INASIA
Weekly Insights and Analysis
Nepal Survey: Does a Seat at the Table Guarantee Gender Equality?
Nepal’s constitution mandates that women hold at least 33% of seats in the national parliament and provincial assemblies, and at least 40% in local governments. These provisions, enshrined in 2015, have given a record number of women a place at the table in Nepal’s...
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Women in ICT: Entering a Forbidden Space
Traveling last year in Mongolia’s Arkhangai Province, I joined a party climbing the Shireet Ulaan Uul, a rocky, forested mountain that rises to 2,600 meters from the ridges west of the Orkhon River. At the top of this peak, in 1684, the revered monk and polymath...
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City Life Survey: Myanmar’s Urban Voices
Yangon is a city rich with history—a former capital, a center of commerce, and today, a city bristling with construction cranes, clogged with vehicles, and throbbing with the aspirations of its swelling population. Demographic changes, economic growth, and Myanmar’s...
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The Book Effect
At this moment, news feeds are flooded with stories of disparity and division. On the heels of the “varsity blues” college admissions scandal, we are reminded that the gap between privileged and disadvantaged children is wider than ever. Tension between cultures is...
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Giving Voice, Leading Change
When The Asia Foundation says it believes, and invests, in emerging leaders in Asia, it goes a step beyond leadership programs. The Foundation opens itself to be steered by the very leaders it cultivates. I saw this first hand when, as a graduate of the Asia...
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FRAME: Filmmakers Making Women’s Lives Visible
An Interview with Jane Sloane “Making women’s lives visible is a political act,” says The Asia Foundation’s Jane Sloane. “There are many women human-rights defenders who are akin to modern day Joans of Arc. I wish more of their stories could be the inspiration...
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Watching and Waiting: Indonesia’s Upcoming Elections
On April 17, Indonesia will hold its sixth democratic election since the Reformasi protests brought down the authoritarian government of President Suharto. On streets thick with election posters, a mix of hope and trepidation fills the air. Development has begun...
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Big Hope, a Factory, and the Survival of Women in Bangladesh
In 1998, with her husband too sick to work and two children to support, Ashiron Nesa took an unusual step for a woman in rural Bangladesh: she started her own business. With no help from a bank, and just 40 Bangladeshi taka (BDT)—50 U.S. cents—in savings, she launched...
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Making Federal Nepal Investment-Ready
The recently concluded Nepal Investment Summit 2019, convened by the government of Nepal in March in Kathmandu, has moved the country’s new economic agenda to center stage. The event, which drew industry leaders, senior government officials, and foreign delegates from...
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