Social development
Human rights
UNDP presents human development report findings
Exclusion of women, people living in remote areas and ethnic groups creates chronic barriers for human development progress and leads to significant disparities within the Asia-Pacific region, leaving many behind, according to UNDP. This is one of the key findings of the Human Development Report ...
Families call for return of land
A group of 20 people representing 554 families locked in a 10-year land dispute yesterday submitted a petition asking the government to end the lengthy conflict. The families, from Samroang town in Oddar Meanchey province, want help from officials at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry ...
Villagers issue new calls to solve old land dispute
Villagers from Oddar Meanchey used a news conference on March 21 to appeal for government action to return land at the centre of a years-old dispute with sugar companies. The conflict erupted in 2008, when villagers were forcibly evicted from their land to allow Angkor Sugar, ...
Will the environment be the Vietnam government’s downfall?
For years, Tran Thi Nga was subjected to harassment and brutalization by the Vietnamese authorities, the details of which emerged in a fresh Human Rights Watch report published earlier this year. She was finally arrested in January for using the using “the Internet to post ...
Saving Vietnam's floating markets
Amid mighty rivers and dense mangroves, the busy floating markets in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have long shaped the delta’s well-known “water civilization.” As many as a dozen floating markets still remain along major waterways around the delta, where boats, houses, and markets float upon the ...
Dam blamed as dolphins vanish
The last remaining Irrawaddy dolphins have stopped coming to a stretch of the Mekong river in Preah Rumkel commune due to the Don Sahong hydropower dam in nearby Laos, locals have warned. The activists from Stung Treng province say the dam, which is less than ...
King calls for vote free from threats or intimidation
A leaked statement from King Norodom Sihamoni circulated on social media since Sunday, nearly a month after he signed it, calls on citizens to vote for their preferred party in the upcoming elections without “worry of suppression, threats or intimidation”. The statement, signed by the ...
Sandy soil veggies lift farmers out of poverty
Growing vegetables on sandy fields is helping farmers out of poverty in a coastal commune in Thừa Thiên- Huế Province. Farmers in Điền Lộc Commune are reaping success from the new effort, something older generations have not been able to do. Lê Huy, a local ...
Rakhine Advisory Commission presents 30 recommendations
The Advisory Commission on Rakhine State yesterday presented almost 30 recommendations of action that the Myanmar government can take to immediately improve the situation on the ground in Rakhine as the commission released its interim report. Kofi Annan, Chair of the Advisory Commission, said the ...
University staff warned of behaviour’ on social media
Lecturers of a northern university will have to think twice before posting a message on online media. Offending posts may affect staff performance reviews and salary adjustments, according to university rules that came into effect on February 20. The rules describe the use of online media ...