InAsia

She’s part of the new face of leadership in her long-troubled homeland of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Attorney General Sha Elijah Dumama-Alba sits down with InAsia to talk about the past, the future, and her vision for the Bangsamoro.
Read more about her story: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/09/16/podcast-a-woman-attorney-general-for-the-bangsamoro/

Southeast Asia may be mad for social media, but peek behind the smartphone mania and the skills to get a job in the new economy or take a small business online are still in short supply. As the pandemic turns up the pressure to go digital, a new project from The Asia Foundation and Google.org is about to change that. (Read our companion blog piece: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/09/02/podcast-bulldozing-aseans-digital-divide/)

After 20 years of dazzling growth, Asia is now home to nearly half of the world’s urban population. But this breakneck growth has often bypassed critical investments in public infrastructure. Now, the Covid-19 pandemic is exposing pervasive failures of urban governance that are already starting to exact serious costs. But like pandemics past, the coronavirus crisis is also an opportunity to rethink and reshape Asian cities. Read our most recent blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/08/19/covid-lays-bare-the-flaws-in-asias-booming-megacities/

Since early 2012, The Asia Foundation’s Coalitions for Change in the Philippines has been pursuing the emerging discipline of “thinking and working politically,” which is…what, exactly? Jaime Faustino, coauthor of a new book on the subject, answers that question with a tale of unexpected obstacles, surprising solutions, and thinking like an entrepreneur. Learn more about the new book: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/07/22/thinking-and-working-politically-a-conversation-with-jaime-faustino/

Mongolia has been a Covid-19 success story, but the early lockdown that kept the virus at bay has also battered the economy, and no one has felt it more than Mongolia’s small businesswomen. We talk to Soomin Jun and Saranzaya Gerelt-Od from The Asia Foundation's Women's Business Center. Read their InAsia blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/07/08/funding-women-entrepreneurs-on-mongolias-covid-front-line/ 

Battered by conflict and dependent on dwindling foreign aid, Afghanistan may have no alternative but to let the virus run its course. Yet, amid their suffering, Afghans are also finding solidarity and political initiative. This week, we interview the Foundation's Country Representative in Afghanistan Abdullah Ahmadzai on country's Covid-19 bargain. Read his InAsia blog piece: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/06/24/afghanistans-covid-19-bargain/

Some of the most indelible images of the pandemic have been the brilliant skies that replaced toxic smog as the world stayed home and fossil-fuel use plunged. With renewables now cheaper than coal, green energy’s time has come. We sit down with Anindya Uphadyay, senior technical consultant to The Asia Foundation’s Sustainable Development Investment Program in New Delhi, to discuss the stark choice that the pandemic has revealed. Read her InAsia blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/04/29/will-we-seize-the-chance-for-a-green-post-virus-future/ 

A two-decade push by Bangladesh to reform its leather tanning industry was supposed to clean up pollution and end worker exploitation. So far, it hasn’t quite worked out as planned. We interview Md. Sadat S. Shibli about the industries progress and shortcomings. Read the full blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/05/27/in-bangladesh-tanneries-in-trouble/

A new survey by The Asia Foundation and the World Health Organization provides a wealth of much-needed new data, and some startling results.

We interview the Foundation's Director of Policy and Research Tabasum Akseer on how the survey data should be used to make policy and measure progress towards improving the health and well-being of disabled populations in Afghanistan.

Read Akseer's full blog: https://asiafoundation.org/2020/05/13/disability-survey-is-afghanistans-first-in-15-years/

Prior to the pandemic, China was already positioning itself to provide leadership on global issues. Covid-19 may have given China a new opportunity to realize these ambitions.

We interview Senior Director for International Development Cooperation Anthea Mulakala on her InAsia blog "COVID-19 and China’s Soft-Power Ambitions." 

Read the full article at https://asiafoundation.org/2020/04/29/covid-19-and-chinas-soft-power-ambitions/