Economic, social and cultural rights

Torrential rain did not deter a crowd of well over 100 people turning out to witness Kofi Annan’s arrival in the Muslim ghetto of Aung Mingalar on September 7. In contrast to the protests that had greeted Mr Annan’s arrival in the Rakhine State capital of ...

The Mekong Forum 2016 served to foster dialogue among partners and agencies of Greater Mekong Subregion countries to pursuing their development targets, an expert said on August 29. “These include reducing poverty and inequality, generating inclusive growth, improving capacity development, and exceeding the sustainable development ...

Hydropower development is booming, with controversial projects unfolding across the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Though often presented as a green renewable energy option, dams can cause a litany of negative impacts: disrupting the downstream flow of nutrients, interrupting aquatic migration routes and harming fisheries. They ...

Policy makers have called for recognition of lands which local people have inherited from their parents, despite land titles having not been issued for those lands. They made the calls as policy makers from various organisations shared opinions to improve and finalise the Draft National Land ...

Representatives of Shan communities have expressed serious concerns on the ongoing plan to construct a series of hydropower dams on the Salween River, saying many areas are still plagued with ongoing fighting between minority groups and the government. Shan State Rivers Network’s coordinator Sai Khur Hseng ...

One of the main issues facing nations in the Mekong River Commission, including Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, is that China has refused to share information about the operations of its hydropower dams. As a result, the MRC countries are cautious about using their limited ...

Fishermen in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta have been complaining about lower water levels and falling catches with experts blaming China’s construction of hydropower projects on the upper Mekong River. According to the experts, the dams have blocked fish from moving downstream and trapped sediment needed to enrich ...

Building more dams along the Mekong River will destroy the livelihoods of millions of people, according to a report commissioned by the Vietnamese government. It also says plans to construct new dams will damage crops with salt water intrusion, particularly in the south where the Mekong ...

The government’s Cambodian Human Rights Committee on August 9 sent a request to its counterpart in Thailand to help push the Thai government to implement safety measures to protect Cambodian fishermen working in Thailand in often slave-like conditions, a request advocates said yesterday should have been ...

Laos’ representatives attending a meeting of civil society organizations that is held each year during the ASEAN summit said little about human rights issues inside their own authoritarian country because they were selected by the government in Vientiane, sources tell RFA. “Most Lao representatives are selected ...