Heinrich Böll Foundation | Southeast Asia Regional Office

Welcome to hbs Southeast Asia

ABS-CBN Struggles to Stay as 'Kapamilya Forever'

The recent shutdown of broadcast giant ABS-CBN is but one of the pieces of mounting evidence—arguably the most damning—of how fragile the state of media freedom in the Philippines has become under President Rodrigo Duterte.

By Yvonne T. Chua

Recent Articles

Just, Inclusive, and Sustainable Post-COVID-19 Recovery

Article

Two months ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic with 4,801,202 cases and more than 318,935 deaths as a result of the coronavirus as of current writing. The last few months have been daunting with COVID-19 almost paralyzed the entire world with various countries putting different areas under their jurisdiction in lockdowns.

By Jed Alegado

Environmental Impact Assessment in Southeast Asia

Research

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been established in Southeast Asia for over 40 years. Each ASEAN Member State, with the exception of Singapore, has a formal and legally binding system of environmental impact assessment for major project that may have a significant environmental or social impact.

By Matthew Baird

Double Repression: Lockdown Measures in Bangladesh and Its Impact on Informal Sector Workers

Article

Bangladesh is one of the World’s most densely populated countries with a total population of around 170 million. Bangladesh had its first case of COVID-19 reported on 7 March 2020. The spread of infections saw a steep rise in April. As of May 1, there are a total of 8238 confirmed cases, and 170 deaths in the country (IEDCR). Experts have warned that the number of test conducted is largely insufficient, which may lead to a humanitarian crisis in terms of public health.

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Communities Resisting Internationally Financed Development Projects

Article

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed how we all work and live. In the last two months, measures like social distancing, working from home, proper handwashing, wearing masks and personal protective equipment, have permeated our daily lives. Governments of different countries have encouraged adoption of these measures to contain the spread of the virus which can be lethal, has no known cure yet, and is highly communicable.

By Carmina Flores-Obanil

“The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide"

Interview

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the global economy are dramatic. The virus is shaking all major economies simultaneously. At the same time, the crisis is acting as an accelerator for the developing countries that were already highly in debt. An Interview with Barbara Unmüßig, President of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, on the latest developments.

Volleyball: A Safe Space for the LGBT Community to Play

Article

Where the Philippines sits on the gender equality and LGBT rights spectrum can be very confusing for many who are not familiar with the country’s culture. It can feel like being in a time machine that takes you from the 18th century to the 21st in a matter of hours. Sports like volleyball are an equalizing factor, serving as a safe space for the LGBT community.

By Ana P. Santos

Cement and the Kendeng Mountains

Broader Legal Horizon for Kendeng Communities’ Campaigns for Environmental Rights

Analysis

This article offers the choices for local communities in the Kendeng Mountain range in Central Java Indonesia to expand their campaign to regain their environmental rights based on experiences from other communities in the world.

By Yanuar Sumarlan

Threatened Biodiversity and Empty Wombs: Climate Change and Women’s Plight in Central Java

Fighting for the Next Generations

Kendeng Movement: Speak Up for Mother Earth!

From Kendeng with Love: Seven Messages from Pati

Gunarti and The Kendeng Women Movement

Dirty Cement: The Case of Indonesia

Climate Crisis happened, we have to take action before it's too late.

Nguy Thi Khanh - Vietnam

We have to reduce plastic usage and consumption in our society.

Tara Buakamsri - Thailand

We are in a Climate Crisis and the way these big projects are coming at us, we need to counter this with our own development agenda.

Rayyan Hassan - The Philippines

For the rest of our life, fight hard in saving Mother Earth. That's the only chance that we have.

Dr. Dewi Candraningrum - Indonesia

Dossier: 70 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 - 2018

Click Here for Articles and Videos on 70 Years of UDHR

The UDHR and Migrant Workers Rights in ASEAN - Jolovan Wham

The UDHR and Human Rights in ASEAN - Dr. Dinna Wisnu

The UDHR and Democracy in ASEAN - Dr. Naruemon Thambhumpon

The UDHR and LGBTI Rights in ASEAN - Dr. Dédé Oetomo

Human Rights After Seventy Years: The View from the South

Article

Seventy years after the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and twenty-five years of the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programmes of Action (VDPA), human rights are found in country’s constitutions and also incorporated in regional instruments. However, there is no issue as heated as the universality character of human rights.

By Yuyun Wahyuningrum

Rethinking the Mobility (and Immobility) of Queer Rights in Southeast Asia: A Provocation

Article

Seventy years since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly, what we have witnessed is that its claim of universality has been consistently challenged. While all human beings are deemed born automatically free with equal rights, the very definition of human itself in practice is not always neutral.

By Hendri Yulius

Messages in the Social Media Bottle

Article

In the Southeast Asian region, the Philippines tops the list as the highest in terms of remittances from their exported labor. In 2015, the country received more than US$30 billion in remittances — which makes it the third highest in the entire world. While many of the emerging economies as well as industrialized nations rely on these remittances and foreign workers, many stories filter out from certain nations of exploitation and abuse inflicted upon these migrant workers.

By Jose Santos P. Ardivilla

Human Rights Against Populism: A Progressive Response to the Politics of Duterte and Mahathir

Article

As the world celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 2018–2019, the region of Southeast Asia highlights two compelling political phenomena: the emergent ‘authoritarian populism’ of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines and the return to the ‘Asian Values’ of Mahathir Mohamad in Malaysia.

By Bonn Juego

Ecology & Social Justice

Energy Transition in Southeast Asia and Vietnam's Role as ASEAN Chair 2020

Pollinator-Friendly Yards: How You Can Help Protect Pollinators

Our Alliance Next Door: We Need to Save Bees or Perish with Them

Enabling an Equal World for Indigenous Women in the Time of Climate Crisis

Democracy & Participation

Crisis is gendered. Women in the times of pandemic

The Twists and Turns of Coalition Politics in Timor-Leste and Malaysia: Are We Moving to the Right Direction?

The Future is now! On the relevance of the Beijing Platform for Action today

COVID-19: Tips for a Saner Digital Diet in These Viral Times

Articles and Podcasts on 50 Years of ASEAN

Blogs

Air Quality Measurement - Click here to follow our station!

ASEAN explained in 5 Minutes

50 Years of ASEAN - Still Waiting for Social and Ecological Justice

Within 50 years of existence, ASEAN has made progress on environmental policies – at least on paper. On the ground, paradigms around economic development and growth still shape realities of the people who find it literally harder and harder to breathe.

Forest fires and the haze, daily traffic routines and large-scale industry make the extent of environmental damage in Southeast Asia visible. In this podcast series, we look behind ASEAN´s promises to be sustainable and people-oriented and find that the institution still falls short of social and ecological justice.

State of Democracy in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia: Where Democracy is Much More Than A Vote

Podcast

Welcome to this podcast by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. It is part of the ’State of Democracy in Southeast Asia’ series, and this is your host, Johanna Son. In this episode, we take a look at the elections lined up in the region. Can democratic mechanisms like elections lead to more authoritarian rule? We step back to look at what this trend says about the quality of the democracies in our midst.

By Johanna Son

The State of Democracy in Southeast Asia

Article

While observers of the state of democracy agree that democracy has been in decline in the recent years, its trajectory in the Southeast Asian region has at least shown mixed results. Elections are still treated as the ultimate yardstick for “democracy” in Southeast Asia.

By Deasy Simandjuntak

Publication

Recent Publications

Community Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) was established to provide financing for infrastructure projects across Asia. The bank hit the ground running in 2015 with a bold agenda to create a “lean, clean and green” multilateral development bank for the 21^st century. That vision included a commitment to create an Environmental and Social Framework containing policies that would bind the bank, and standards that AIIB clients are expected to uphold in their projects. In late 2018, the AIIB took the next step towards accountability when it approved its policy for the Project-affected People’s Mechanism, which facilities dispute resolution or investigates the bank’s compliance with its environmental and social policies.

pdf

Recommendations on the Protection of Those who Exercise Their Rights and Freedoms from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participations

Study

Public participation is held to be a political principle and practice that forms an important basis of democratic society. The constitutions of Thailand, especially the 1997 Constitution, have guaranteed various rights and freedoms to create an opportunity for the public participation of the people, such as the freedom to express opinions, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to petition, community rights and the right to participate in the management of resources.

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Reportage Around ASEAN-related Issues: A Tip Sheet

ASEAN. Journalists and editors might love it, hate it – or flee from being asked to work on stories related to it. But regionalism in the ASEAN region is a running story of public interest that is here to stay, so we might as well know the beast better, so to speak.

This tip sheet is an invitation to do just that, and take a deep dive into issues around ASEAN.

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Safeguarding People and the Environment in Chinese Investments (Second Edition): A Reference Guide for Advocates

This publication provides a practical guide to the policies, standards and guidelines for Chinese outbound investment. The updated guide builds on our 2017 edition, adding new details on the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s new vision for enhancing global connectivity, along with updates to administrative guidance from China’s central state agencies on outbound investment. It also covers new guidelines on rubber, agriculture, infrastructure projects and more. The guide explains the key actors involved in Chinese overseas investment and describes the environmental and social standards and guidelines that apply. It provides practical tips on how these standards can be used in advocacy with relevant Chinese actors and institutions.

pdf

Afraid of the Light: Unmasking the Discourse on Irregular Migration and Its Implications for Migration Governance in ASEAN

This paper attempts to investigate the issue of irregular migration in the ASEAN region. The space and attention given to a burgeoning reality of irregular migration is yet to be given its due space at national policy-level and regional discussions. The primary objective of the paper is to function as a baseline study for future advocacy on protection of the rights of undocumented migrants in the region. Primarily, it focuses on the governance of migration, or the lack thereof, by contextualising the current status of irregular migrants in major destination countries of the ASEAN region, being Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

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ATLASES

Plastic Atlas

Plastic is ubiquitous: we use it for life-saving medical devices, clothing, toys and cosmetics; we use it in agriculture and industry. But we also know the growing risk of plastic waste in the environment, landfills and the oceans.

pdf

Agrifood Atlas – Facts and figures about the corporations that control what we eat

The list of the world’s largest 500 companies by turnover contains a huge number of firms engaged in agriculture and food. And the trend continues towards a further concentration of power. Agrifood corporations are driving industrialization along the entire global value chain, from farm to plate. Their purchasing and sales policies promote a form of agriculture that revolves around productivity. The fight for market share is achieved at the expense of the weakest links in the chain: farmers, and workers.

pdf

Soil Atlas: Facts and figures about earth, land and fields

We are using the world’s soils as if they were inexhaustible, continually withdrawing from an account, but never paying in. For it takes several thousand years to build a thin layer of fertile topsoil, but only an hour of heavy rain to lose it. The average European needs 1.3 hectares – two football pitches – to produce all of the food and other products he or she consumes each year. That is about six times more than is available to each Bangladeshi. Almost 60 percent of the area consumed by Europeans lies outside the European Union.

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Ocean Atlas: Understanding the threats to our marine ecosystems

Without the ocean there would be no life on our planet. But the future of this unique ecosystem faces a grave threat today. The Ocean Atlas 2017 delivers with its 18 contributions and 50 graphics the relevant facts and figures about the ocean.

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Coal Atlas: Facts and figures on a fossil fuel

Global demand for coal is still rising: EU member states have been reluctant to take action against coal projects and continue to subsidize coal related business with almost 10 billion euros per year. King Coal also generates 43 percent of Germany’s total energy.

Our Coal Atlas contains the latest facts and figures on the use of coal and its environmental and social consequences. With more than 60 detailed graphics, the atlas illustrates the coal industry’s impact on nature, health, labour, human rights and politics.

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Meat Atlas

The publication sheds light on the impacts of meat and dairy production, and aims to catalyse the debate over the need for better, safer and more sustainable food and farming.

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ABS-CBN Struggles to Stay as 'Kapamilya Forever'

Recent Articles

Just, Inclusive, and Sustainable Post-COVID-19 Recovery

Environmental Impact Assessment in Southeast Asia

Double Repression: Lockdown Measures in Bangladesh and Its Impact on Informal Sector Workers

Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic on Frontline Communities Resisting Internationally Financed Development Projects

“The Pandemic Is Deepening the Divide"

Volleyball: A Safe Space for the LGBT Community to Play

Cement and the Kendeng Mountains

Broader Legal Horizon for Kendeng Communities’ Campaigns for Environmental Rights

Threatened Biodiversity and Empty Wombs: Climate Change and Women’s Plight in Central Java

Fighting for the Next Generations

Kendeng Movement: Speak Up for Mother Earth!

From Kendeng with Love: Seven Messages from Pati

Gunarti and The Kendeng Women Movement

Dirty Cement: The Case of Indonesia

Interview Videos on Climate Change

Dossier: 70 Years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 - 2018

The UDHR and Migrant Workers Rights in ASEAN - Jolovan Wham

The UDHR and Human Rights in ASEAN - Dr. Dinna Wisnu

The UDHR and Democracy in ASEAN - Dr. Naruemon Thambhumpon

The UDHR and LGBTI Rights in ASEAN - Dr. Dédé Oetomo

Human Rights After Seventy Years: The View from the South

Rethinking the Mobility (and Immobility) of Queer Rights in Southeast Asia: A Provocation

Messages in the Social Media Bottle

Human Rights Against Populism: A Progressive Response to the Politics of Duterte and Mahathir

Ecology & Social Justice

Energy Transition in Southeast Asia and Vietnam's Role as ASEAN Chair 2020

Pollinator-Friendly Yards: How You Can Help Protect Pollinators

Our Alliance Next Door: We Need to Save Bees or Perish with Them

Enabling an Equal World for Indigenous Women in the Time of Climate Crisis

Democracy & Participation

Crisis is gendered. Women in the times of pandemic

The Twists and Turns of Coalition Politics in Timor-Leste and Malaysia: Are We Moving to the Right Direction?

The Future is now! On the relevance of the Beijing Platform for Action today

COVID-19: Tips for a Saner Digital Diet in These Viral Times

Heinrich Böll (1917-1985)

ASEAN explained in 5 Minutes

50 Years of ASEAN - Still Waiting for Social and Ecological Justice

State of Democracy in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia: Where Democracy is Much More Than A Vote

The State of Democracy in Southeast Asia

Publication

Recent Publications

Community Guide to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Recommendations on the Protection of Those who Exercise Their Rights and Freedoms from Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participations

Reportage Around ASEAN-related Issues: A Tip Sheet

Safeguarding People and the Environment in Chinese Investments (Second Edition): A Reference Guide for Advocates

Afraid of the Light: Unmasking the Discourse on Irregular Migration and Its Implications for Migration Governance in ASEAN

ATLASES

Plastic Atlas

Agrifood Atlas – Facts and figures about the corporations that control what we eat

Soil Atlas: Facts and figures about earth, land and fields

Ocean Atlas: Understanding the threats to our marine ecosystems

Coal Atlas: Facts and figures on a fossil fuel

Meat Atlas