IN ASIA

On May 31, 2018, Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas, or FATA, formally ceased to exist. Home to five million people, and covering more than 27,000 square kilometers, these seven tribal districts have attracted enormous international attention in the last two decades due to their shared border with war-torn Afghanistan. The government of… Read more

Development cooperation is taking on new geopolitical significance. Earlier this month, the U.S. Congress passed legislation to create the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, which is intended to help stimulate private-sector infrastructure investment in the developing world. Asia is one of the primary targets for this new instituti… Read more

How many national human rights institutions (NHRIs) does it take to protect human rights? Are the rights of disparate groups better protected by multiple, specialized agencies, or is a single institution with a broad mandate more efficient and effective? The framers of Nepal’s 2015 Constitution opted overwhelmingly for multiple, specialized NHRIs…. Read more

It was towards dusk on Saturday, September 28. At 6:02, four minutes after her father had picked her up from work, there were loud explosions. The world would later learn that a magnitude 7.4 earthquake had struck Palu, in Sulawesi, Indonesia, followed by a tsunami. For Yuni Amalia and her father, the explosions had no name. All they knew was their… Read more

October 11 marks the eighth annual celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child, established by the United Nations to address the challenges that continue to confront girls around the world. This year’s theme, With Her: A Skilled Girl Force, begins a year-long commitment by the global community to increase learning opportunities and build… Read more

I was on the grounds of a textile factory an hour outside Mandalay, Myanmar. It was July 2017—peak monsoon season—and the combination of rain, heat, and an overnight bus ride from Yangon had left me soaked. I was sitting on a small rattan bench in the living room of Zarchi Win, surrounded by all the women in her family, who were all talking at once… Read more

Science and mathematics are critical elements of a modern education. In most of Afghanistan, however, especially in rural areas, science is taught using outdated approaches and materials, by underqualified and inexperienced instructors, in classrooms equipped with nothing more than a simple blackboard and chalk. Most Afghan students do not currentl… Read more

Last week, Mumbai social entrepreneur Vaibhav Lodha was in San Francisco trying to do Zeno one better by filling a finite schedule with an infinite number of appointments. A 2018 Asia Foundation Development Fellow, Lodha recently learned that his financial technology startup, ftcash, had been named the Asia-region winner for financial inclusion in… Read more

Early this month, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of India overturned a 157-year-old law criminalizing homosexuality. The notorious section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a relic of British colonial rule that outlawed “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” was declared unconstitutional by a unanimous five-judge panel. As the cou… Read more

The violent storms that swept over the Philippines, China, and the southeastern U.S. seaboard earlier this month were a harrowing preview of extreme weather events that are likely to become more common as the 21st century unfolds. Cities in the paths of the storms lost power, water, and communications. Transportation networks were blocked. Homes an… Read more