South Asia

Human Rights Violations and Culture of Impunity in South Asia

By Sania Farooqui
As countries across South Asia continue to battle the deadly Covid-19 pandemic, causing serious public health and economic crisis, this region, which is home to almost 2 billion people, is also grappling with the erosion of democratic norms, growing authoritarianism, the crackdown on freedom of press, speech and dissent.

Collectively Managing South Asia’s Stressed Water Resources

By Rafiqul Islam
Experts and policymakers here say regional cooperation is a must to resolve long-standing water problems in South Asian countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and to harness the full value of water.

Value of Water Is on the Rise

By Rafiqul Islam
In the wake of recent water-related disasters in Bangladesh, including water-logging and floods that displaced thousands of families, a high-level consultation in the capital Dhaka on valuing water will look at ways to optimize water use and solutions to water-related problems facing South Asia.

For South Asian Policy-Makers, Climate Migrants Still Invisible

By Manipadma Jena
Tasura Begum straightens up from picking a bushel of green chilis and looks at the mighty Padma River flowing by, wondering whose life it ruined today.

Hit by Extreme Weather, South Asia Balances Growth and Food Security

By Amantha Perera
Sri Lanka is literally baking these days.

OPINION: The Paris Killings – A Fatal Trap for Europe

By Roberto Savio
It is sad to see how a continent that was one cradle of civilisation is running blindly into a trap, the trap of a holy war with Islam – and that six Muslim terrorists were sufficient to bring that about.

OPINION: Step Up Efforts Against Hunger

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
At the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS), heads of government and the international community committed themselves to reducing the number of hungry people in the world by half. Five years later, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) lowered this level of ambition by only seeking to halve the proportion of the hungry.

Human Development Report Finds South Asia’s Poor on a Knife’s Edge

By Amantha Perera
Millions still live in poverty and even those who have gained the security of the middle-income bracket could relapse into poverty due to sudden changes to their economic fortunes in South Asia, the latest annual Human Development Report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) revealed.

New EU Rules ‘Fail’ Against Shipbreaking Dangers

By Ida Karlsson
Hundreds of European vessels are scrapped under hazardous conditions in South Asia every year. European parliamentarians have approved a new regulation to tackle the problem - but critics say it will have very limited impact.

South Asia in Search of Coordinated Climate Policy

By Amantha Perera
With a combined population of over 1.7 billion, which includes some of the world’s poorest but also a sizeable middle class with a growing spending capacity, South Asia is a policymaker’s nightmare.

U.S. “Rebalancing” to Asia/Pacific Still a Priority

By Jim Lobe
Amidst growing tensions with North Korea and, to a lesser extent, China, the White House Monday insisted that its “re-balancing” toward the Asia/Pacific remained on track and that Washington is fully committed to its allies there, especially Japan and South Korea.

Local Communities Stake Claim in Protecting Disaster-Prone Asia

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
From her half-built house, Ari Haryani takes a few steps to reach a freshly cemented path that snakes through the narrow, dusty walkways of this resettlement village. The path offers the 36-year-old a route to safety in case the nearby Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, erupts.
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The Frightening Scenario of the Nuclear War

By Ira Helfand*
Soon after President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, hundreds of leaders of the global medical community wrote an open letter to him, and to newly elected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, urging them to make the abolition of nuclear weapons their highest priority: