The 10th issue of Perspectives Asia takes a look at how the pandemic is reshaping state/society relationships in different Asian countries; it also shares down-to-earth Covid-19 experiences from different regions and cultures, on issues as diverse as trust in government institutions, the situation of migrant workers, and gender relationships. 

The Debt Relief for Green and Inclusive Recovery initiative of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Centre for Sustainable Finance at SOAS University London and the Boston University Global Development Policy Center presents its current refined proposal for concerted and comprehensive debt relief at the global level to promote a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

About half the people in the world have the capacity to become pregnant. Yet there is still no contraceptive that is 100 percent effective. This means half of all people are potentially at risk of getting pregnant unintentionally.

Although political debates were for the most part overshadowed by the Corona crisis at the beginning of 2021, this E-Paper wants to address the question of how the European Union could find its place in a more competitive world. The buzzwords of this debate were the concepts of strategic autonomy and strategic sovereignty of the EU.

Specifically developed and designed for a young international audience, the digital book "Unpacked! Plastic, Waste, & Me" answers 70 questions about plastic in colorful infographics and six true stories. Book designer and author Gesine Grotrian and a team of experts from the Heinrich Böll Foundation together with an advisory board of young people from all over the world have created an exciting non-fiction book for young people aged 12 and over.

Evolving around the main essay “Sharing life. The Ecopolitics of Reciprocity”, all contributions to this assemblage reflect a common understanding that ecology and biodiversity needs to be reclaimed – and constantly generated – as a process of lived and living realities in a system of reciprocal relationships.

The paper proceeds by setting out pertinent aspects of the South African context and the key role of its electricity sector in contributing to the country’s worsening debt profile.

Over the past few decades, market-based finance has become central to the global financial system. Huge volumes of financial instruments are traded on a daily basis. In an effort to improve access to global financial markets for African countries, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) – in cooperation with the asset management firm PIMCO – has proposed setting up a Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF). This is designed to create a Special Purpose Vehicle to subsidise private sector investment in African sovereign debt. The LSF would be financed by official development assistance (ODA), multilateral development banks and/or by the central banks of members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

In 2020, a number of international conferences and talks marking the 25th anniversary of the Dayton Accords brought the country back into the international spotlight. On this occasion, the Heinrich Böll Foundation's office in Sarajevo captured numerous voices on how to deal with the dysfunctional system.

The paper gives an overview of the structure and functioning of the EITI, the implementation of the EITI in Germany and assesses the content of the EITI reports so far from a civil society perspective.