Asia

In this interview Dr. C. Kek Pung, founder and president of the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights talks about the main problems in Cambodia: land grabbing, poverty, trafficking and corruption. Even the EU has not taken any action to prevent injustices of the system and is still importing Cambodian "blood sugar".

Nobody expects free and fair elections in Cambodia. Dr. C. Kek Pung from the NGO LICADHO explains the irregularities of the electoral process and risks people take when observing the elections.

Given the candidacy of so many sons of leading CPP politicians – having a son and a son-in-law of Hun Sen in parliament is among their aspirations – the ruling party can therefore fully concentrate on establishing a new Cambodian dynasty. It has little to do with a liberal democracy.

In recognition of growing importance of the natural resources, in particular the extractive sector, in future economy of Afghanistan, the Civil Society Natural Resources Monitoring Network (CSNRMN) called upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for more meaningful and constructive engagement between the government and the civil society and local communities.

Kabul women have two main fears when moving through public spaces: suicide bombers and harassment. Although the risks associated with harassment are less severe than those of a suicide attack, the everyday threat of harassment creates considerable anxiety amongst women. As part of the safety audit, women were asked how they would feel when confronted with various situations when walking down the street

Kabul women have two main fears when moving through public spaces: suicide bombers and harassment. Although the risks associated with harassment are less severe than those of a suicide attack, the everyday threat of harassment creates considerable anxiety amongst women. As part of the safety audit, women were asked how they would feel when confronted with various situations when walking down the street.

Heinrich Böll Stiftung and National Commission on the Status of Women jointly organized one day round table meeting on 12th April 2013, where more than 22 eminent women from civil society, women organizations, gender experts, media, EU representatives and government have participated and actively took part in the discussion.

After 20 years in Lahore, we are opening a new chapter of our work here in the capital and we are glad to have all of you with us. The motto of this evening, as you can see on the banner here behind me, is “The journey continues”. It’s a very appropriate motto because it shows that the Heinrich Böll Foundation is – like Pakistan – on the move without forgetting its roots.  

In 2012 the head office Berlin decided to shift the Lahore office to Islamabad because of the shift in its worldwide policy to move the HBS offices to the capital cities in order to be close to the political arena. Therefore we had an official opening in Islamabad on the 6th of February 2013.

The “Everything but Arms” trade initiative should bring benefit to the poeple of Cambodia, but the opposite is the case. Illegal methods were established to make profits out of the duty-free export of sugar. Even though there is a EU resolution emphasizing the critical escalation of human rights abuses and land grabbing due to the export of agricultural products, the resulting efforts of the EU are poor.