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Social Inclusion

 

Virtual Event – The Economist’s Technology for Change Week Asia

Singapore, March 8-12, 2021

Events Post

The Covid-19 pandemic alone has plunged over 490 million people back into poverty, magnifying inequalities around the world. How can Asia lead the world in harnessing the power of technology for change? The Asia Foundation is pleased to support The Economist’s inaugural Technology for Change Week Asia, a virtual summit bringing together 700+ leadin… Read more

 

Virtual Event – Insights from North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs

Washington, DC, Thursday, February 4, 2021

Events Post

Seventy-five years after the onset of Asia’s Cold War, the world remains focused on the geopolitics of inter-Korean relations. Meanwhile, an emerging community of more than 33,000 refugees from North Korea currently live in South Korea; half aspire to become entrepreneurs. Despite the potential insight the refugee community could offer, there is in… Read more

 

North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea: Unveiling Korea’s Hidden Potential

December 30, 2020

Publication

More than 33,000 refugees from North Korea today live in South Korea, and half of them aspire to become entrepreneurs. To date, there has been limited data and understanding regarding Korean refugee entrepreneurs and their circumstances. North Korean Refugee Entrepreneurs in South Korea: Unveiling Korea’s Hidden Potential, by The Asia Foundation in… Read more

 

Advancing Gender Equality & Social Inclusion in India

October 20, 2020

Publication

The Asia Foundation opened a resident office in India in 2008. The Foundation collaborates with communities, government, civil society, and other development partners to implement evidence-based programs to advance gender equality and social inclusion and to expand women’s rights, security, and economic opportunities in India. This includes a focus… Read more

 

Virtual Event – A New World is Possible: Gender Lens and Social Inclusion Philanthropy in a Time of Covid-19

Australia, Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Events Post

Further Reading on Gender and Social Inclusion Philanthropy Interactive Menti Resources As Covid-19 has swept the globe it has had acute impacts on women and girls, especially for Indigenous women, other black and brown women, and those working in informal sectors. The pandemic has threatened progress made across sectors, including health equity, e… Read more

 

The Asia Foundation, DFAT, Mastercard, VBSP Expand Digital Finance for Women Microenterprises in Vietnam

Hanoi, April 13, 2020

News Post

Through the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) Business Partnerships Platform (BPP), The Asia Foundation is collaborating with DFAT, Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and Mastercard to expand an initiative to build Vietnam’s first-ever digital finance platform for low-income clients and women-led microenterprises. The… Read more

 

Virtual Event – Making Transportation Services Work for Women: Mobility, Safety, Employment, and Leadership

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Events Post

9:00 am – 10:00 am ET Despite growing evidence of the unique ways women and men experience transportation services, gender and social inclusion issues have long been overlooked in the transportation sector. Women remain underrepresented in the industry, from decision-makers to transport workers, despite women comprising a large portion of public tr… Read more

 

The Asia Foundation Presents Public-Private Dialogue on Financial Inclusion for Rural Women SMEs in Bangladesh

November 27, 2019

News Post

This week, the Women’s Economic Empowerment through Strengthening Market Systems program, funded by the Embassy of Sweden and implemented by iDE Bangladesh and The Asia Foundation, organized a successful public-private dialogue in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Examining the challenges rural women entrepreneurs face in accessing loans, the discussion brought t… Read more

 

Wheelchairs in the Mosque

October 23, 2019

Blog Post

Friday, October 10, 2019. Mingling with the roar of airplanes, Azan, the call to prayer, pours forth from the Jami’ Al Akbar Mosque at the Yogyakarta International Airport complex. Amidst the congregation of Friday worshippers, Bahrul Fuad sits quietly in his wheelchair. Until recently, a scene like this was almost impossible to imagine: Bahrul’s w… Read more

 

Promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion: Nepal’s Commitments and Obligations

October 10, 2018

Publication

Nepal has an age-long patriarchal social, economic, political and cultural setup that is deeply entrenched and widespread in which women and Dalits are the hardest-hit. The recent wave of political change in the country has brought significant progress in addressing these issues, supported by positive national and international commitments and affi… Read more

 

India “Comes Out,” Scrapping Law Criminalizing Homosexuality

September 26, 2018

Blog Post

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

 

Advancing Gender Equality in Asia

September 12, 2018

Blog Post

Earlier this year, the G7 launched the Gender Equality Advisory Council to promote the integration of gender equality and gender-based analysis across all G7 activities and outcomes. As part of Canada’s presidency of the G7 during 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “Gender equality must play a key role in creating lasting solutions to the ch… Read more

 

Nepal’s Locally Elected Women Representatives: Exploratory Study of Needs and Capacity Assessment

July 19, 2018

Publication

The successful completion of local, provincial, and federal elections in 2017 was a historic milestone for Nepal, coming after almost two decades. A record number of women representatives were elected to office in these elections, and this has presented both opportunities and challenges. This increased number of women, especially from marginalized… Read more

 

No Women, No Growth

July 18, 2018

Blog Post

The 2018 Chatham House International Policy Forum convened last week at a time of international angst. Two British cabinet ministers had resigned over Brexit negotiations, creating more uncertainty around the tenure of Prime Minister May. President Trump’s contentious meeting with NATO officials sparked questions about the U.S. commitment to that i… Read more

 

New Campaign Launches to Increase Employment for Persons with Disabilities in the Philippines

Manila, May 4, 2018

News Post

On May 1, 2018, The Asia Foundation’s Fully Abled Nation (FAN) program, a partnership between the Australian Embassy and The Asia Foundation in the Philippines, launched a new campaign called “May 1% Ka Ba” (Do you have 1%?), a play on the May 1 Labor Day date, that aims to promote inclusive employment and raise the overall percentage of employees… Read more

 

The Asia Foundation Launches New Initiative to Support Online Platforms and Inclusive Growth

March 19, 2018

News Post

What can be done to help entrepreneurs with great ideas for positive social change to make their dream a reality? How can small and medium sized enterprises grow and access new trade opportunities? How can technology be used to improve lives across the Asia-Pacific region? The Asia Foundation believes that by investing in new technologies, and crea… Read more

 

A Grassroots Level Toolkit for Promoting Psychosocially Sensitive Group Dialogue Among Older Populations

February 23, 2018

Publication

This toolkit is a set of guidelines that can be used to engage people in storytelling in a psychosocially sensitive manner. It was designed by The Asia Foundation for its Promoting Shared Values, Shared Spaces and Building Local Capacities for Dispute Resolution program, the goal of which is to empower and engage marginalized populations, young peo… Read more

Bangladesh poverty 

The Cry for Inclusive Economic Growth in Bangladesh

November 16, 2016

Blog Post

2016 will be remembered as a tumultuous year for Bangladesh, rocked by major security incidents involving deadly terrorist attacks that negatively affected the country’s image, both at home and abroad. Despite this, Bangladesh still proved its resilience to such shocking events and continued on with its economic growth trajectory, recording an impr… Read more

 

Understanding Social Exclusion in Indonesia

October 3, 2016

Publication

This study analyses the reports that resulted from 68 Theory of Change workshops held with NGO and CSO partners as part of the Peduli program. This program addresses the social exclusion of six disadvantaged groups in Indonesia: vulnerable children and youth, remote indigenous communities reliant on natural resources, discriminated religious minori… Read more

Downtown Manila 

Can Asian Cities Lead the Way to a More Sustainable Future?

September 21, 2016

Blog Post

Asia’s urban population is growing at an unprecedented rate. It took 130 years for London to grow from 1 million to 8 million, but Bangkok did it in 45 years, Dhaka in 37 years, and Seoul in only 25 years. Asia’s rapid urbanization—driven by entrepreneurial and commercial dynamism—has been pivotal for its stellar growth, but often to the detriment… Read more

 

SafetiPin: A Tool to Build Safer Cities for Women

May 11, 2016

Blog Post

The gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a New Delhi bus in 2012 sparked national outrage in India. Since then, other brutal acts of violence have taken place in India’s cities, including the rape and murder of a 30-year-old law student on April 28 in Kerala. There were 337,922 reported crimes against women in 2014, among them over 36,000 were rape…. Read more

 

Indonesia’s Village Law: A Step Toward Inclusive Governance

February 17, 2016

Blog Post

In late December, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo spoke to over 700 village heads in Boyolali, Central Java, about the implementation of the year-old Village Law – a major campaign platform for both he and his rival during the 2014 presidential election.

 

To Ensure Stability in South Asia, Protection of Religious Minorities a Must

February 3, 2016

Blog Post

At the South Asian Forum for Minorities (SAFM) last week, prominent parliamentarians, government functionaries, civil society activists, and journalists put forward a first-ever call to action to the leaders of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation…

 

Local Pathways to Disability-Inclusive Governance in Indonesia

December 16, 2015

Blog Post

“Nothing About Us Without Us” has become a familiar slogan used by the international disability movement and relies on the principle of full participation for all. However, in Indonesia, where people with disabilities (PWDs) still face enormous barriers…

 

Signs of Hope for Pakistan’s Religious Minorities

December 9, 2015

Blog Post

The last few years have seen some of the most brutal attacks against Pakistan’s religious minority communities, estimated to make up approximately 3-5 percent of the total population of over 190 million.

 

Social Media Ignites Disability Movement in Indonesia

December 9, 2015

Blog Post

In Indonesia, stigma around people with disabilities often comes from those closest to them. In many cases, families hide away their disabled family members, communities shun them, and government services and policies…

 

Leading Disability Advocate Examines Draft Disability Law in Indonesia

December 2, 2015

Blog Post

Like many countries, Indonesia is accelerating efforts to implement its commitment as a 2011 signatory to the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD), particularly as the newly minted 2030 Sustainable Development Goals…

 

Boosting Economic Mobility in Asia: SMEs as Drivers of Inclusive Growth

August 12, 2015

Blog Post

Over the last four decades, Asia has experienced unprecedented economic growth that has shifted the global economic center of gravity to the region. Asia enters 2015 as the world’s fastest-growing region, with the International Monetary Fund predicting that GDP will increase by 5.5 percent this year.

 

Financial Inclusion for Asia’s Unbanked

May 13, 2015

Blog Post

Asia’s developing economies will continue their steady growth, with GDPs expected to rise by an average of 6.3 percent in each of the next two years, according to the annual flagship report, Asian Development Outlook 2015, from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

 

Inclusive Growth in Asia is Impossible Without Including Women

March 5, 2014

Blog Post

A report from Oxfam released in late January put down on paper what many already feared was true: almost almost half of the world’s wealth is now owned by just one percent of the population. This is also the case in Asia, where income and wealth disparity is growing rapidly.

Curator Kong Vireak at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco 

In Cambodia, Culture Shapes Identity, Spurs Economic Growth

February 12, 2014

Blog Post

Last year, the United Nations called for culture to be given top priority in the post-2015 global development agenda, citing its importance to economic growth, social inclusion, equality, and sustainable development. It is difficult to quantify the impact culture has on a nation…

 

Cambodia’s 2013 Elections: A Measure of Political Inclusion?

July 24, 2013

Blog Post

Cambodians will go to the polls on July 28 for the fifth National Assembly election since the U.N. organized the historic 1993 elections. Victory for the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is expected by many to be a foregone conclusion – a continuation of Hun Sen’s 28-year reign as prime minister, one of the longest serving leaders in Asia.

several people sit together with troubled expressions 

Stateless in New Nepal: Inclusion without Citizenship is Impossible

May 23, 2012

Blog Post

Last week, Nepal’s Constituent Assembly (CA) members drafted citizenship provisions in the country’s long-awaited constitution, causing much consternation and almost guaranteeing that approximately 2.1 million persons out of an estimated population of nearly 30 million will remain stateless. The specific draft provision that is deeply problematic and regressive refers to how a child may obtain citizenship by descent in the new Nepal: a child would be granted Nepali citizenship if both mother and father prove they are Nepali citizens.