Asia

Despite a number of attempts from different sectors, poverty in Nepal is still a rampant phenomenon and the country remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

Despite its rating as least-developed country (LDC) where 56.5 per cent of the population are estimated by the World Bank (WB) to earn less than $2 a day (adjusted for purchasing power parity), Cambodia is consistently, albeit incrementally, improving its enrolment and literacy rates and successfully reducing poverty (from 34.7 per cent in 2004 to 30.1 per cent in 2007, WB). However, marginalized, physically impaired people are still severely affected by income inequality and exclusion.

By Harris Zargar

Despite various efforts, child labour in India is still a common practice. Poverty forces children to seek jobs in undisclosed service sector and many are forced into prostitution, while many other become victims of human trafficking.

If you are moving to Nepal for work or an internship or something like that, learning a little bit of Nepali would be of great help.

“People are products here. But now, I am a survivor", are the words of a 14 year old sex trafficked survivor in Cambodia. NGO in...

Some foreign observers claim that GNH provides ideological cover for repressive and racist policies. Love it or hate it, one thing is clear, the pursuit of GNH does not appear to be helping the people of Bhutan rise to a higher standard of living.

Dr Abdur Rehman Cheema

While it might take decades for the government to provide quality monograde education to remote rural population of the country, little investment in improving the quality of multigrade education can yield significant results for the otherwise marginalized and poor communities.

By Marion Sharples

While certainly not being a one-stop fix-all solution, the progress that was made under a small-scale, temporary pilot should energise feminist advocates of basic income and serve as an inspiration for future work. The positive impact of basic income on poverty levels, women's self-respect, increased social inclusion and reduced scope for exploitation is greatly inspiring.

By Federica Busiello When looking for empowerment projects, in a development context, we may think of livelihoods projects, vocational training and income generation activities, or projects that aim to improve access to or quality of education; or at least I used to. I have more recently come across initiatives that use arts for social change: projects that use a creative process to inspire those who participate to empower themselves.

Both India and Pakistan have historical claims and substantial influence and engagement in Afghanistan. Resolving earlier geo-political conflicts, therefore, is key to a future of peace in Pakistan and relations between India and Pakistan must necessarily improve for that to happen, if and when it does. The end to the war in Afghanistan, therefore, can begin only after peace between India and Pakistan.