Social development

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released their annual ranking of the global state of press freedom earlier this month and Countries in Southeast Asia did poorly—none of the 11 countries in the ASEAN bloc scored above RSF’s “difficult situation” designation. RSF ranks countries based on a questionnaire given to ...

As dawn breaks over a crowded market in Yangon, a student strolls in, browsing casually through the stalls of vegetables, fruit, spices and fish. Picking up an onion to inspect the quality of the produce, he doesn’t stand out in the crowds of people. “One person ...

Every day at sunrise, Daisy* and her sisters set out to spend several hours in the heat cleaning debris from the previous day’s protests off the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city. Protests have erupted around the country since the military seized control of the government ...

The Working Group for Press Freedom has co-organised a two-week campaign with the theme “Information as a Public Good” on social media to promote and highlight the importance of the freedom of the press and urge the public’s participation. In a press release, the working group ...

An international human rights law NGO Thursday criticized the governments of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam for using the COVID-19 pandemic to enact new laws that would allow them to more tightly control the media. The Switzerland-based International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) submitted a report to The Office ...

The Ministry of Education and Sports has issued a notice ordering the closure of schools following an outbreak of Covid-19 in Vientiane Capital. The notice states that all public and private educational facilities from preschools through to universities will be closed across Vientiane Capital following a ...

Ethnic Kui Indigenous people have for generations mined the mountains and streams of Cambodia’s Romtom commune for their livelihoods. But those traditions shifted as Delcom, a Malaysian-owned gold-mining company, began digging up the land in the early 2010s and confronting artisanal miners with armed guards. ...

Over 700 people are reported to have been killed in the brutal response by the security forces since the military overthrew the democratically elected Government on 1 February. Thousands more have been injured – many of them seriously, and over 3,000 people are in detention.   That includes at least ...

New reports of Lao military operations against ethnic Hmong communities suggest the government is tightening its control over areas targeted for development and investment. According to a Radio Free Asia report on April 1, Lao military forces have repeatedly attacked Hmong living around Phou Bia mountain in Xaysomboun province, ...

The Swedish government and UNESCO yesterday signed an agreement on “Strengthening Media Development and Freedom of Expression” in Cambodia, with Sweden contributing around $2.5 million to UNESCO for the project. According to a joint statement released yesterday, the project is to be implemented in partnership with ...