PROGRAM SNAPSHOTS

2019 Asia Foundation Development Fellow Farhad Wajdi is a young entrepreneur in Afghanistan whose innovative idea came at a pivotal moment. He started Banu’s Kitchen with the goal of helping women achieve financial independence in a country where women have limited opportunities. Farhad built a fleet of solar-powered rickshaws so women could start… Read more

Many marginalized persons, especially those in impoverished communities and women, find it difficult to access the legal system in Pakistan due to the stigma attached to approaching courts, inability to afford lawyers, and difficulty in understanding court procedures. As part of the Mainstreaming Alternative Dispute Resolution for Equitable Access… Read more

The Eastern Province of Sri Lanka is known for vast paddy fields, a vibrant fishing industry, and picturesque beaches. It is also ethnically and religiously diverse, with Tamil, Muslim, and Sinhalese communities living side-by-side. Since the end of the war, however, the province has been prone to sporadic outbursts of intercommunal conflict that h… Read more

The Asia Foundation announces the selection of Thuy Tran, a specialist in contemporary art and community-based engagement, as a 2020 Margaret F. Williams Memorial Fellow. She is an alum of Georgetown University and has received several grants and fellowships for her work focused on social justice, equity, and community dialogue including the Ebony… Read more

More than any other point in history, technology is a promising tool with the potential to accelerate development in countries around the world. If attention is not paid to offline communities, technology also has the potential to widen the development gap creating an even more dangerous learning and development divide. With a telecom partnership,… Read more

Although Mongolia has done well on many measures of gender equality, Mongolian women still face gender inequality, and rates of violence and evident power imbalances remain significant challenges. The Asia Foundation is committed to supporting the survivors of violence against women in Mongolia with Korea’s official development assistance. The Mini… Read more

Young Moves is a Chiang Mai-based civil society organization that came together three years ago as a platform for youth from all four regions of Thailand to engage in socio-political issues impacting their generation. The youth group emphasizes respect and dignity for all people, regardless of their identity. Thaksin Bamrungthai, better known as To… Read more

In Thailand’s far south, where a vast majority of the two million residents identify themselves as Melayu, a group of youth activists collectively known as The Motive use digital content to combat misinformation on Covid-19. After the region experienced a second wave of conflict that claimed more than 7,000 lives in the last 17 years, it more recen… Read more

Go Digital ASEAN will deliver training to 4,000 micro-entrepreneurs and underemployed youth in Brunei, including those from ethnic minorities and those with disabilities. The program addresses Brunei’s rising unemployment rate and expands economic opportunity to minimize the negative impacts of Covid-19. On July 16, The Asia Foundation held a count… Read more

Stories are an innate part of the human experience. From oral storytelling around fires to digital bursts consumed globally, the way in which we share stories has evolved but their purpose remains the same: sharing information. In Myanmar, The Asia Foundation’s Let’s Read team works with local publisher Third Story Project in merging traditional an… Read more