Asia

Dr. Andrea Fleschenberg dos Ramos Pinéu visited Kabul in April, June, September 2007 and March 2008, working as a research consultant for Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Kabul Office (in cooperation with UNIFEM) and conducting training workshops, a lecture series as well as interviews with female and male parliamentarians and civil society members.

German fractions in the debate about military deployment of international and German troops always pretend to care about the Afghans´opinion. In fact they seem to ignore their real interests. A study of the Berlins Free University´s political science department comes to similar conclusions.

Acute or latent conflicts jeopardise the political stability of numerous Asian countries. Even in countries that have so far been considered stable, violent conflict could flare up at any given moment.

Mainly in the 1990s, Southeast Asian countries have seen a wave of democratisation. At present this process of stabilisation and the further development of the democracies in Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, is on the verge of subsiding.

Through their social and political empowerment women in Asia have actively determined their own lives – notwithstanding traditionally inclined societies that define the general living conditions of women, often at the cost of equal and self-determined opportunities.

The ecosystems in far reaching regions of Asia are severely endangered. The heedless exploitation of natural resources and the incessant destruction of nature threaten the basic living standards of vast numbers of people.