Fourteen thousand women won political office in Nepal’s first local elections in 2017. With the 2022 elections now just days away, our guest, Sumina Karki, asks why so few women ran at the top of the ticket. 

This week, we talk to the BARMM's Attorney Abdel Jamal Disangcopan on how his parliamentary staff is part of a new generation of young professionals building peace in the Bangsamoro. Read the the full blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/04/27/a-new-generation-takes-the-drivers-seat-in-bangsamoro/

As poverty and starvation stalk Afghanistan, must the West turn away from a new government whose policies it cannot condone?  Read the full blog post written by Tabasum Akseer: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/04/13/a-path-forward-in-afghanistan-data-for-humanitarian-assistance/

The adventurous Dutch fashion company G-Star, known for its sustainable denim, is also a force for development in Asia through its GSRD Foundation. GSRD will be honored April 6 with an Asia Foundation Lotus Leadership Award. Read more: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/03/30/lotus-leadership-awards-beyond-a-sustainable-supply-chain/

Cambodia has an outsized need for up-to-date research data to anchor effective policymaking and spur development. But women must become a bigger part of this story.

After months of uncertainty, Nepal has announced the second round of local elections under its historic 2015 constitution. In the face of Covid lockdowns and political paralysis, local governments have been a bright spot on the nation’s rocky road to federalism. Read the full article: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/03/02/nepals-federalism-milestone-five-opportunities-and-a-second-round-of-elections/

The Philippines’ pioneering and embattled digital news site just marked a decade of tenacious reporting. A reporter who was there at the beginning recalls the heady early days and the dedication to journalism that led to last year’s Nobel Peace Prize for founder Maria Ressa. Read the full piece: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/02/16/rappler-at-10-there-at-the-creation/

The same processed foods that have fed obesity and diabetes in the West have triggered an epidemic of dietary disease in the Pacific Islands. Now, a runaway hit TV show is pointing the way back to the region’s healthy, traditional cuisine. Read more about the Pacific Island Food Revolution: https://asiafoundation.org/2022/02/02/in-pacific-island-kitchens-the-revolution-is-being-televised/

A comprehensive new policy from the Philippine Department of Education is set to start dismantling barriers that keep students with disabilities out of the classroom. The new policy has some unmistakable fingerprints from The Asia Foundation’s Coalitions for Change. 

A years-long collaboration that’s been working away in Cambodia’s vital Stung Chinit Watershed has found that solutions to water inequality lie at the crossroads of infrastructure and gender. Project principals Laura Forni of the Stockholm Environment Institute and Paula Uniacke of The Asia Foundation hold down the discussion of a powerful new analytic approach in this week’s podcast.