Photo by Karl Grobl.

This is certainly the case in Sri Lanka. For the Local Authorities (LAs) – a general term encompassing elected municipal councils, urban councils, and village-level pradeshiya sabhas – their ability to lead is hampered by vague and at times contradictory expectations, despite the relative stability following the end of the civil war in 2009. Decentralization reform in Sri Lanka is challenged by a dualistic system of de-concentrated government (secretariats at the district and town level which are agents of the central government) coupled with a weak, devolved government (provincial councils and LAs). Both tiers are involved in services and planning, which confuses the public and increases opportunities for corruption, political conflict, and wasteful duplication in service delivery.

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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 carried out by The Asia Foundation showed that community police relations have greatly improved since then, and Timor-Leste’s political leadership continues to prioritize the need for police reform. Community policing projects have demonstrated the potential for positive impact of community policing initiatives on safety and security in Timor-Leste. Despite this, community policing is not yet seen as a high priority for reform. In this just-released paper, the ninth in The Asia Foundation’s “Occasional Paper” series, Nélson De Sousa C. Belo, director of the Fundasaun Mahein, Mark R. Koenig, Asia Foundation program fellow for Governance and Law, and Silas Everett, the Foundation’s country representative in Timor-Leste, explore the national-level political aspects of police reform in Timor-Leste and identify limitations and opportunities for improving policing and security in Timor-Leste. Download paper.

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, and she likely had nowhere else to turn.

In an effort to reduce long tensions between police and communities, the Bangladesh Police created a nationwide network of Community Policing Forums. Above, police and community members participate in a recent forum.

Regrettably, Sumaiya’s case is not an isolated incident. Crime in Bangladesh is on the rise overall, and this kind of gender-based violence is also becoming more common. According to the Bangladesh Police, between 2001 and 2010 there was a 42 percent increase in reported crimes, including narcotic-related offences (a 394% increase), child abuse (306%), and cruelty to women (25%). Many observers cite the strained relationship between the police and community members as a large factor contributing to this surge. Tensions and misunderstandings are exacerbated by a long history of distrust resulting from the application of a legal code that dates back to 1861 when the British were in power. At that time, the objective of the police was to defend British colonial rule rather than to serve and protect citizens. Unfortunately, some of these same ideas about policing continue to be applied today.

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In a recent speech at the Overseas Development Institute, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair stressed the important role that leadership plays in development.

Now, as the Forum draws to an end, the importance of leadership proves a crucial and timely message, and one that is closely tied into the growing debate about development “ownership”; for it is important to remember that ownership requires “owners.” Such owners, however, cannot be confined to the top leadership of central government, as ownership also requires action and support from leaders at the sub-national level, as well as across all sectors, including the private sector and wider interests in civil society. The new challenge for development that has been addressed in Busan – and will, hopefully, continue to be addressed beyond it – is how the international community can help to facilitate or broker processes through which these leaderships can work better together to share ownership of locally appropriate and legitimate institutions and policies.

But, while policy-makers recognize that leadership matters, they are also prone to ask the questions: “So what?” and “What can we do about it?” In light of such unanswered questions, the Developmental Leadership Program (DLP), an international policy initiative directed by an independent steering committee of partner organizations, including The Asia Foundation, funded primarily by AusAID,  works to better understand and promote the role developmental leadership plays in fostering sustainable economic growth, political stability, and inclusive social development.

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A global campaign is underway right now to bring attention to a pressing human rights issue which affects up to 60 percent women across the world. The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign – which falls between International Day Against Violence Against Women (November 25) and International Human Rights Day (December 10) – brings attention to the global issue of gender-based violence. While living a life free of violence is a basic human right, millions of women around the globe are victims of violent acts including domestic violence, forced prostitution, rape in wartime, marital rape, and other forms of physical and psychological abuse.

Despite the serious consequences of gender-based violence, the WHO notes that it continues to have an "unjustifiably low priority on the international development agenda." Photo by Karl Grobl.

Gender-based violence is deeply rooted in societal norms that set and reinforce the unequal power relations between men and women which perpetuate the problem. Within the Asia-Pacific region, there are a number of entrenched cultural practices that contribute to gender-based violence and pose a significant barrier to women’s equal rights. Forced early marriage, domestic violence, dowry-related violence, rape, acid throwing, female genital mutilation, forced prostitution, and the trafficking of women are major threats to health and well being of millions of women in Asia. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), many types of gender-based violence have increased in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years. Because these root causes are so deeply ingrained in patriarchal systems and cultural practices, implementing efforts to change them is complex and difficult.

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Just yesterday, on November 15 in Kabul and Washington, D.C., The Asia Foundation released the results of its 2011 Survey of the Afghan People.

The annual Survey of the Afghan People is the most comprehensive and credible nationwide poll of public opinion on topics related to national mood, governance, security, and development in Afghanistan. In 2011, the survey polled over 6,300 respondents from all 34 provinces of Afghanistan.

The Asia Foundation interviewed 6,348 adult Afghans, across all 34 provinces of Afghanistan in face-to-face interviews for the 2011 Survey. Above, surveyors poll a resident in Bamyan Province.

With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), The Asia Foundation has implemented the survey since 2004. Over this period, the survey has generated a treasure trove of data and information, and the changes over time in the views and mindset of the people of Afghanistan.

The opinions of average Afghans matter a great deal in a country that continues to face enormous challenges in governance, security, and livelihoods. Good understanding among national leaders and international “influencers” of the views of the general population are also crucial as the struggling nation attempts to define its national vision while being buffeted by the inconstant waves of international intervention and regional competition.

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In Asia’s editor, Alma Freeman, interviewed 2011 Survey of the Afghan People co-author and former Asia Foundation program director for Law, Human Rights, and Women’s Empowerment in Kabul, Najla Ayubi, for her reaction to the findings of The Asia Foundation’s 2011 Survey and what they might mean for women’s rights, peace talks, and more. Ayubi is currently the Afghanistan country director for the Open Society Foundation.

As a survey author, what surprised you most about this year’s findings?

The high support for peace and reconciliation was a very surprising and important finding in this year’s survey. It’s surprising to see that 82 percent of the people support peace and reconciliation, which has interesting implications for the peace process. I also found it surprising that 74 percent of the respondents said they have confidence in religious leaders and 70 percent of respondents say that religious leaders should be consulted on problems facing an area. Also, 46 percent say that the country is going in the right direction, and only 35 percent say it is going in the wrong direction. That’s positive news, but since last year, the percentage of people who think the country is going in the wrong direction has increased by 8 percent. In 2009, that figure was 29 percent. To me, this reveals an unstable attitude of the people on whether their country is moving in the right direction.

Women respondents report lower levels of support than men for reconciliation with armed opposition groups. What do you make of this?

Women have been marginalized by the Taliban and other armed opposition groups for decades. That’s why woman don’t have much empathy for the armed opposition groups, and are not as supportive as men for the so called peace and reconciliation process which is going on with the government. In many cases, they feel they won’t get any benefit from this type of negotiation – specifically, they worry their rights will be compromised, and for me as an Afghan woman, I’m also afraid that my rights will be compromised during these peace talks. Two of the biggest issues that affect women’s lives here are the lack of freedom of movement to work outside of the home and access to education. In the current peace talks, how this will be factored in is totally up in the air. It’s very clear that women support peace, but not the kind of approach that risks compromising their rights.

Also, women are only symbolically part of the peace talks: some women have been put in high-level positions, like at the High Peace Council or at the local, provincial level in peace talk committees, but they aren’t able to actually represent women’s voices and interests there. For example, some of the women representatives in the High Peace Council have said that in many cases when there is a peace talk trip inside of the country, they are not allowed to be part of the delegation. The male representatives say that due to the security situation, women aren’t able to come. But this makes me ask, if the security is a problem for women, why is it not a problem for men? If the men can go and be protected by security forces, then why can’t the same be done for women? It’s more of a stereotype or patriarchal thinking that women are not eligible to be in peace talks rather than anything having to do with their ability.

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Religious leaders received the highest vote of confidence and optimism of the Afghan people among local governance institutions, according to The Asia Foundation’s 2011 Survey of the Afghan People. Seventy percent of respondents say that there should be regular consultation with religious leaders about problems in their area, while 74 percent rank religious leaders as one of the three most trusted institutions. This trend is the highest since 2006, when 61 percent of respondents said there should be regular consultation with religious leaders.

In Afghanistan’s history, the only consistent, “24-7″ local governance institution available to the public has been the religious leaders, known as mullahs or imams. They are positioned in the heart of each village and community in the Masjid (mosque) which exists in every village and even in some larger houses. In fact, one cannot find a single village and community in the country where there is no Masjid. As such, religious leaders have played a critical role in all stages of an Afghan’s life – from childhood to adult. When a child is first born, her first move from the cradle is to see an imam who recites the words of Azan into the child’s ears. When a child is 2-3 years old, she starts going regularly to the Masjid to learn the Quran and other faith-related books from religious leaders. A new marriage is not complete until the imam confirms the marriage contract between the bride and groom. Religious leaders also read letters from far-flung family members for people who can’t read. Finally, an imam is the last one to speak at a funeral ceremony.

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