Social development
Government, ceasefire groups inch toward dialogue

A major step toward reducing the risk of military clashes near zones controlled by groups that signed last month’s ceasefire agreement has been taken with the completion of a military code of conduct, the government says. Agreement on the draft was reached at the second Joint ...
Yangon authorities losing the battle against betel

It’s enough to make you want to spit. Efforts by Yangon city authorities to control the “undisciplined” ejection of crimson betel juice are just not working, officials say. First they tried placing plastic boxes filled with sand at junctions and bus-stops. Their latest scheme is the ...
Laos drives home pertinent road safety message from international conference
Delegations from multiple continents are meeting in the capital of South America’s most populous country Brazil for the 2nd Global High Level Conference on Road Safety, a two-day international symposium aiming to keep traffic safety efforts on the agenda at a time when there are ...
Dozens of Phnom Penh's homeless sent to Prey Speu

Just weeks after reports emerged of more fatalities from Phnom Penh’s Prey Speu social affairs centre and ensuing promises of reform, authorities yesterday rounded up dozens more homeless people and detained them at the notorious facility. Kim Vutha, Daun Penh district’s chief of security, said 61 ...
Cambodian CSO coalition letter ready for climate talks

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has produced a document laying out in detail the projected dire effects of climate change on Cambodia, in the hopes it will help their voice be heard among the 25,000 delegates attending the upcoming Paris Climate Talks in ...
Women leaders welcome increase in regional MPs
Domestic violence is one of the issues that might be brought up now that the number of female representatives in Mandalay Region Hluttaw has risen from one to four. The election of three new female members in last week’s election – all members of the National ...
Law changes delayed after MP urges sex worker protections

Draft changes to a law outlawing prostitution have been sent back to committee after an upper house MP objected and argued that the law should be amended to protect, rather than punish, sex workers. Yangon Region parliamentarian U Phone Myint Aung urged MPs to look past ...
Parties set to choose peace-talk delegates

Myanmar’s political parties will meet on 21 November to select 16 representatives to take the lead on the peace process, but it remains unclear how they will be chosen. The 16 will sit on the 48-member Union Political Dialogue Joint Committee, which is drafting the framework ...
Camp residents look to NLD win for better future
Internally displaced persons living in camps on the outskirts of Sittwe have expressed hope the National League for Democracy’s election landslide will pave the way to ensuring their human rights and ending discrimination against them, saying little has improved in the three years since the ...
More Vietnam hospitals capable of treating dengue

Within seven days of being treated at Binh Chanh District Hospital’s paediatrics ward, a 13-year boy diagnosed with dengue fever was able to return home, fully recovered, a testament to the hospital’s improved capacity to treat the disease. Dr To Thi Kim Phung, the ward’s head, ...