Chap Goh Mei, the annual Lantern Festival of the Chinese-Indonesian community, which was banned under the Suharto regime. (Photo: Rudolf Klavert / The Asia Foundation)
One of the world’s most diverse countries, with thousands of ethnic groups and multiple state-sanctioned religions, Indonesia’s path to democracy since the end of the authoritarian Suharto regime in 1998 has held out the promise of fundamental rights for all citizens. Yet key tenets of democracy—freedom of expression, association, and political participation—have not always protected the rights of disfavored minorities, and instead have been exploited by conservative groups to dictate social values and to decree what is acceptable in the religious, political, and private spheres.
The government of Indonesia and civil society actors concerned with religious freedom have grown increasingly alarmed by the spread of radical religious views that promote discrimination against groups and individuals considered “unacceptable,” including both followers of minority religions and nonconformists of accepted faiths. Steadily growing reports of violence against minority religions have tracked the gradual spread of these radical ideas, dramatically escalating levels of religious conflict across the country.
Tolerance and intolerance in Indonesia
Two national laws allow discrimination against minority religions: the Blasphemy Law of 1965 and the Religious Harmony Regulation, adopted under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2006. The latter strengthened the Blasphemy Law and added weight to many of its oppressive regulations. The SETARA Institute for Democracy and Peace, an Indonesian nonprofit, has found that from 2007 to 2022 there were 573 episodes of religious intolerance directed towards places of worship, from refusal of permission to worship and refusal to grant permits for places of worship, to intimidation of minority believers and other forms of intolerance.
New laws and regulations by themselves cannot effectively address this problem of radicalization and intolerance. What is needed, rather, is the reinforcement of social values and practices that are known to reduce intolerance, while working with communities and various government agencies and officials to create a supportive environment for minorities.
The rise of identity politics
In late 2016 and early 2017, many observers were shocked to see that a conservative strain of “muscular” Islam that had largely been confined to the fringes was beginning to dominate public debate. Several studies found that these radical views were being propagated through schools, universities, and mosques in addition to online and social media.
Indonesian elections have witnessed a corresponding rise of religious identity politics. Without strong support from the political grassroots, politicians are instead invoking religious allegiances, exploiting radical and exclusionary religious views as they work with conservative groups. This, in turn, is affecting the way different communities relate to each other.
To identify with a group is part of human nature. Once people connect with a group, their identities can become powerfully bound to it. When such a group feels threatened, they can become deeply defensive, and when the unity of an identity group is based on the existence of a perceived enemy, identity politics can create deep and even violent social polarization. By tapping into this powerful element of human nature, the discourse of religious intolerance threatens democracy with a zero-sum logic of us-versus-them. The health of Indonesia’s hard-won democracy requires an antidote to the rising fever of religion-fueled identity politics. Defusing the antagonism between religious identity groups is the only way to deal with Indonesia’s deepening polarization and religious division.
Fostering interfaith dialogue: the Pelita Padang story
In the city of Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, which the Setara Institute ranked third from the bottom in tolerance out of 94 Indonesian cities in 2022, two young women, Angelique Maria Cuaca and Silmi Novita, set out to bridge the chasm between young people from different religious backgrounds. They created an interfaith youth organization called Pelita Padang, in 2019, to promote dialogue across religious communities.
A meeting of PELITA Padang. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
Pelita Padang is a group of young people with an aspiration to break free from the entanglements of past religious conflicts. It was born from the anxiety they felt over the increasing problem of intolerance in Indonesia, especially in West Sumatra. Informal meetings are held regularly and include speakers to discuss various topics such as Indonesians’ constitutional right to worship and the root causes of religious conflict and cultural clashes.
With support from The Asia Foundation, Pelita Padang often holds interfaith dialogues, film discussions, and writing competitions, mainly focusing on religious diversity. It also works actively on issues with other organizations. When Covid-19 hit, Pelita Padang collaborated with one of the oldest Chinese associations in Padang to organize a mass vaccination event. Together with a local community group, they also supported Chap Goh Mei, the annual Lantern Festival of the Chinese-Indonesian community, which was banned under the Suharto “New Order” regime.
PELITA Padang activists posing with The Asia Foundation’s Democracy and Governance team after a workshop on advocacy for freedom of religion and belief. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
Community support and participation can help people heal from the trauma of discrimination. Pelita Padang believes intergroup communication can be achieved in these smaller dialogues where people can set aside biases and embrace differences with compassion and understanding on a more personal level.
Pelita Padang aims to increase youth awareness and participation in freedom of religion and belief issues in West Sumatra. We hope active youth participation can help build a tolerant community more appreciative of differences in faith and culture.
— Angelique Maria Cuaca of Pelita Padang
The idea is to create friendships across faiths to break down barriers and stigma. This will ultimately lead to tolerance and inclusivity. Religious tolerance is the underlying theme of Indonesian democracy, and a more tolerant future for the world’s third-largest democracy depends on its ability to build inclusive communities.
A. Jamet Hamidi is a program officer in The Asia Foundation’s Democracy and Governance program in Indonesia. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation.
by Anuja Patel and Aryasatyani Sintadewi | October 11, 2023 | Blog | 1 comment
The cover of Aduh! (“Oh No!”), by Urfa Qurrota Ainy, illustrated by Hanny Juwita, from the Mighty Girl series developed in The Asia Foundation’s BookLab
How we educate our children and the materials we use to do it play a powerful role in our societies. In Indonesia, for instance, girls have now achieved numerical parity with boys in secondary education, but a closer look at the data shows that Indonesian girls still do not pursue their post-secondary education as far as boys. When they drop out early, their reasons for doing so often reflect gender norms, such as early marriage for girls or their responsibility to provide unpaid care, that are commonly reinforced in textbooks and other educational materials. This reality shows us that striving for parity of participation in the schools is not enough. We also need to focus on how the gender norms that we convey in our schools and educational materials may either help or hinder people of all genders in realizing their full potential.
Addressing this issue is a matter of fundamental human rights, but it also has an impact on sustainable development. Countless research studies have shown that greater educational attainment for women is associated with smaller families, higher earnings, and even lower carbon emissions. Educating a girl does not just benefit her; it has resounding, multiplying effects throughout her community, because women raising families tend to pass along their values and beliefs, and women are more likely to invest the higher earnings that come with higher education in their families and communities.
Teaching children early in a way that reinforces positive values, and adopting strategies to fulfill those values, can lead to greater retention of girls in school and high-paying jobs, and ultimately to a society that is more just, peaceful, and equitable. Storytelling that represents the diverse experiences and opportunities of different people is a powerful way to communicate these values. Representation matters, and storytelling can be a powerful way to achieve this representation. Engaging girls and women in the storytelling process can ensure that their ideas are expressed, and their voices are heard.
Books as Bridges
In Indonesia, The Asia Foundation’s Books as Bridges project is working to amplify the voices, leadership, and creativity of adolescent girls and female authors and illustrators.
A Books as Bridges resilience and self-awareness workshop for adolescent girls in 2023. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
This year, the Foundation worked with local youth-empowerment organizations to conduct resilience and self-awareness training for adolescent girls throughout Indonesia. Young women who were trained as mentors conducted the workshops, and girls reported afterwards that they felt more confident acting as leaders. One said her male family members even started helping with household chores after she explained what she’d learned.
In addition, we conducted a BookLab to recruit and train aspiring female writers and illustrators to produce children’s storybooks on STEM topics, which were then published on The Asia Foundation’s free Let’s Read platform, where they can be accessed by readers worldwide. To extend the reach of the work, the books were announced on social media with local partner organizations.
The Books as Bridges illustrators’ workshop. (Photo: Aryasatyani Sintadewi / The Asia Foundation)
On the island of Java, we worked with another group of girls to publish an illustrated series called Mighty Girls that has already accumulated over 1.2 million downloads from the Let’s Read website. The Mighty Girls are scientists, students, and space explorers, helping to open new futures for girls outside of traditional paths.
Left: Roti Harapan (“I Have to Find a Way”), by Jessica Valentina, illustrated by Stephanie Susilo. Right: Menari Bersama Singa Merah (“The Red Lion Dancer”), by Jessica Valentina, illustrated by Alima Nufus.
This women-led approach to authorship and outreach is helping a growing audience of girls and women—and boys and men—to question and transform traditional gender norms: Perhaps women can be scientists. Perhaps fathers can be caregivers. When you see it, you can believe it and be it.
This is especially true when it comes to the representation of women and girls in STEM. The fact that only 20 percent of STEM jobs in Asia and the Pacific are currently held by women underscores the need to model these roles and opportunities early. Educational materials and institutions can be pathways to a reimagined vision of what girls can do, be, and become.
Books as Bridges 2023 STEM-themed BookLab. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
On October 11, the world observed the International Day of the Girl. Let’s continue to reinforce positive gender roles by supporting girls’ leadership and storytelling. And let’s encourage boys to do this too, both as allies and as beneficiaries of a gender-equal world.
Anuja Patel is a program officer in The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality program, and Aryasatyani Sintadewi is a Books for Asia officer in The Asia Foundation’s Indonesia office. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not those of The Asia Foundation.
by John Rieger and Tracie Yang | September 27, 2023 | Blog | 2 comments
The ger, also known as a yurt, is the traditional dwelling of Mongolia’s nomadic herders. (Photo: Dina Julayeva / Shutterstock)
Mongolia may be experiencing a more radical transformation of its traditional way of life than any other place in Asia, says Badruun Gardi. He’s the founder of Gerhub, a Mongolian NGO working on the most pressing issues in Mongolia’s rapidly growing capital city.
Thirty percent of Mongolians are still nomadic herders, living in traditional gers, or yurts, on the vast, empty steppes that have been their home for millennia. But today those yurts sport solar panels and satellite dishes, windows to a different Mongolia that is inexorably drawing people to the city. Nearly half of Mongolia’s population now lives in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, a majority in the sprawling settlements of yurts and small dwellings known as the ger areas, where new arrivals contend with a host of urban problems.
Gardi joins us today from Ulaanbaatar. He is a graduate of Stanford University and has just finished a year-long Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard School of Design, which brought together practitioners from around the globe who are addressing societal challenges in the built and natural environment. Gardi is also a creative executive at Salmira Productions, a media finance and production company, and a term trustee of The Asia Foundation.
In this week’s conversation, Gardi calls Mongolia “the last nomadic state,” and reflects on the stresses of development and the lessons to be learned from this still-vibrant nomadic population as we all confront the growing prospect of worldwide climate disruption.
by Naruemol Tuenpakdee and Micheline Rama | September 27, 2023 | Blog
(Photo: The Asia Foundation)
A wave of digital technologies has revolutionized the Asia-Pacific region, transforming societies, economies, and the fabric of life. This digital wave has swept almost the entire region, from its bustling metropolises to its remote corners and distant islands, bringing unprecedented opportunities for prosperity, connectivity, and access to information while also presenting daunting challenges to peace and security, human rights, democracy, and development.
At the center of this technological revolution is an intricate conversation between digital technologies and digital rights—fundamental human rights, extended into the digital sphere—including the core principles of privacy and data protection, freedom of expression, access to information, and the freedom to assemble and associate online. The question at the heart of this conversation is this: how can we harness the boundless potential of technology to advance flourishing societies while navigating and neutralizing its inherent drawbacks?
Last May, in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the Digital Rights Asia-Pacific 2023 Assembly (DRAPAC23) brought together a broad array of experts for an exchange of views that showcased both optimistic “tech-solutionist” and pessimistic “tech-problematizing” perspectives. Their views shed light on technology’s promises and pitfalls, its profound impact on politics and society, and the myriad realities of a digital realm where the fortunate can benefit from cutting-edge tech while the poor and marginalized struggle for basic digital access and are often hurt by online activities.
A session by the Resiliency Initiative, “Enabling CSOs to Tackle Intolerance and Promote Peace through Social Media,” at DRAPAC23. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
A new frontier of manipulation and repression
In many Asia-Pacific nations, online spaces have become a new frontier of human rights violations, violence, and conflict, where political actors often adopt digital repression as a core political strategy.
Internet censorship and surveillance have become common, stifling freedom of expression as social media platforms become breeding grounds for manipulation. Governments and nonstate actors employ social media influencers as “cyber troops” to shape public opinion on controversial issues, at times weaponizing internet access for control and as a shield for impunity. Tactically deployed internet shutdowns facilitate ongoing human rights violations by limiting communications and access to vital information, education, and social support networks.
The Asia-Pacific region is also experiencing the spread of online disinformation, which is polarizing politics and fraying the social fabric. During elections and crises, crafted narratives and rumors are used to tarnish opponents, erode trust in institutions, and amplify social tensions by manipulating long-standing stereotypes and biases against specific groups, particularly ethnic and religious minorities.
Amidst these concerning developments, social media algorithms have intensified social polarization. Social media platforms employ algorithms that curate content to maximize user engagement (creating “virality”). This often turns users’ news feeds into echo chambers, where they are presented with content that reinforces their existing beliefs and biases and reduces their exposure to alternative voices.
The combination of digital repression, disinformation, and algorithmic curation creates a potent brew that threatens human rights, both offline and online. The repercussions are far-reaching, challenging the essence of freedom of expression, access to information, and the right to participate in democratic discourse.
A struggle for inclusion: connecting the unconnected
In theory, digital rights are not a luxury reserved for tech-savvy urban dwellers; yet, a digital divide emerges in practice, a digital literacy gap that affects people’s ability to navigate online platforms, access digital services, and exercise their rights.
The digital divide leaves marginalized populations unconnected, entrenching systemic inequalities. With limited access to the internet and information technology, and sometimes facing language barriers, “unconnected” individuals struggle to engage in civic activities or to access government services and economic opportunities such as online job markets, education, and e-commerce.
Gender inequality is another aspect of the digital divide. Women and girls in many areas face cultural norms and economic constraints that prevent them from accessing digital resources and opportunities, hindering their participation in the economy and the community.
Digital activism and civic engagement
The leading role of civil society in protecting digital rights and fostering an inclusive digital environment in the Asia-Pacific region was clearly on display at DRAPAC23:
Civic leaders and campaigners are raising awareness of digital threats, including censorship and surveillance, through notable projects such as Advox’s Unfreedom Monitor and the Digital Defenders Partnership’s Digital Protection Accompaniment program. Focusing on reporting, advocacy, and mobilization, such initiatives are exposing the effects of repressive tactics and empowering human rights defenders with information and digital security training.
Initiatives like Common Room’s Digital Mapping Workshop and the Google–Asia Foundation collaboration Go Digital ASEAN are trying to bridge the digital divide by providing connectivity and reducing inequalities through community-based internet infrastructure and digital literacy programs.
Safeguarding digital rights, particularly for journalists working under authoritarian regimes, remains a significant concern. Media organizations such as Free Press Unlimited and Exile Hub share insights, best practices, and digital security strategies. They stand as strong advocates for protecting journalists’ rights and safety and upholding online freedom of expression.
Addressing online gender-based violence and the limited internet access experienced by women in many countries, local NGOs such as Malaysia’s EMPOWER and the Philippines’ Foundation for Media Alternatives advocate policy changes that prioritize women’s needs.
Tech-savvy, youth-led organizations such as Hashtag Generation in Sri Lanka and Save Youth in Bangladesh are combating online hate speech and disinformation by promoting digital activism through social media campaigns and community engagement.
Paving the way forward
The Asia-Pacific region has experienced rapid development driven by industrialization, demographic dividends, and improvements in education and infrastructure. Today, digital technologies have become an integral part of the region’s development trajectory.
The surge in online activity presents both opportunities and challenges, requiring the collective effort of stakeholders to secure a future where human rights can thrive. Governments must promote digital inclusion and protect digital rights by developing infrastructure, digital literacy programs, and legislation that addresses malicious or illegal content. Civil society organizations and technology innovators must work to foster safe, inclusive, and equitable digital ecosystems.
Phet Sayo, executive director of Engage Media, believes that civil society can champion the mass adoption of digital technology while still remaining vigilant in protecting online human rights. “We don’t have to trade positive benefits for negative impacts,” Sayo told the DRAPAC23 audience, but “there’s a great deal of work for us to do.”
DRAPAC23 was an impressive effort to expand the digital rights movement in the region. It fostered face-to-face connections and engaged young advocates, allowing diverse actors to exchange knowledge, collaborate, and forge a shared vision of a rights-respecting digital future.
Naruemol Tuenpakdee is a regional program officer in The Asia Foundation’s Conflict and Fragility program, and Micheline Rama is a social behavior change consultant for The Asia Foundation’s Law and Human Rights program. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not those of The Asia Foundation.
by Dinusha Wickremesekera | September 27, 2023 | Blog
The bookshelves of almost 10,000 schools, universities, and technical colleges, government offices, civic organizations, and public libraries in Sri Lanka hold books bearing the seal “Gift of The Asia Foundation.” From the capital city of Colombo to the smallest villages in the remote countryside, it is common to hear, “I read books from The Asia Foundation,” “I got specialized publications from The Asia Foundation,” and, especially, “is that nice gentleman from the books program still there?”
Anton Nallathamby at work with the Asia Foundation seal. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
It is safe to say that these books, donated by the Foundation’s Books for Asia program, have had a profound impact on reading in many parts of Asia. In Sri Lanka, Books for Asia commenced in what was then Ceylon in 1957 and continued until the Foundation temporarily closed its office in 1970. When the office reopened, in 1980, Books for Asia returned at the invitation of the government.
Relying at first on donations from American booksellers and publishers, Books for Asia soon developed partnerships with the Sri Lankan private sector. Commercial banks, private businesses, alumni associations, and social service clubs have donated funds to support the acquisition, shipment, and distribution of more than 100,000 books for Sri Lanka each year—almost 5 million in 42 years.
Books for Asia has not only filled the shelves of libraries with high quality books; it has also supported English-language instruction, helped to train librarians, and assisted in the publication of new works in Sinhala and Tamil. Books for Asia has also extended its Sri Lanka programs across the Indian Ocean to the Maldives, providing much-needed books for children, students, and professionals and even bringing Maldivian librarians to Sri Lanka for training.
Memories of Books for Asia in Sri Lanka, 5 million books later. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
Anton Nallathamby
This story of Books for Asia in Sri Lanka is inextricably tied to one man, Anton Nallathamby. His retirement this year marks both an end and a beginning: the end of distributing physical books, and a new commitment to digital content.
When the Foundation reopened in Sri Lanka in 1980, our country representative, Frank Dines, was looking for a person to lead the distribution of the first shipment of 5,000 books. He gave the position to an energetic young librarian who would eventually become one of the Foundation’s longest-serving employees and whose passion and commitment—through insurrection, civil war, tsunami, pandemic, and economic crisis—are reflected in the millions of books that bear the Foundation’s seal.
That young man, Anton Nallathamby, had joined the Sri Lanka Library Association (SLLA) just out of school. He went on to become a chartered librarian and a member of the SLLA Council. He was working at the Institute of Cost Management Accountants (today the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) when he was offered the job.
At that time the Foundation had just six employees in Sri Lanka, and Books for Asia was a central part of the Foundation’s programs. Sri Lanka had just liberalized its economy, and there was a growing demand for English-language proficiency. Previous policies had prioritized the vernacular languages, and there were few teachers of English and limited books and teaching materials, particularly outside of Colombo and other main towns.
Children’s books in English, Sinhala, and Tamil created by Books for Asia. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
From American publishers to Sri Lankan readers
When Mr. Nallathamby distributed that first shipment of 5,000 books in 1981, he recorded the inventory by hand. In just this year of 2023, over 200,000 books have been distributed in Sri Lanka, and a computerized database tracked each and every one. Mr. Nallathamby has worked with over 95 percent of the libraries in Sri Lanka, ensuring that each receives the books that they need. What hasn’t changed is the recognizable seal, bearing the name of The Asia Foundation and the promise that the books are not for sale.
Looking back, Mr. Nallathamby is proudest of the network of academics, professionals, and librarians that this program helped to establish and nourish, not just in Sri Lanka but in the Maldives as well. He also recalls with pride the day in 1984 when the president of Sri Lanka, J. R. Jayawardena, visited the Foundation with his wife. They came to thank the Foundation for the special collection of books on international relations donated to the Presidental Secretariat library, and they took the opportunity to learn more about the Foundation’s work.
Distributing over 100,000 books a year has been a major exercise in logistics, often made more complex by challenging national circumstances. During the civil war, the Peace Secretariat became a key logistical partner for deliveries to libraries in the embattled North and East. During the pandemic and the economic crisis that followed, the postal service, private couriers, and local transport networks were enlisted to make deliveries to local libraries. One Books for Asia team member who first joined as a computer specialist developed such a fascination with these constantly changing logistical puzzles that he set off to study logistics overseas!
Since 2012, Books for Asia has augmented its shipments of books from the United States with books in local languages. More recently, the Foundation has begun to work with local writers, illustrators, and publishers to commission new, locally written children’s books in Sinhala and Tamil.
Now, the Books for Asia program is transitioning, winding down shipments of hard copy books. The undistributed inventory of books has shrunk to zero, a number unseen since 1980, and the bookshelves are empty. But the end of this durable and successful program is also a new beginning. While Books for Asia will no longer be distributing physical books, the program is going all in, in the digital realm. There, other challenges await, including the digital divide and the uneven access to digital information in Sri Lanka.
Forty-two years after the restart of Books for Asia in Sri Lanka, the shelves are finally empty. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
Mr. Nallathamby will be retiring after 42 years as one of the best-known faces of the Foundation in Sri Lanka. He has been a respected colleague, a tireless team member, a mentor, and a friend, who has left an indelible mark on libraries and readers throughout the country.
As The Asia Foundation moves forward with its new digital platform, LetsReadAsia.org, the legacy of Books for Asia and its dedicated staff, led by Anton Nallathamby, will provide the bedrock on which new relationships will be forged, and the culture of reading will continue to flourish in Sri Lanka.
Dinusha Wickremesekera is a justice and gender consultant for The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka. She can be reached at [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation. Next year, in 2024, The Asia Foundation marks 70 years of working on the ground in Asia and the Pacific.
Indonesian born and raised, with degrees from Padjaran University and the University of London, Satriyo joined the Foundation as a program officer in 1998 and later served as director of Gender and Women’s Participation and director of Environmental Governance programs. An expert in local governance, decentralization, legislative development, and human rights, she also expanded the Foundation’s interethnic and interfaith dialogue programs in Indonesia. She’s proud of the Foundation’s efforts to improve the public’s digital literacy, and she predicts that the 2024 elections will be a test of Indonesia’s democratic resilience.
In addition to her 25 years as a development practitioner, Satriyo notched some diplomatic experience when her husband served as ambassador to the UK. In this week’s conversation with John and Tracie, she discusses diversity, democracy, and development on the vast and heterogeneous Indonesian archipelago, and she shares a few bemused reflections on her adventure as an ambassador’s “trailing spouse.”
Provincial Map of Indonesia. (Graphic: Bennylin, own work, derived from Indonesia blank map colored.svg / CC BY-SA 4.0)
by Elizabeth Silva and Ankita Panda | September 13, 2023 | Blog
“Unlocking Innovations in the Care Economy,” hosted by The Asia Foundation and USAID. (Photo: U.S. Department of State)
Nearly five years after the adoption of the La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth at the APEC Women and the Economy Forum held in Chile in 2019, the United States hosted the 2023 APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Seattle, Washington, last month. One theme that emerged from the forum was that high-quality, accessible care that provides decent jobs for care workers is necessary to achieve APEC’s commitment to foster the full and equal participation of women in the economy. The Asia Foundation featured prominently in two discussions that built on our recent work on the care economy.
Unlocking Innovations in the Care Economy
“Innovations in Care to Unlock Opportunity for Women in the Economy,” hosted by the Foundation and USAID, emphasized that care work is more than just a burden obstructing women’s economic advancement or an obstacle to inclusive economic growth: the care economy also holds tremendous potential for innovation and entrepreneurship. Panelists representing government and multilateral agencies, corporate philanthropy, and business start-ups highlighted investment opportunities for addressing critical gaps in care services in APEC economies.
For example, venture capital funds can catalyze business investment in caregiving sectors. Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company that was represented by Haven Ley, managing director of program strategy, incubated a first-of-its-kind venture fund called Magnify Ventures. The fund launched in 2021 and raised over US$50 million for early-stage companies working in the care economy.
Digital technology, like the online platform and mobile app used by LoveCare, is also expanding the reach of caregiving services. LoveCare uses its platform to match families with appropriate caregivers across Indonesia. Founder Susan Nio emphasized the need for more investment in care service start-ups like LoveCare.
Visa Foundation’s Payal Pathak, speaking of their new Care Accelerator initiative, reiterated the importance of private investment in addressing gaps in care services. Philanthropic initiatives such as the Care Accelerator are designed to reduce investment risks and accelerate the flow of funds towards the care economy.
All panelists agreed that robust data is an essential foundation for expanding investment in care services and infrastructure. The International Labour Organization’s Care Policy Investment Simulator, for example, is an online policy-modeling tool for governments to calculate the required investment in care services and estimate the impacts on employment and gender equality. Panelist Chidi King of the ILO added that both more and more-varied data were still needed. In particular, governments need to make care metrics a regular part of their national statistics and data collection activities.
While discussing these opportunities for expanding promising models of care work, the panel also acknowledged the importance of investing in policies that ensure fair working conditions for care workers. Care workers are among the most vulnerable and under-protected workers in the world. When they work informally or through independent contracting arrangements, which are common in digital economy labor markets, they are additionally vulnerable because they lack the social protections of formal employees.
“We cannot do this work alone,” said Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, U.S. ambassador at large for global women’s affairs. (Photo: U.S. Department of State)
Addressing the challenges while taking advantage of the opportunities in the care economy will require collaboration. “We cannot do this work alone,” said Dr. Geeta Rao Gupta, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, as she opened the session. Amb. Rao Gupta also highlighted the need for a global roadmap for action to “help guide all stakeholders to advance care infrastructure, protect and support care workers, and develop an equitable, resilient, robust care economy.”
Momentum for such a global roadmap is growing. In addition to prioritizing public financing for care infrastructure and services, the roadmap can help to establish a care fund, a flexible pooled fund, to test and expand promising care delivery models. The roadmap will also help to prioritize research and data collection to fill gaps in the evidence on care.
Addressing Unpaid Care and Care Workers
The Asia Foundation also contributed to a panel on unpaid care and working conditions for paid care workers. The panel, organized by the U.S. Department of Labor, EMD Serono, and CMI Consulting, also featured Nancy Shukri, Malaysia’s minister of women, family, and community development; Toni Gingerelli, associate director of the National Alliance for Caregiving; and Molly McCoy, associate deputy undersecretary of international affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Recent initiatives by the Foundation—most notably the Bali Care Economy Dialogue and the pre-conference on the care economy at Women Deliver—have convened a diverse community of care economy experts and activists. Our January white paper, which presented the latest data on care in the Asia-Pacific, helped establish a common set of facts and principles. There is now general agreement on the need for more blended financing for care, more robust and disaggregated data, and community-led action to translate existing insights into concrete policymaking and care delivery.
Another theme that ran through the APEC Women and the Economy Forum was the consensus for a global roadmap for the care economy, a set of strategic proposals that we can take to future G20s, G7s, and APECs. It is time for more than discussion.
To learn more about Foundation’s work on building resilient care economies, please click here.
Special thanks to the cohost and speakers from the following organizations: the U.S. State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, USAID, The International Labour Organization, Pivotal Ventures, Visa Foundation, LoveCare, and INMUJERES.
Thank you to Lindsey Jones-Renaud for her valuable contributions to this essay.
Elizabeth Silva is associate director, and Ankita Panda is senior program officer, for The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality program. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not those of The Asia Foundation.
The author, Temuulen Enkhbat, during the Bay Area study tour. (Photo: LeadNext / The Asia Foundation)
As a young urban planner from Mongolia, I had the great privilege to receive a 2023 LeadNext fellowship. Twenty young people, ages 18 to 25, half from Asia and the Pacific and half from the United States, we worked and learned together online for six months, and now we’ve just met face to face in San Francisco. The idea is lofty: to help each other join the next generation of transformational leaders. Yes, it was amazing, and yes, it was transformative, not just for my leadership abilities, but for the whole way I look at the world.
Let me tell you why.
My LeadNext fellowship was both typical and uniquely my own. I am a young woman, 22 years old, newly embarked on a career that I hope will create solutions to the development challenges facing my nation of Mongolia—rapid urbanization, inadequate infrastructure, and a crying need for green space in the burgeoning capital, Ulaanbaatar.
That part of the story is my own individual journey. But when all 20 of us converged on San Francisco for the Global Leaders’ Summit in July, we discovered how much we had in common as aspiring change-makers, passionate in our commitments but still young in experience, and how much we could learn from each other. I’d like to offer here a few impressions of the remarkable young people who shared this experience with me and whom I now call my friends.
LeadNext 2023 Fellows during the Monterey retreat. (Photo: LeadNext / The Asia Foundation)
Navigating insecurities and embracing impact
Melinda Sharlini is a gender-justice advocate in Malaysia and an inspiring model of persistence and hard work. We are both ambitious young women who have sometimes felt overwhelmed by the scale of our own goals, and we soon found we shared something else that is not uncommon among young people with a passion for change: the recurrent feelings of self-doubt known as “imposter syndrome.”
In several conversations with the fellows, I realized how often we avoid discussing the insecurities that young people are prey to in a world eager judge or dismiss them. I myself have trudged through the informal settlements of Ulaanbaatar in the dead of winter pursuing what seemed like a hopeless dream, to create green space in places that don’t even have running water or electricity.
The LeadNext Global Leaders’ Summit was more than a workshop on leadership skills; it gave us a safe place to express feelings like these, to gather strength to hold onto our dreams and turn them into realities, where we could talk and laugh about both our triumphs and our doubts with peers who understood us. Despite our different life stories, we found that we shared the same passion, and the same struggles, to make the world a little better.
LeadNext 2023 Fellows during the Bay Area study tour. (Photo: LeadNext / The Asia Foundation)
Unveiling histories and shaping identity
On the second day of the Summit, we visited the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, where Program Director Gary Mukai told us how his own family history as a Japanese-American had shaped his views of global citizenship. “Getting back to your roots, understanding where you came from, makes an individual more culturally sensitive,” he said.
Another person who helped me to appreciate the importance of cultural differences and personal identity was Lorena James. A LeadNext fellow of African-American heritage from Buffalo, New York, her commitment to climate-change activism reminded me of the imperative to keep moving forward, step by step, even if the steps are small. Coming from Mongolia, a developing country with a largely homogeneous population, I was raised in an environment where I was always part of the cultural majority. The lessons in cultural and racial dynamics conveyed in the life stories of Lorena and the rest of the fellows were an eye-opening experience.
Navigating global challenges as youth leaders
These new friendships and conversations awakened my empathy and my activism, but what was the next step? How could I—how can we—channel this activist energy to make an impact as young people? What can we really hope to contribute to a better future? One member of our cohort, Fellow Mohammad Tanvirul Hasan, a youth advocate from Bangladesh and now my very first friend from that country, spoke eloquently in the course of several intense conversations about the importance of young people’s engagement with social issues. He spoke of staying curious about how social systems work, the importance of thinking critically about the roots of social problems, and taking action as a citizen to pursue change.
(Photo: LeadNext / The Asia Foundation)
There are different notions of leadership. There is the formal leadership defined by public office or institutional authority. But there is another form of leadership that I saw on vivid display among my LeadNext fellows, one that draws on empathy, vision, and the compelling power of storytelling to conjure a better future. My LeadNext fellowship, the 19 other fellows, and everyone I met on this journey have changed the way I see myself, my country, and my place in the world as a future leader. It was a moment for me of rejuvenation and reflection, aptly characterized by leadership trainer Britt Yamamoto at our leadership retreat: “Practicing reflection is not about stopping; it is…about taking a pause to contemplate your life events to take the next right action.”
Temuulen Enkhbat, a 2023 LeadNext fellow, is the research and development lead at GerHub and vice-curator of the Global Shapers Community’s Ulaanbaatar Hub, which organizes youth leadership programs and promotes the development of green spaces. She can be reached at [email protected] and on LinkedIn The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation.
LeadNext seeks out promising young leaders, ages 18 to 25, from throughout Asia, the Pacific, and the United States. The six-month program, conducted online and in person, includes intensive leadership training, monthly masterclasses with global experts, and professional mentorships based on each fellow’s specific interests. The culmination of the program is a seven-day leadership retreat, the Global Leaders’ Summit, held in the San Francisco Bay Area. More information about LeadNextand how to apply for 2024.
by Ankita Panda, Jane Sloane, and Britt Robinson | August 30, 2023 | Blog
Crises like the Covid-19 pandemic have demonstrated the need for a more equitable and resilient care economy. (Photo: Akihito Yokoyama / Alamy)
The Asia Pacific region is the most unequal in the world when it comes to unpaid care, where women perform four times more unpaid care work than men. Recent crises like the Covid-19 pandemic have exposed the fragility, the inadequacy, and the injustice of this reality and brought a growing recognition of the urgent need for strategic action to create an equitable and resilient care economy.
Last November, The Asia Foundation and its partners convened the Bali Care Economy Dialogue on the eve of the G20 in Indonesia to highlight the issue of care with G20 countries and to propose critical investments and necessary actions. To ground the discussion, the Foundation prepared a white paper, Toward a Resilient Care Ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific. Emerging from the dialogue was a regional roadmap for action on the care economy, co-created by the participants. Since then, The Asia Foundation has convened or participated in national-level dialogues in several countries in Asia and the Pacific to translate regional advocacy into national-level action. Read more about our work here.
After the success of the Bali initiative, the global women’s rights organization Women Deliver invited The Asia Foundation and its partners to organize a pre-conference on the care economy at Women Deliver 2023 in Kigali, Rwanda.* As the sun rose over Kigali on July 16, more than 100 organizations working on the care economy united to translate the regional roadmap into a global roadmap for action.
Geeta Rao Gupta, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues, began the day with a powerful speech:
Today’s gathering is a testament to the progress we want to make, on a global level, toward shining the spotlight on an issue that is so essential to our collective well-being and to stable, prosperous societies, and yet too often goes unnoticed, remaining backstage when it requires top billing.
The opening plenary panel at the care economy pre-conference at Women Deliver 2023, in Kigali, Rwanda. (Photo: Franck Axel Nyabagabo)
The opening plenary session featured a panel discussion of regional care models. Diana Rodríguez Franco, secretary of women’s affairs of Bogotá, Colombia, described that city’s innovative district care system, which organizes care services into regional centers, or “blocks of care,” to bring care services closer to those who need them, reducing the time burden on care providers and giving them a safe and welcoming center of support. Nineteen of the planned 46 care blocks are already in operation across the city.
Lynette Okengo, executive director of the African Early Childhood Network, highlighted the need to map out the care space to ensure that CSOs are complementing and not duplicating each other’s work. “We need to know who can do what, and where, best,” she said, “and we need to collaborate, when we approach government, to have a stronger voice.”
The event attracted funding commitments, including an announcement by Canada’s minister of international development, Harjit Sajjan, that his government would fund two projects: Time to Care, a CA$5.2 million investment in Kenya to change gender norms, care policies, and legislation; and Scaling Care Innovations in Africa, a CA$25 million investment to scale successful African care models.
The second half of the day included discussions of concrete steps to advance the care economy. Roundtable participants developed recommendations and action items for the global roadmap for action. Roadmap topics include care-related migration, engaging men and boys, care and the climate crisis, digitalization, and promoting the disability-care agenda. Recommendations range from expanding childcare facilities in public spaces and male-dominated workplaces to educating migrant care workers about their rights and where to obtain information and services. Other recommendations include investing in existing, replicable community models and encouraging the use of blended finance—using development funds to attract additional, private capital—to bolster emerging care enterprises
There was also a call for intersectional approaches that unite feminist, eldercare, and disability agendas for comprehensive care policies. Since most care workers are women, investing in women-led climate solutions will also center caregiving in addressing the ramifications of climate change.
The Asia Foundation’s Ankita Pandit addresses the conference. (Photo: Franck Axel Nyabagabo)
Effective care policies and delivery systems must be informed by timely data and research. Care advocates and activists must be included in policymaking forums to contribute their grassroots knowledge to the decision-making process. And new media strategies will bring the stories, contributions, and needs of care workers in the informal economy to the broader public.
There was recognition of the urgent need for action and commitments to address the care emergency dominating many countries and communities, costing lives and livelihoods every day. The draft global roadmap for action that emerged from the Kigali conference is designed to propel commitments and investments to transform the care economy and ensure decent care work and dignity of care for all who need it. It’s time.
*We extend our special thanks to the partner organizations that made this event possible. Organizing partners: the Center for Global Development, Women Deliver, the WeProsper Coalition at the International Center for Research on Women, the International Labour Organization, and The Asia Foundation. Cohosting partners: IDRC, Equimundo, Nathan (Cadmus Company), ECDAN, the International Rescue Committee, FEMNET, Pro Mujer, UN Women, the Moving Minds Alliance, Sonke Gender Justice, Men Care, and Hilton.
Britt Robinson is a gender advocate and communications specialist and can be reached at [email protected]. Jane Sloane is senior director, and Ankita Panda is senior program officer, at The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality Program. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, not those of The Asia Foundation.
by Dinusha Wickremesekera | August 30, 2023 | Blog
Protesters at the University of Colombo. (Photo: Sunday Times, Sri Lanka)
In 1987–1989, Sri Lanka was in turmoil. In the North and the East, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were calling for a separate state, while in the South there was an insurrection led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramunan party (JVP), which had been banned by the government.
Both conflicts were violent.
In the South, JVP insurgents began attacking military camps, seizing weapons, and assassinating key figures in politics and the security forces. The JVP called for hartal, the closure of all business enterprises and places of learning, to bring the economy and everyday life to a halt. The government’s countermeasures were equally fierce, and the period was marked by widespread trauma.
By 1989, the violence had spread to the universities. Militant unions with ties to the JVP and other parties paralyzed the universities as they battled among themselves. The festering grievances, rooted in social and economic inequalities, that had sparked the violence were discussed and debated, but never addressed. Students were tortured and killed. The vice-chancellor of the University of Colombo was shot in his office. Eventually, all the universities were forced to close indefinitely.
In 1990, government forces apprehended the leadership of the JVP, quelling the insurrection in the South and sparking hope for a new beginning. The acting vice-chancellor of the University of Colombo saw that decisive steps were needed to restore the university to normal, and he invited Dr. Siripala Hettige, an alumnus and former head of the Sociology Department, who had just returned from sabbatical, to lead the way. Dr. Hettige returned to a Sri Lanka that was traumatized but hopeful.
Prof. Siripala Hettige, first senior student counselor at the University of Colombo (Photo: Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka)
The crucial questions were these: How could the University of Colombo reopen its gates to students? How could it restore an environment where classes could resume? How could the university once again become an environment for learning? Devising and implementing these steps would draw on the practical and theoretical expertise of the academic staff, the resources of funders and partners of the University, and the networks of university alumni. Together, as a community with an unwavering vision of the rebirth of their institution, the university administration, lecturers from every faculty, development agencies, and alumni marshalled their resources to address the challenges facing the undergraduates of the University of Colombo.
Return to normalcy
In 1990, The Asia Foundation funded the establishment of the university’s new Student Counseling Information Center, which continues today as the Student Counseling Office and Student Resource Center, to provide essential support to the student population. The Student Counseling Information Center was the heart of the university’s answer to the question, “How can we become a learning environment again?”
The Asia Foundation had been working with the university through a number of initiatives, including the Foundation’s Books for Asia program, and providing research support and capacity development for faculty through exchanges, English-language training programs, and curriculum development. The acting vice-chancellor invited the Foundation to assist in reopening the university and reintegrating students in a manner that encouraged learning and helped to heal the trauma that so many students had experienced. There were also the lingering, unaddressed concerns that had first fueled student frustrations: poor job prospects for graduates and their lack of English proficiency at a time when a changing workplace increasingly required it.
The original file for the Foundation’s Pilot Project in Student Counseling in Universities. (Photo: The Asia Foundation)
In response to a request from the vice-chancellor, the Foundation funded the Pilot Project in Student Counseling in Universities to upgrade professional competence and student services at the university as a building block of national development. The grant funds helped to establish both student counseling services and the position of senior student counselor for a period of six months. At the end of the pilot-project period, the university decided to make the position permanent and appointed Dr. Hettige. The service of a faculty member in the position of senior student counselor continues to this date. In 1992, Dr. Hettige published the edited collection Unrest or Revolt: Some Aspects of Youth Unrest in Sri Lanka, based on findings from this period.
The Foundation’s grant also funded a series of faculty consultations to develop strategies to create a more conducive learning environment. These meetings recommended such basic reforms as providing students with safe and sympathetic places to talk about their experiences, and then making sure that those who needed more professional help were referred to faculty in the Department of Psychiatry. The grant also funded training, conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, in basic counseling skills for selected academic staff across all departments.
Changing the context
The consultations funded by The Asia Foundation established the scope of the new Student Counseling and Information Center’s activities to address the root causes of student discontent. The student unions at the heart of the ’87–’89 struggle, the alumni associations, and all student interest and affinity groups now came under the purview of the Center. To improve their academic life, the Center provided students with career guidance, coordinated their academic and administrative requirements, and developed an advisory and counseling program to help them manage their personal and academic challenges. A survey system was established to identify students in need of greater academic or psychological support.
The University of Colombo today, a view of the library. (Photo: University of Colombo)
As the founding senior student counselor of the University of Colombo, Dr. Hettige, now retired, looks back on the 1990–1993 period as one of the most rewarding and consequential of his career. He drew on his theoretical knowledge to create programs essential for students who had experienced violent conflict and continued to face economic, social, and psychological challenges to complete their degrees. He worked to unite the whole university community to restore students’ sense of inclusion and belonging. He called on the school’s alumni to start a mentorship program to help undergraduates with their professional development. He placed new emphasis on English proficiency and the university’s English Language Unit. And he courted new donors to support cultural and social programs to improve university life.
Many of the students who benefited from these programs are now leaders in Sri Lanka and beyond. The Office of Student Counseling continues its work at the University of Colombo, and almost all of Sri Lanka’s state universities have now established student counseling centers of their own.
Dinusha Wickremeserkera is a justice and gender consultant for The Asia Foundation in Sri Lanka. She can be reached at [email protected]. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author, not those of The Asia Foundation.
Gardi joins us today from Ulaanbaatar. He is a graduate of Stanford University and has just finished a year-long Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard School of Design, which brought together practitioners from around the globe who are addressing societal challenges in the built and natural environment. Gardi is also a creative executive at Salmira Productions, a media finance and production company, and a term trustee of The Asia Foundation. 
Indonesian born and raised, with degrees from Padjaran University and the University of London, Satriyo joined the Foundation as a program officer in 1998 and later served as director of Gender and Women’s Participation and director of Environmental Governance programs. An expert in local governance, decentralization, legislative development, and human rights, she also expanded the Foundation’s interethnic and interfaith dialogue programs in Indonesia. She’s proud of the Foundation’s efforts to improve the public’s digital literacy, and she predicts that the 2024 elections will be a test of Indonesia’s democratic resilience.
The Foundation’s grant also funded a series of faculty consultations to develop strategies to create a more conducive learning environment. These meetings recommended such basic reforms as providing students with safe and sympathetic places to talk about their experiences, and then making sure that those who needed more professional help were referred to faculty in the Department of Psychiatry. The grant also funded training, conducted by the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, in basic counseling skills for selected academic staff across all departments.