Zuid- en Centraal-Azië

Analysis

Asma Jahangir: The Legacy of Courage and Hope

17 February 2018 -

She was personified defiance, courage, dedication, grace and dignity. Commonly seen as, the 'bravest of the brave hearts', she was called, 'Asian Hero' by Time Magazine and 'Pakistan's Aung San Suu Kyi' by Newyorker. She defied dictators, challenged mighty establishment, exposed secret agencies, antagonized extremist outfits and blasted patriarchal ...

Analysis

Returning Afghans might be politically rewarding, it is also life threatening

9 February 2018 -

Nine European countries forcibly return Afghans, and Pakistan is even threatening to force 1.5 million Afghans back to their country of origin. These politically motivated manoeuvres can be lethal -for the Afghans.

Analysis

Artificial glaciers for a Himalayan desert: solution or hype?

21 September 2017 -

From disappearing caps in Greenland to receding glaciers on Mount Everest, ice is the most visible symbol in the debate over climate change. In the high-altitude Himalayan region of Ladakh - located in the volatile Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir - ice is more than a rhetorical concern.

Report

Reinventing microcredit in Myanmar

25 August 2017 -

After years of hype, microfinance now faces challenges in the fight against poverty. But in Myanmar’s largely unexploited market, small innovators are experimenting with solutions.

Analysis

One image obscures more than a thousand words

9 March 2017 -

We have all seen these images popping up in our social media feeds: Afghanistan in the 1970’s versus Afghanistan in the 2010’s. The first image shows girls in Kabul, who could just as well have lived in Paris or Berkeley in that period, with their long hair, short skirts, smiling faces and confident regards. The more recent image, then, ...

Interview

Chinese Political Scientist Yan Xuetong: 'China should allow more freedom of expression'

11 March 2016 -

John Vandaele had the opportunity to talk with professor Yan Xuetong, one of the leading political thinkers of China. Yan is well known for his outspokenness, even when his vision does not correspond with the ideology of the party. One thing is clear: from Beijing the world looks different.

Asian Development Bank/Flickr (CC by-nc-nd 2.0)

News

Hundred Percent Organic Farming in Bhutan

25 February 2016 -

Bhutan wants to achieve 100% organic farming. Will the only country in the world using happiness as a criterion for prosperity succeed in this premise?

Analysis

More People Displaced By Development Than By Natural Disasters

23 February 2016 -

People run from war, persecution, disaster and a hopeless future. But every year, around 15 million people are also forced to leave behind their homes, land and communities because they need to make way for large dams, mines, or other large-scale projects of economic development.

Analysis

From emergency aid to a new Nepal

12 November 2015 -

Almost 3 million Nepali are struggling to recover from the April earthquake. Hundreds of aftershocks prevented reconstruction and a monsoon causing over 6000 landslides lengthened the emergency. A team of Belgian journalists followed the aid money to investigate the situation six moths after the disaster struck. They found patience, solid ...

Blog Post

Does the new Nepal constitution work for Nepali workers?

20 September 2015 -

After five years, six months and 26 days of work as well as two elections, two major earthquakes and close to 500 aftershocks, a new dawn rises on Nepal: the new Constitution is proclaimed today. But what kind of provisions does this new Constitution rese

Analysis

Pakistan’s Internal Debate on Extremism

11 June 2015 -

Pakistan is fast losing traditional space to emotional sloganeering, empty rhetoric and fake jubilations in its war against terrorism. Every act of terrorism against an individual or a group with particular intellectual, sectarian or ethnic identity establishes the fact that cosmetics are no longer sufficient to hide the ugly face of reality. With ...

Analysis

Roots of radicalisation in Pakistan

29 May 2015 -

The political and intellectual consensus against terrorism in Pakistan is getting regular shocks by unabated terrorist attacks on civilians and communities. With 1520 people killed during 5 months of 2015, the “motivated vigor” of civil and military leadership has started sounding shallow despite the successes of military operations in ...