Social development

When Hla, 19, tried to go back to work seven months ago after having a baby, there were no jobs. Hundreds of garment factories in Myanmar had closed after western fashion brands cancelled orders due to the pandemic, leaving thousands of women jobless. As lockdown gripped Yangon, ...

A recent draft of the cybercrime law obtained by VOA Khmer has drawn concerns from NGOs and rights groups over clauses that could help the government intensify its crackdown on freedom of expression, while also raising privacy and data collection concerns. The draft law, the formulation ...

Governments around the world including Laos have been promoting and developing digital education systems, which is now an important global issue and a key priority for the education sector. Minister of Education and Sports, Mrs Sengdeuane Lachanthaboune, recently shared her views and experiences on the topic ...

Families are choosing to have more boys than girls, and experts worry this will cause problems in the future. SGGP reports that new data from the United National Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that in 2019, Vietnam’s sex ratio was 111.5 boys per 100 girls, an imbalance behind only ...

The United States continues to urge the Cambodian government to open democratic space for citizens to help the country toward a development path of durable democracy and respect for human rights, US officials say. Recent communications between the US and Cambodia come amid the government’s current ...

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the country military chief, urged the civilian authorities to keep a balance between the need for health safety and livelihood security in implementing policies aimed at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. The Senior General conceded that the rate of infection of COVID-19 ...

The stay-at-home order because of COVID-19 is causing hardships for the most vulnerable in Yangon. Only one person is allowed to go out at a time and some streets don’t allow strangers to enter, causing hardships for street pedlars and gig economy workers. Most shops in ...

Outspoken Vietnamese democracy activist and author Pham Doan Trang has been arrested on anti-state propaganda charges, police and state media said Wednesday, as rights groups condemned her apprehension just hours after annual U.S.-Vietnam human rights talks and warned that the blogger faced the risk of ...

Myanmar was considered Asia’s last frontier market, not too long ago – rich in natural resources and investment potential, but only just emerging to the possibilities of digitization. About a decade later, sweeping reforms brought a new era of connectivity, bringing down the cost of smartphones and mobile ...

Thaw Lay, a high school student from Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, knew that this school year would be unlike any other. “I was excited, but I also knew that things would be a little different, when school reopened later this year”, he recalls. Thaw Lay ...