Asia

Indonesia will be able to play a leading role in the fight against climate change, and gets a global significance. To that end, a political leadership is needed which is able to promote consistency between the declared commitment shown in international forums and genuine implementation efforts. This e-paper shows how this can be achieved.

The toolkit discusses key issues to revisit for debate and action, spotlights and to-dos which can help in improving effective women’s political participation like, reforms in intra-party structure, electoral modalities, and establish intr-party equality in addition to rethink political culture and ensure accountabilities and compliances.

The alignment of G20 policies with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is high on the Indian agenda. This paper examines the three areas energy and climate policy; sustainable and inclusive economic growth; and gender equality.

Year 2015 had defined the future agenda of renewable energy (RE) for the coming decades. As regards, the UN General Assembly adopted “Affordable and Clean Energy” as a sustainable development goal. Later, historic Paris Agreement suggested to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 which is impossible without large-scale RE production. The year 2016 also witnessed record level of RE investment and capacity addition indicating a strong business case in future. Even though, RE has been termed vital to achieve sustainable development goals, some challenges still persist, especially in developing counties, including Pakistan. Third in a series – this policy paper not only discusses the barriers hampering wind power growth in Pakistan but also provides various policy and capacity building tools to overcome problems in areas such as: a) effective management of renewable energy integration; b) better understanding for RE costs and tariff determination; and c) financial modelling techniques for better financial close.  

In terms of having water resources, Afghanistan has a considerable advantage in comparison to its neighbors. However, war and other various factors have limited the country’s ability to make use of these resources. Water infrastructure—including dams, water storage tanks, irrigation and water supply networks, hydrometric stations and metrology systems, and sewage and sanitation systems—is limited and inefficient.

In recent years, the role and position of civil society organizations in dealing with local and regional crises are seen considering a new approach that requires finding common grounds, exchange of ideas and cooperation among civil society organizations functional in that specific region. Afghanistan and Pakistan have had complex and at times fragile political and security relations and in the meanwhile the two countries are tied in an unavoidable and undeniable trade and economic interdependency.

Iraqi and Syrian Kurds have gained increasing international recognition for their efforts in combating ISIS and some observers conclude that the conditions for an independent Kurdistan have never been as favorable as they are now. What are the prospects for a Kurdish nation state?

During the last decade, there has been growing awareness of the issue of sexual and gender-based violence during the Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime.

Afghanistan is not short of policy documents that provide a framework to tackle issues related to climate change, even though a national development strategy on climate change is missing. What is most problematic is an overarching lack of capacity that limits progress when it comes to the actual  application of the policies and implementation of plans.

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung is a German foundation and part of the Green political movement that has developed worldwide as a response to the traditional politics of socialism, liberalism, and conservatism. Our main tenets are ecology and sustainability, democracy and human rights, self-determination and justice. We place particular emphasis on gender democracy, meaning social emancipation and equal rights for women and men. We are also committed to equal rights for cultural and ethnic minorities. Finally, we promote non-violence and proactive peace policies. To achieve our goals, we seek strategic partnerships with others who share our values. Our namesake, Heinrich Böll, personifies the values we stand for: protection of freedom, civic courage, tolerance, open debate, and the valuation of art and culture as independent spheres of thought and action.