Myanmar’s speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Thura U Shwe Mann, speaks at The Asia Foundation’s headquarters in San Francisco. Photo/Whitney Legge

On June 10, Myanmar’s speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Thura U Shwe Mann, during the first official visit to the U.S. by Myanmar’s Parliament since the reform process began two years ago, confirmed he would run for president in 2015. Shwe Mann, a former general and widely considered a “key architect” of recent reforms in his country, told Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C., that he would run for president “because it is the key post to work for the betterment of the country and the people’s interest.”

With that exciting news as the backdrop, he and five other key parliamentarians, accompanied by Richard Nuccio, senior resident director of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) based in Myanmar, met with members of Congress and the Senate in D.C before moving on to New York and San Francisco, with the goal of not only improving U.S.-Myanmar relations, but also allowing the leadership of the Myanmar Parliament to learn more about the legislative process in the United States.

On their final stop before flying back to the capital, Naypyidaw, the delegation visited The Asia Foundation’s headquarters in San Francisco, for a breakfast event co-hosted with the Pacific Council and featuring a conversation with Shwe Mann on Myanmar’s transition. After an introduction by Asia Foundation President David Arnold, Shwe Mann began by emphasizing the strides in political reform that have occurred in his country over the last two years and reinforced the need for reform to continue apace. He warned that “people need to see enhanced socio-economic standards and economic reform ahead of elections. While we were successfully able to accomplish our political reform efforts … economically we have yet to see developments.” Until those economic needs are met, he continued, people in the country – the majority of whom are still struggling with poverty – will have concerns and doubts over the reform efforts. Despite signs of growth, Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the region with roughly 37 percent of its population unemployed and about 26 percent living in poverty.

Shwe Mann, who was elected to the Parliament in the 2010 multi-party general election and was elected as the speaker of the Lower House on Jan. 31, 2011, in the very first regular session of that body, recalled his positive impressions of the Library of Congress in D.C., and recognized The Asia Foundation’s donation of a special collection of books in 2012 to the Parliament of Myanmar, speaking about the broader implications of such support.

“The Parliamentary Library will not only contribute to the work of the Parliament; it will help to maintain the interests of the country and our people. It is also important for the international community, because I also believe that organizations like The Asia Foundation, as a non-profit organization, are working not for an individual country but for the international community,” he said.

He also spoke of the need for greater emphasis on education in his country, noting that the current educational situation is “not line with what we need today.” He announced that the country is looking to pass a National Educational Bill, with legislation to help strengthen not only basic education but the university system and vocational schools as well.

Myanmar had one of the most admired education systems in Asia until the 1960s, producing a highly literate culture with a deep reverence for learning. The country still maintains a high literacy rate, but education standards have deteriorated due to decades of under-investment. Schools are poorly equipped and educational materials are often outdated. Although primary school enrollment is compulsory, enrollment drops to 52 percent for girls and 49 percent for boys by the time they reach secondary school.

In response to a question about Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts in the border regions, Shwe Mann said he was increasingly more optimistic due to the recent movement on cease fire agreements. The Government of Myanmar has now entered into ceasefire agreements with 10 of the 11 insurgency groups in the country. The conflict in Kachin State, in the north of Myanmar, is the last remaining conflict.

Speaker Shwe Mann also announced “full intentions for economic cooperation with the private sector and the international community in the country’s development future,” and referenced the revised foreign investment law signed by President Thein Sein in November 2012. However, he also recognized that basic infrastructural improvements are needed for that to happen successfully, citing electricity, transportation, ICT (mobile and internet penetration rates are still very low, no higher than four and two percent, respectively, of Myanmar’s over 50 million people), communication, and the banking and financial sectors. He concluded by noting that “legislation, laws, transparency, accountability, as well as rule of law and tranquility – only when these are fully accomplished will the development of Myanmar enjoy economic prosperity.”

The Asia Foundation maintained a resident office and country program in Myanmar from 1958 to 1962. In May 2013, The Asia Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to advance their shared development goals. Read more.  

Alma Freeman is The Asia Foundation’s global communications manager and editor of this blog. Julian Rhoads is executive assistant to the president. They can be reached at afreeman@asiafound.org and jrhoads@asiafound.org, respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and not those of The Asia Foundation.

People were standing up and sitting down, intense negotiations were underway, funding decisions were being made, and a lot of commotion was coming from a crowd of over 300 policymakers, scientists, and practitioners from over 40 countries. We are gathered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for the Seventh Annual International Conference on Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA7), and were playing games meant to capture and simplify the multitude of complex factors that go into decision-making for preparing for and responding to climate change impacts, among them: when and how much to invest in disaster preparedness measures while experiencing the cost of damages when disaster strikes.

The conference began with opening remarks by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who called for global and immediate action on climate change, highlighting the extreme vulnerability Bangladesh faces to its impacts: flooding, drought, sea level rise, salinity intrusion, and severe storms. Indeed, Bangladesh is the world’s most vulnerable country to climate change. In response, Bangladesh has become a leader in its experience and efforts to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The government has contributed nearly $350 million of its own funds to its Climate Change Trust Fund, and communities have been adapting to climate change for years, experimenting with what does and doesn’t work. But challenges remain, and current efforts are focused on bridging the gap between government and civil society, and increasing the role of local government.

The theme for this year’s conference addresses the governance of community-based adaptation (CBA) and mainstreaming CBA into national and local planning. But this is easier said than done – in order to achieve holistic governance on climate change, it needs to be incorporated into all aspects of development considerations and decision-making, which can be a daunting and complicated task. Some of the many issues we are discussing include: how is climate change integrated and streamlined into all facets of government development planning, including agriculture, health, infrastructure, environment, and education? How are all people accounted for, including women, children, and vulnerable groups? How can disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation initiatives be coordinated? And importantly, how can adaptation initiatives effectively be monitored and evaluated?

Climate change scenario game developed developed for ACCRA and played with local government officials in Uganda, Mozambique, and Ethiopia. It distills competing factors in decision-making for investments in agriculture, health, infrastructure, energy, and education in light of the impacts from natural disasters. Photo/Lisa Hook

The climate change games, co-developed and co-facilitated by Pablo Suarez from Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, work in practical application with communities, farmers, policy makers, and humanitarian workers trying to adapt to climate change. They use simple materials in a board-game format using dice, beans, and spin-wheels, and are facilitated by trained practitioners who help translate the game dynamics into the real world complexities of climate change decision-making. The games distill complex issues and considerations to support local government decision-makers as they attempt to integrate climate change into their own development planning. They are helping to reframe engrained approaches to development planning to anticipate a range of future scenarios as a result of climate change.

This includes understanding the tradeoffs made in real-world decisions when addressing climate change, for example, the tradeoff between now vs. later and the tradeoff between individual vs. community interests. In the real world, decision making tends to favor a current “now” perspective, but the games help participants inhabit the future, and experience the consequences of inaction. Additionally, individually-focused decisions tend to be made in the short-term to receive the greatest benefits, but over the long-term collective investment increases the likelihood of withstanding shocks.

Here at the CBA7, the games provided a new way for us to interact and learn from one another – beyond the usual power point presentations. This format engages active participation, where everyone is able to ask, challenge, and learn from the process simultaneously. Our team quickly came together to decide when to invest in early warning systems for natural disasters before we rolled our dice, the outcome of which determined the impact from a natural disaster, and the resulting loss of our collective funds. The experience of anticipation, fast decision-making for investments, uncertainty, and loss quickly became very personal and emotionally charged, especially as the stakes were raised and probabilities of natural disasters were increased due to climate change.

In the end, the winning team succeeded by lobbying the game-appointed “local government” official for more “resources,” securing an advantage over other teams. But, this contributed to a valuable bigger-picture lesson: often, the systems meant to provide benefits to and support community-based adaptation do not reach their intended recipients, but are instead allocated for other interests. A lack of transparency and effective governance make accounting for these funds difficult to track, reinforcing the importance of effective, transparent, and participatory governance for valuable climate change resilience. Pablo concluded that “the games are designed to capture the incentives and disincentives in the real world, and the dynamics between immediate satisfaction and protection against potential future threats.” They are changing the nature of these dialogues.

Lisa Hook is a senior program officer for The Asia Foundation’s Environment Programs in San Francisco. She can be reached at lhook@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

On February 10, 36 people were killed in a stampede at the Allahabad railway station. Allahabad, located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, is the second-oldest city in India and plays a central role in the Hindu scriptures. Most of those caught in the stampede were devotees traveling to attend the sacred Maha Kumbh Mela, a massive Hindu religious festival held every 12th year in Allahabad.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is reportedly the world’s largest gathering of people. Estimates peg the number of devotees swarming Allahabad’s banks between 70 and 100 million. Photo/Cody Poplin

While planning to travel to the festival ourselves, news of the stampede was concerning. Taking in the reports from our offices in Delhi, we became increasingly skeptical that the authorities could pull off an event of the Kumbh’s magnitude. We were surprised by what we found.

After arriving in Allahabad, instead of the expected chaos, we found a highly coordinated city; one offering lessons for both a rapidly urbanizing India and other areas affected by mass migration, such as conflict zones and refugee camps.

The Maha Kumbh Mela is reportedly the world’s largest gathering of people. Estimates peg the number of devotees swarming Allahabad’s banks between 70 and 100 million. During the six-week festival, pilgrims press to take a holy dip in the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and mythical Sarasvati rivers. The water is believed to wash away sins and offer relief from the cycle of rebirth.

Devotees take a dip in the Sagam at the Maha Kumbh Mela. While many come and go within a few days, the largest bathing day is estimated to have anywhere from 30-40 million people. Photo/Cody Poplin

The local government’s ability to successfully manage this human tidal wave is even more impressive when placed in context. According to the World Bank, roughly one-third of India’s population lacks access to electricity. However, in a city constructed and later deconstructed in a matter of weeks, electricity, safe drinking water, and police protection are all provided. It’s an instructive achievement.

When we first made our way to the “pop-up megacity,” some sights were expected. A friendly old Sadhu (a Hindu ascetic) immediately greeted us and promptly demanded baksheesh (“tips”) for our enthusiastic picture taking. Additionally, the Sangam water – used for drinking, bathing, and brushing teeth – appeared dark brown, even against the muddy banks of the Kumbhnagari (literally, “Kumbh City”). While many worshippers had already decamped, including the revered naked Naga Sadhus, the display of overwhelming piety was exceptionally moving.

What we did not anticipate in this “ephemeral city” made to accommodate a population the size of Texas, was a successful model of good governance. One night, while strolling back from the Sangam, we could fully take in the almost empty Kumbh site. Street lamps stretched out in grids for what looked like miles, and even during a short walk, we came across multiple police stations and hospitals.

The Kumbh is also a first-rate example of an effective public-private partnership. According to Harvard researchers and the Indian government’s Mela Administration, the state lays out the Kumbh Mela city grid and its various sectors, including roads, 41 police check posts, 36 fire stations, and 30 hospitals. However, nearly 5,000 private (many religious) organizations plan the inner tent cities, which hold as many as 700,000 tents. NGOs run the missing persons units in coordination with the state police. Making this task more difficult is the city’s elasticity, as its parameters are partially determined by the annual river recession, which comes into full view only in October. The entire city “pops up” in the subsequent two months.

The Harvard team noted that the Kumbh used only a few times the space of “Burning Man,” a yearly art festival in the United States, yet had nearly 1,000 times the participants. While many come and go within a few days, the largest bathing day is estimated to have anywhere from 30-40 million people. Because the Kumbh is held over 55 days (where other gatherings might be a weekend or, at most, a week), housing, road, latrine, and other public health considerations must all be taken into account. Local administration even coordinates with upstream dams to release more water on major bathing days in order to remove dangerous particulate build up.

As Luce Scholars living and working in India this year, we have observed a seeming disconnect between India’s global economic ambitions and oftentimes troubling social conditions. The challenges will grow as India rapidly urbanizes. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, India’s urban population is expected to balloon from 340 million in 2008 to 590 million by 2030. The Kumbh’s public-private partnership model highlights potential avenues for India to meet these daunting obstacles. By providing stable access to electricity and over 35,000 public toilets, laying 156 km of roads, constructing 18 pontoon bridges, deputizing 30,000 policemen for security, and expanding public transport, organizers successfully accommodated the dramatic groundswell.

The railway stampede, initially a significant cause for alarm and skepticism regarding the festival’s organization, actually occurred outside the Kumbh’s jurisdiction, underscoring just how dangerous large gatherings like this can be without well organized management. Meanwhile, the Kumbh site saw police use an integrated computer system to register displaced or missing persons, frequent announcements on loudspeakers, well-placed identification posters, pictures on nine giant LED screens, and smartphone applications to guide loved ones back to one another.

The Kumbh, while far from problem-free, is a notable example of the state’s ability to accomplish significant feats in short order, not usually considered its forte. With an urban population set to double over the next 20 years, India should harness the exceptional planning skill displayed at the Kumbh. This would be one small step in capitalizing on a demonstrated potential to transform the lives of many living in India’s most impoverished conditions.

Daniel Rubin and Cody Poplin are 2012-2013 Luce Scholars in India, working in New Delhi with the Observer Research Foundation and the Centre for Policy Research, respectively. They can be reached at Dmrubin89@gmail.com and Cody.Poplin@gmail.com. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual authors and not those of The Asia Foundation.

In Asia editor Alma Freeman recently caught up with author and social media expert Beth Kanter after a talk held at The Asia Foundation’s headquarters, organized by the Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. Named one of the most influential women in technology by Fast Company and one of the BusinessWeek’s “Voices of Innovation for Social Media,” Kanter is the author of Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media for Social Change, and Visiting Scholar at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

GlobalWebIndex’s latest data shows that the internet now makes up 57 percent of global media consumption, with social media alone taking 26 percent of people’s media time, more than TV’s 23 percent. What does this trend mean?

If you think about the media landscape, it looks like a clover: you have traditional media, influencer blogs, and social media. People are now getting their information from all of those sources, especially in places with good broadband access. But this means that people, especially younger people, need to have a really good sense of digital literacy and be able to detect: Is this the whole story? Is it balanced? Is it the truth? Especially now that we have the filter bubble with Google, which is feeding us back what is likeable, as opposed to search results that are balanced.

Increased internet access, pervasive broadband, and the ability to get internet on the smartphone have made information so much more accessible. Things like the $25 tablet in India are making a huge difference. As the tools and technology become more accessible, the environment online becomes more socially interesting. But there’s always resistance to technology and social media – the argument of why should we do it now, it’s just a fad, it’s going to go away. Now, most of the nonprofits I work with view social media as an important part of their marketing, but there’s still the struggle that organizations have on getting everyone to participate. Navigating the personal and professional is also very tricky – many employees may be using it personally and care about the issues around the organization. Figuring out how to navigate and leverage that personal passion for your organization’s work in service of the mission is not an easy thing to do.

Internet usage is sky-rocketing in Asia, making it one of the fastest-growing social media regions in the world. How will this change social media and particularly, how non-profits and NGOs can use it?

That’s true, but when I go to India, I hear people say often that only 3 percent of the population is on Facebook, so why should I care? While that’s true, that 3 percent represents over 60 million people, which is the third largest country on Facebook. Most of those people are concentrated in urban areas, but that doesn’t mean that someone in a village with a smart phone can’t get that information and influence others off-line.

You have a deep connection to Cambodia, and helped raise money for the first Cambodian Bloggers conference in 2007 and recently attended another bloggers conference last year. What has changed?

I first started blogging in 2003 and had three blogs, one for non-profits, and two on Cambodia. I started getting comments from Cambodian young people, and became the bridge blogger for Global Voices, and started blogging and interacting with Cambodian bloggers more on a regular basis. Then I met Tharum, one of Cambodia’s first and most influential bloggers, and helped to get him a scholarship to go to London. He went on to become a very well-know blogger.
When I was first in Phnom Penh in 2000, there was one traffic light, and the only internet connection was in the fancy hotel that was a dial up and super slow. In 2004, there were a couple of internet cafes. Now it seems like there is Wi-Fi everywhere, and people are getting it to their phones. It has changed vastly.

What role can blogs play that traditional media cannot? Can they help increase transparency and citizen participation?

The later question is asking a lot, honestly. Unless everyone is working together, and has a tremendous amount of backing, I don’t know how realistic it is to expect bloggers and social media alone to be able to transform countries and governments. Although we have seen things like the Arab Spring which was driven by Facebook, we’re still watching to see the impact it had on lasting change. However, blogs can be an authentic, local voice. They can give a sense of what’s happening locally and how people are thinking about issues. That’s what attracted me to Global Voices. For example, during the viral online campaign to capture Uganda warlord Kony, I loved going and reading from the Ugandan bloggers. You found that what they were thinking and how they were talking about the event was completely different than here.
Social media is a double-edged sword. There is social media for good and social media for evil. It’s a question around the resilience of our networks. In September, I was supposed to be on a plane to Tunisia, but it was cancelled because of that video that triggered a wave of unrest in the region. So, I wrote a blog on why I’m not on a plane to Tunisia right now, and it was basically about how we need to build more resilience in our networks and civil society so that when something like this happens, people can rise up and resolve it, as opposed to just escalating the bad.

Kiki, a registrations clerk at Cipinang Prison in Jakarta, glanced at his pile of paperwork with a degree of resignation. It was April 2009, and he was responding to three summons letters from the prosecutor’s office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for 92 inmates to appear in court the next day. Kiki first had to verify the names against the hard copy prison register of 2,800 inmates. He then needed to locate each detainee’s file, record in a log book the court hearing that they were due to attend, and manually print temporary release letters for the warden to sign. While late in the afternoon, Kiki still had 60 files to go before he could call it a day.

Four years ago, cumbersome procedures were the norm in Indonesia’s 420 prisons. While the country hardly has a reputation for bureaucratic efficiency, its prisons – still following administrative procedures largely established during the Dutch colonial period – had a particular knack for generating paperwork.

The system required prisons to submit 23 forms every month to a provincial office, which verified and consolidated data from up to 63 prisons, which was then submitted to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which in turn passed data on to its Directorate General of Corrections. The former Director General of Corrections (DGC), Untung Sugiyono, claimed that even a simple count of all inmates in the prison system would take three months if it was to be accurate. When he eventually got the information he requested, it was already out of date.

For the past four years, the corrections system has implemented a major reform program, a central feature of which has been a radical overhaul of administrative procedures through the introduction of an electronic database system. The database enables computerized sentence calculation, automatic overstay reminders, electronic storage of fingerprint information, and other computer-generated reports. Data from across the country can also be accessed from the DGC’s headquarters.

A prison warden records information about a new inmate into the electronic database system. By March 2013, the system covered 417 prisons (94.5% of total prisons) and housed data for 150,689 inmates (97.9% of total inmate population).

The impact has been dramatic. Instead of waiting months for reports, corrections authorities can access prisoners’ information, including cell assignment, in close to real time. To respond to the daily requests for information on particular inmates, staff no longer have to dig out individual paper files but can quickly access electronic records to respond to queries from other government agencies. Calculation of release dates, including adjustments for sentence reductions, is now computerized, which has greatly improved efficiency. Automatically generated reminders let officials know when prisoners are eligible for parole, or are nearing their release date, so that they are not imprisoned longer than their sentence period. A self-service kiosk allows prisoners to access their own basic files, including their release date, using their fingerprint.

Now, when Kiki prepares inmates for court visits, he quickly utilizes the database to generate an official “temporary release letter.” And when inmates return from court, he checks them back in by simply clicking a box to update their files. Now, checking in 92 inmates takes Kiki little more than 15 minutes. Under the old paper-based system, he would still be going after a couple of hours.

While the database pilot was initially donor funded and supported by The Asia Foundation, early results were impressive enough that the ministry began expanding its installation using state funds. In 2010, state funds were used to expand the system to 18 large prisons, and it proved so successful and efficient that many prisons started finding funds in their own budgets to purchase the needed computer equipment themselves. By September 2012, roughly 143 prisons were online. By March 2013, the system covered 417 prisons (94.5% of total prisons) and housed data for 150,689 inmates (97.9% of total inmate population).

The database includes an SMS-based mechanism, whereby each warden submits a daily head count of inmates, categorized by sex, adult/juvenile, and type of crime committed, to a phone number connected to the DGC server. An application recapitulates the information and sends it via SMS to corrections leadership and the Deputy Minister of Justice. This SMS feature has allowed members of government, parliament, media, and the public to access basic demographic information about the prison population. The data also enables better planning and oversight, as it can be used to assess programs, budgets, and human resource allocations proposed by directorates and prisons. Advocates and corrections officials have used the data to make a data-driven case for increased budget allocations. For example, readily available and accurate data on prison overcrowding can be used to support requests for prison construction.

The database and SMS system have also significantly improved transparency in the prison system. General data on Indonesia’s corrections facilities is now publically available online and is updated daily.

The changes have been tremendous, but they are hardly a panacea for the corrections system’s multiple and complex problems. Overcrowding rates remain as high as 400 percent in some prisons, and conditions are often lacking, including access to clean water and sanitation. Security concerns like gang violence are a threat, and corruption is endemic. The challenge is now for the corrections system to optimize the use of this data to further increase administrative efficiency and improve the welfare of inmates.

Leo Sudaryono is The Asia Foundation’s law programs coordinator in Indonesia and can be reached at lsudaryono@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

Driving from the airport down the gridlocked streets of Yangon – with people of all ages going about their business in patterned longyis – it’s hard not to notice the dozens of billboards jutting out at eye level advertising web services and brand name mobile devices.

Though mobile and internet penetration rates are still very low in Burma, billboards advertising new phones and technology devices are becoming more prevalent. Photo/Michelle Chang Rodriguez

Though mobile and internet penetration rates are still very low (no higher than four and two percent, respectively, of Burma’s 50 million people), senior leadership in the government, NGOs, and the private sector is increasingly focused on improving the country’s existing technology infrastructure. These collective efforts to loosen censorship laws, extend telecommunications licenses to foreign operators, and develop new legal frameworks for eGovernment and information and communications technology (ICT) are likely to not only ramp up mobile penetration rates, but also bring greater access to information for Burma’s citizens.

These legal frameworks play a critical role in setting the foundation for increased access to information and more open dialogue and participation between government and citizens. Burma has reached a critical moment in time where getting these legal frameworks right has the potential to define and accelerate the country’s political, economic, and social transformation. What’s also needed now more than ever is to ensure committed coordination, learning, and dialogue among diverse stakeholders on lawmaking processes. Such consultation and collaboration from both international, external, and cross-sectoral actors can advance the way in which Burma’s government, private sector, and citizens interact and engage.

Over the last week, The Asia Foundation’s director of Digital Media and Technology Programs, John Karr, and I traveled to Burma to discuss the country’s ICT future with many of the country’s senior government officials, private sector individuals, and NGOs. Our trip also coincided with Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s first visit to the country. We were invited to attend an event where Schmidt spoke to a packed room full of young Burmese entrepreneurs and university students. He urged them to build prosperity for their country with the power of the web, mobile phone, and freedom of internet speech.

Schmidt’s visit comes at a time when Burma is seeing unprecedented foreign interest and investment. What’s crucial at this stage is designing an effective set of key ICT-related laws and regulations to allow for long-term implementation to be successful. Burma’s leaders have already declared that ICT development and telecommunications sector reform are among the prerequisites to building a more connected and regionally competitive Burma. Prior to this period of opening, little investment had been allocated to infrastructure development, internet freedom, or privatization of operators. To date, no private telecommunication entities are allowed to operate within the country. Now, government leaders are envisioning a country in which at least 50 percent of the population will have 3G connectivity by 2015.

The new draft telecommunications law is expected to open up competition to two foreign licenses for private operators to extend these services to citizens. This law will influence the way that government and citizens interact for decades to come. International technical and legal expertise as well as a convening body will be helpful to push Burma’s law-drafting process in the right direction.
It is these types of legal frameworks that can also set the stage for a robust mobile industry that can deliver far-reaching government services such as eGovernment, e-Learning, mobile health, and mobile banking.

For example, eGovernment can improve transparency and accountability between citizens and national and local government, and promote more efficient internal workflow processes that will benefit the government, businesses, and society at large. ICT-driven government-to-citizen services can decrease cost, increase efficiency, promote transparency and accountability, and reduce corruption across a range of web-enabled services such as birth registration, business licensing, land registration, health, and education. Mobile phone applications can also power these services and deliver information to millions of Burmese across the country. With few if any legacy applications that require integration with new eGovernment platforms and a market clamoring for mass cell phone adoption, Burma has an opportunity to even leapfrog ahead of some of its neighbors. Already, Burma’s leaders are demonstrating that commitment to their country.

Michelle Chang Rodriguez is The Asia Foundation’s ICT program coordinator in the Digital Media and Technology Programs unit. She can be reached at michelle@asiafound.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.

U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena with women parliamentarians at the South Asia Women Parliamentarians Conference held in Dhaka, jointly organized by The Asia Foundation and USAID. Photo/Conor Ashleigh

The Asia Foundation recently hosted U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, Dan W. Mozena, for an informal lunch discussion at its San Francisco headquarters, followed by a public event organized by the Foundation’s Washington, D.C., office. While in San Francisco, In Asia editor Alma Freeman sat down with Ambassador Mozena to discuss Bangladesh’s goals to become a middle-income country, its need for an “education revolution,” the role Bangladeshi-Americans in the Silicon Valley can play in development, and why Bangladesh – the nexus of inter-regional trade – is an emerging “Asian Tiger.”

Bangladesh has made tremendous strides over the last decades, and the government has announced that it aims to become a middle-income country by 2021. What are your thoughts on the progress toward that goal?

2021 might be a little soon – that’s the 50th anniversary of the founding of the country. It might be possible, but it takes decisions made now for Bangladesh to become a middle-income country. First – a middle income country has very real meaning – it’s a country where families have the means to provide a safe, secure home for their family. It means a family can procure ample and nutritious food so children are healthy and not stunted; it means a family has access to quality health care and good education. A middle-income Bangladesh is not an abstract concept, it’s real, and I think that it’s very much achievable.

Bangladesh has taken a number of steps toward achieving that goal, which I roll together when I call the country the next “Asian Tiger.” Goldman Sachs talks about the emerging 11 countries, including Bangladesh. JP Morgan talks about Frontier 5, including Bangladesh. A McKinsey report said Bangladesh could be the world’s largest exporter of ready-made garments and household textiles. Bangladesh has the potential to become a big player in generic pharmaceuticals, building small and medium freighters, building tugboats, footwear, finished leather products, flowers, silk, frozen shrimp. Combine that with the ongoing agricultural revolution that is happening this very minute where you will have a Bangladesh that is already rice surplus. Bangladesh is the nexus of inter-regional trade, right in the middle of the Indo-Pacific economic corridor.

What challenges could get in the way?

Bangladesh needs to have an education revolution, and this is where it comes up short. If you are going to have 200 million people, which is what Bangladesh is going to have by the year 2050, you need to export skilled manpower. But right now, Bangladesh exports 8.5 million largely unskilled workers. Why not export doctors, nurses, carpenters, and plumbers? There are other constraints that should not be diminished. The port is deficient. The road network needs to be improved – the road from Dhaka to Chittagong, the second largest city, is fully deficient. The railroad carries only 80,000 containers a year. Power shortages are a self-inflicted constraint. I recently visited the largest fertilizer manufacturing company in Bangladesh. The day I was there was day 59 that that company had no gas. No gas means they produce zero, with a full work force doing absolutely nothing. Corruption eats the country alive – 1.5-2 percent of growth is lost due to corruption. Political instability is rising. These are all serious, real constraints, and are all resolvable.

Shahbag Intersection in the heart of Dhaka, Bangladesh, was recently jolted by protestors, the majority of whom were young college students, including many women. What does this say about Bangladesh’s youth?  

Eighty percent of Bangladesh is under 40 years old, 65 percent is under 25. Bangladesh has coming soon what’s called the demographic dividend. Right now you have coming into the productivity years this massive bulge of young people who, if properly employed, will generate massive amounts of economic activity. Of course if they have no job opportunities, or are underemployed, they can become a threat to stability. That’s a real potent force for economic development in Bangladesh. I spend a lot of time with young people through my Ambassador’s Youth Council, and I’m exhilarated with the young people I meet. They are focused on the future, not the past. What you see in Shahbag is an exception to that. I see this event as a manifestation of a democratic right to express your views. I was surprised that it happened. This particular issue sparked something that unleashed this enormous outpouring spontaneously linked to this one issue. Yet to be discerned is whether or not this great passion that has oozed out in the streets is driven by frustrations much broader than this one sentence.

What do you think are the biggest misconceptions that Americans have about Bangladesh and vice versa?

When Bangladesh makes the news in the U.S., it’s almost always a negative story, like violence in the streets or the Tazreen Fashion factory fire in November. From that, related negative stories about labor rights and working conditions are extracted. I’m not saying those aren’t true, but those are the only stories that play. The positive stories about how Bangladesh is an emerging Asian Tiger, about how this country, against all odds, is going some place fast, about the optimism of the country. These stories don’t make American news so Americans lack an understanding of these dimensions of Bangladesh.

Bangladeshis know about America. A recent poll said 76 percent of Bangladeshis have a positive image of the U.S. But their misconception is that America can somehow wave a magic wand and solve problems. I am constantly asked with full sincerity when I am going to solve the political impasse. And they mean that literally. But these are Bangladesh’s problems, and they are going to be solved by Bangladesh. America, like Bangladesh’s other friends, can be helpful as Bangladesh moves to implement these solutions.

BRAC, the world’s largest NGO, was founded by Bangladeshi Sir Fazle Hasan Abed (who was also an Asia Foundation Chang-Lin Tien Distinguished Visiting Fellow in 2012). What role has civil society played in Bangladesh?

Civil society is a huge driving force in Bangladesh’s development. It’s interesting to think that in the U.S., the best and the brightest often go into business. In India, traditionally the best and brightest would go into civil service, in Bangladesh, the best and the brightest form NGOs. Young people create huge NGOs. BRAC is the largest NGO in the world, and I see it in action in villages all over. Grameen is a huge NGO helping mainly women help themselves, and so many more NGOs are up and running helping to build the country. The effectiveness of these NGOs has contributed enormously to the country’s continuing growth, averaging over 6 percent over the last 20 years – how many countries can say that?

During your visit to San Francisco, you met with a number of Bangladeshi-Americans in the Silicon Valley. What did you take away from these discussions?

I think Bangladeshi-Americans here in Silicon Valley can play a major role in making Bangladesh more prosperous. And, a prosperous Bangladesh is very much in the interest of the United States. We are currently working on a philanthropy portal – a mechanism by which Bangladeshi-Americans who want to donate money back to Bangladesh can do so in a way that they can track how their money is spent, and with confidence of where it ends up. We are also creating an ideas marketplace to help entrepreneurs here link up to people with new fresh ideas in Bangladesh. I think that especially in Silicon Valley, there are a lot of resources, and creative energy oozes out of every pore. All of these things are here in a big way, and when linked up to Bangladeshi spirit and entrepreneurship, I think Bangladesh could be the next Bangalore. Why not?

As the world population approaches 9 billion by 2050 and demand for food rises, tackling food security and sustainability is one of the most critical challenges.

What achievements and progress in the area of food sustainability and security have been made in the last decades?

There has been significant progress made in this area since 2009 – both internationally, and from the U.S. government and related foundations. The effort of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs was crucial in what has happened and it has been my privilege to be a volunteer on their task force since early 2008. It established an international effort, called the Global Agricultural Development Initiative, funded by the Gates Foundation. We prepared a proposal of suggested initiatives that could be done by the U.S. and international efforts and presented it to both the McCain and Obama campaigns in time for them to take it to the Republican and Democratic conventions. After the election, Obama’s transition team picked it up and it became the basis for Obama’s initiatives which he began to speak about in 2009, when he suggested a global agricultural initiative at the G20 summit in London. He followed up with more detailed proposal and a pledge at the July 2009 G8 summit in Italy of an additional $3.5 billion over the next three years and that leveraged another $18.5 billion in pledges from other countries and international institutions.

Later that year at the Rome Food Summit, the Rome principles were unanimously endorsed by the 193 countries in attendance and provided the foundation for collective global action on food security. To implement the president’s pledge, then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in May 2010 the Feed the Future program. USAID decided to concentrate its efforts for Feed the Future on five Sub-Saharan Phase II countries and then on the remaining 15 countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, and Tajikistan in Asia, that seemed to be ready to effectively implement the Rome principles to feed their population and their families.

But despite this recent focus, there has been a 2-decade long decline in support for agriculture development aid on the part of the wealthy countries. Of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, the proportion of aid that they have provided to developing countries for agriculture development was in the area of 11 percent in the late 1980s and fell to 6 percent in 2008-2009, which led to digression in some areas of progress. Now, under USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, this has been largely reversed in the last year and a half, and that’s been good news.

Undernourishment and poverty is still rife: India struggles to alleviate hunger, as poor distribution, among other problems, left 18 percent of the population, some 217 million people, undernourished from 2010 to 2012. What do you see as the major obstacles here?

We will have an expected 2.3 billion additional people added to the world’s population by 2050, moving from 7 to over 9 billion. There are more desperately poor people at poverty and below poverty levels in India, concentrated in the Northeast, than all of sub-Saharan Africa combined.

It’s estimated that 33 percent growth in population means that we need to somehow provide agricultural development that helps people’s income increase, and of course, as that income increases, there will be different dietary and caloric intakes, so you then have more food being eaten by those you are trying to help. Of course there are also the unknown factors of weather volatility and even more demands for water. Seventy percent of the world’s fresh water is used today by agriculture. The UN says that already 25 percent of the world’s farm land is degraded, causing fertility and erosion problems. At most there might be 12 percent of the world’s land surface that could be cultivated that is not.

There are 560 million people who survive on less than a dollar and a half a day. Approximately 70-80 percent of the world’s poorest people live in rural areas. They live on small farms, predominately women and children, and they rely on subsistence farming. They are highly vulnerable to disasters, to dislocations, to disease. An average African family uses nearly half of their income to feed themselves, compared with the U.S. average family that spends about 6 percent of their income on food. We have inadequate infrastructure, inadequate farm to market roads, transportation capability, and communication capabilities. There is also an access problem created by trade barriers. It’s said that Africa could feed itself – it doesn’t now – if it simply eliminated the trade barriers among African countries, not to mention from developed countries to Africa. There is also rising commodity prices and food price volatility. In late 2007 and in 2008, food crises in many parts of the world, especially in Southeast and South Asia, stemmed from rising energy costs, weather changes, and panic reactions on the part of governments. That wiped out any fragile savings those families might have had, and delayed economic recovery.

Climate change is another challenge. We don’t know what this will do, but there are estimates that suggest effects from climate change are currently reducing the productivity worldwide of about 5-6 percent and that there are estimated to be production declines of  7 percent in at least a quarter of the countries in the world.

What innovations in food production are being made to promote sustainability in preparation of a growing population and increase demand in food?

Much of Southeast Asia depends on rice as a primary food staple. There is good work, some supported by Feed the Future, to adapt plants and seeds for changing growing conditions. For example, the International Rice Institute and USAID have developed types of rice that are now saline and drought resistant. That’s particularly important for a country like Bangladesh, which not only suffers from occasional typhoons, but also droughts.

A new type of sweet potato has been produced in Rwanda that is high in beta carotene, nutrition dense, and produces large amounts of Vitamin A, which is very important to health and nutrition. An estimated 50 million children are affected by Vitamin A deficiencies every year, so this new sweet potato will be very important for them and pregnant women.

In Mali, 70-80 percent of the food, like much of West Africa, is produced by women farmers. The feminization of farming – it’s been going on there for ages, but now it’s recognized and we are trying to increase women’s resources and access to credit, land tenure, and new technologies. It’s been found, and pretty well proven, that if you put the money into the hands of these women farmers, it will result in better healthcare, food, and education for their children. Through Feed the Future, and based on feedback from Mali’s government, we concentrated efforts on a group of women shallot farmers who were using traditional methods that were time consuming and low in productivity. By introducing new equipment, storage facilities, improved plants and seeds, and techniques to a 2,000-member cooperative that they had formed, they dramatically increased their shallot production, which is putting money in their hands for food, health care, and the education of their children.

We are finding that in some places in Africa, the use of the cell phone is widespread, even down to the small holder farmer, and through her phone, she is able to access credit, access extension services where they exist, get information about crops and markets, and other things that are completely life-changing.

What role can NGOs play in supporting the global fight against poverty and ensuring food sustainability?

This takes us right back to the beginning – the efforts of the Chicago Council would probably not have been possible without the support of the Gates Foundation. Also, while I have emphasized the kind of changes that our government has supported, public funds alone are not going to get us there. It’s going to take a leveraged private sector and complementary actions by NGOs in order to broaden this public effort. Compared to the resources that the public sector can put into this, even if it’s going to be 18.5 billion or 21.5 billion every three years, which is hopeful thinking I’m afraid, the private sector can put in even more if they are motivated and convinced that the risks are such that they can make a profit. We can help the private sector focus on how they can make money by helping a network of small holders with new seeds, technology, and plants. In many cases, the most effective agents to take the new resources and technologies and get it applied by subsistence farmers and others is an NGO that has the trust and confidence in the people on the ground to accomplish it.

The inauguration ceremony of South Korea’s new president, Park Geun-hye, was held on February 25 with mixed feelings among Koreans about her election. She is the daughter of the controversial former president, Park Chung Hee, who is seen as the man who motivated Korea’s economic development miracle, but also criticized as a harsh dictator who ruled the country for 18 years. She is the country’s first female president, but is also from a conservative party in a country that ranks lowest in The Economist‘s latest Global Ceiling index, which compares 26 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in terms of the working environment for women.

Korea inaugurated its new president, Park Geun-hye, on Feb. 25 with mixed feelings among Koreans about her election. Photo/SBS

The more telling part is that she was elected with 15,773,128 votes, which is 51.6 percent of eligible voters. This was the first time that a South Korean president got more than half of the votes since Korea reintroduced direct popular voting in 1987. The voter turnout was the highest since 1997 at 75.8 percent. SBS (Seoul Broadcasting System), where I work as a reporter and one of the three major broadcasting networks in Korea and the first and largest private broadcasting station, played an influential role in this election’s high turnout and voter engagement. They did this by using a creative outreach campaign.

Since 1987, especially among Korea’s young adults and more educated population, interest in voting has consistently waned as the public expressed increasing disappointment in politics and politicians who are seen as always fighting among themselves and not putting the interest of the people first.

To help raise voter turnout, SBS decided to try something new in the lead up to the general elections for the National Assembly in May and the subsequent presidential election in December. Before this, election coverage in Korea was mostly about delivering exit polls and ballot counts.

Starting with the general election, SBS launched an outreach campaign that asked people to take a picture of themselves in front of the polling station after they voted and send it to the broadcasting station. When we received the pictures, we put them on the lower right side of the TV screen, so everyone could see who had voted. The response was enthusiastic and spread quickly among voters, who liked having their pictures on TV. They told their family members and friends about it, and more and more people went to vote. What was striking was that the majority of participants were young people, many of whom were voting for the first time.

SBS launched an outreach campaign that asked people to take a picture of themselves in front of the polling station after they voted and send it to SBS, which then featured them on screen during election coverage. Photo/SBS

For the presidential election, SBS went a step further. We not only put pictures of the voters on the screen but also had people tell us beforehand what time they intended to vote. Then SBS sent them stickers that they could put on their car to remind them of the time and to inspire others to vote. We also made a “get out the vote” song with famous singer and actor Kim Chang-wan, who is a radio DJ at SBS. It was then made into a music video with webtoons.

On election day, SBS received 65,000 pictures of people voting, mostly younger voters. This also encouraged many older people, who were nervous that a strong turnout among young people might sway the vote, to also go out and vote, which helped raise the voting rate even more.

SBS also focused on making the ballot-counting coverage on live TV more engaging. We made computer graphics incorporating scenes of movies and TV shows using scenes from the popular the Korean movie, “Friend,” in which the main characters are running. It was designed so that it looked like the main characters were the candidates, putting the candidate with the highest vote in front. SBS also used sports like fencing to show how the candidates were performing in different districts. Mark MacKinnon, a correspondent for Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper tweeted that “after watching how South Korean TV covers an election, I’ll never watch CNN again” and CNN correspondent Paula Hancocks responded, “Don’t worry, I’m taking notes!”

For the first time since 1987, the voting rate actually rose instead of dropped. The biggest difference compared to the 2007 presidential election was the massive voting among people in the age group of 20-30. As in 2007, people in their 50s and 60s still voted the most, 82 percent and 80.9 percent respectively, which is 5 percent higher than before, but the rate for voters in their early 20s jumped from 51.1 percent in 2007 to 71.1 percent, and those in their late 20s jumped from 42.9 percent to 65.7 percent. The voting rate of those in their early 30s was 67.7 percent which was 16.4 percent higher than four years ago, and that of those in their late 30s was 72.3 percent which was 13.8 percent higher than before.

On February 27, the government awarded SBS President Woo Wan Gil a medal for the network’s contribution to the nation. We were proud of ourselves as a media company not just because of the medal, but because we engaged Koreans to follow the elections and go to vote, which is the most basic democratic responsibility. We realized that even when people tend to ignore the news, if you do it right, they will watch. And, even in this day and age, the media can play a critical role in improving society.

Chong-ae Lee, a current Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, is a senior reporter on the Future and Vision Desk for SBS in Korea, where she has worked since 1995. At Harvard, she is studying journalism related to complex trauma, focusing on people who have experienced the effects of periods of colonialism, war and military-influenced dictatorial administrations followed by rapid economic growth. Her fellowship is under the auspices of The Asia Foundation, and administered by the Foundation’s Asian American Exchange unit. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the individual author and not those of The Asia Foundation.