Introduction  In 2016, Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) selected corruption, shrinking civic space, and gender inequality as the common challenges across Asia that continue to plague and work against deepening the quality of democracy.  Against this background, ADRN published this special report to evaluate the current state of gender equality in the region by studying the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s mechanisms including law and regulations, public participation, and public governance. The report investigates pressing, contemporary questions such as: What is the state of gender equality in Asia? To what extent has each country achieved the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on gender equality? How can gender equality in Asia be strengthened? Drawing on a rich array of resources and data, this report offers country-specific analyses, highlights areas of improvement, and suggests policy recommendations for strengthening gender equality in Asia. Quotes from the Paper  "Women have a lower participation rate than men in politics and occupy fewer decision-making positions. The most important reason for these differences is people’s values. The majority of people do not accept women as leaders, especially in decision-making positions. Thai culture also gives women the responsibility of caring for their families, including child-raising duties. Thus, they do not have adequate time or opportunity to participate in social activities. (…) There are several mechanisms used to promote gender equality such as laws, policy, and the latest constitution. (…) The constitutional framework works to strengthen gender equality, but in terms of translating law and policy into practice there is still a big gap." - King Prajadhipok’s Institute "Taiwan has pursued gender equality for almost three decades. (…) Yet, in this Sustainable Development Goals 5 review, a number of issues have been identified as targets for improvement, such as some regulations in urgent need of revision, the cultivation of a gender-friendly culture in various spheres including the corporate world, and the full implementation of gender equality policies. Taiwan is quite unique in terms of the enthusiastic involvement of numerous NGOs in its gender equality campaign. (…) Taiwan’s government is also genuinely sincere in its efforts to comply with international practices of scheduled reviews on various covenants to fulfill the objectives within each agreement." - Taiwan Foundation for Democracy "The threats to democracy presented in this paper are directly related to women’s capacity (or lack thereof) to attain equality and non-discrimination. (…) Advocates recognize that moving forward towards gender equality is an ongoing struggle. Challenges include not only influencing policymakers, institutionalizing gains, and ensuring real implementation of laws and policies, but also strengthening women's groups by continuing to organize, build alliances, sharpen their strategies, and consolidate their ranks." - The International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance "Under Pakistan's Constitution, domestic laws, and international commitments, it is the duty of the State to investigate and prosecute violence against women as an obligation towards women's rights. (…) Increasing the availability of shelters for at-risk women and holding State parties accountable for the failure to act with due diligence in cases of women’s rights violations are the first steps needed ensure gender-sensitive rights to life and physical and mental integrity." - Jinnah Institute Authors  Various researchers from King Prajadhipok’s Institute, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance, and Jinnah Institute contributed to the research and writing of each report.  EAI provided support in the form of typesetting and proofreading for the production of the reports.    

Introduction  In 2016, Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) selected corruption, shrinking civic space, and gender inequality as the common challenges across Asia that continue to plague and work against deepening the quality of democracy. Against this background, ADRN published this special report to evaluate the current state of shrinking civic space in the region by studying the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s mechanisms including law and regulations, public participation, and public governance. The report investigates pressing, contemporary questions such as: What evidences suggest shrinking of civic space in Asia? What successes and failures has each country experienced in protecting civic space? What lessons can be drawn to suggest policy actions for expanding civic space? Drawing on a rich array of resources and data, this report offers country-specific analysis, highlights areas of improvement, and suggests policy recommendations for ensuring civic space in Asia.   Quotes from the Paper  "In recent decades, India has proven itself capable not only of preserving democracy, but of deepening and broadening it by moving to a more inclusive brand of politics. (…) However, there has been pushback against the progress made in terms of civic engagement. (…) This marks the need for the government to amplify its policy effort to create spaces where citizens may interact freely and peacefully." – Society for Participatory Research in Asia "The situation of civic spaces in Sri Lanka over the last decade can be categorized under two distinct time periods: from 2007 until 2015 and from 2015 to the present. (…) During the first period, there was an observable shrinking of civic spaces in Sri Lanka and notable threats to fundamental rights and freedoms. (…) The initiation of the second time period saw an inverse expansion of civic spaces and greater latitude for citizens to exercise fundamental rights and freedoms. However, this period has not seen the complete removal of prior threats to civic spaces. Whilst the government itself is not seen to violate these rights as egregiously as before, it has also allowed the country's culture of impunity to continue without meaningfully reinforcing or safeguarding these rights." - Centre for Policy Alternatives "Government actions that impede and discourage civil society organizations from functioning independently will only add to the burden of the government. Such government actions are seen as a violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by Pakistan's own constitution and the international conventions to which the country is a party. It is important that the government recognize the role of civil society and promote a culture of cooperation and trust rather than an environment of hostility." - South Asia Partnership Pakistan "All in all, the rising social divide affects the performance of democracy in various dimensions in Taiwan. The social divide has historical roots, but the China factor plays a decisive role in aggravating it. The China factor includes the rising political and military power of China, the more conservative and authoritarian trend of President Xi's term, and ongoing cross-strait economic integration that may hurt some low-skilled laborers in Taiwan. (…) As direct and indirect threats on civil society are both closely related to political developments in China, Taiwan cannot effectively solve the dilemma by itself without changes in China’s political sys-tem." - Asian Barometer & Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica "The Philippine government is legally required to create conditions - economic, political, social, cultural, and legal - that actively support the ability and capacity of individuals and/or associations to engage in civic activities." - DLSU Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance "Despite the National League Democracy’s landslide victory in the 2015 general election and its efforts in the democratization process, the national reconciliation and 2008 constitution pose barriers, and civic space is still curbed in the country. (…) There are many limitations and restrictions to fight against before ample civic space can be realized in the country." – Yangon School of Political Science   Authors  Various researchers from Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Centre for Policy Alternatives South Asia Partnership Pakistan, Asian Barometer & Institute of Political Science, Academia Sinica DLSU Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance, and Yangon School of Political Science contributed to the research and writing of each report. EAI provided support in the form of typesetting and proofreading for the production of the reports.    

Introduction  In 2016, Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) selected corruption, shrinking civic space, and gender inequality as the common challenges across Asia that continue to plague and work against deepening the quality of democracy.  Against this background, ADRN published this special report to evaluate the current state of corruption in the region by studying the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s mechanisms including law and regulations, public participation, and public governance. The report investigates pressing, contemporary questions such as: What is the state of corruption in Asia? What successes and failures has each country experienced in controlling corruption? How can state of corruption in Asia be improved? Drawing on a rich array of resources and data, this report offers country-specific analysis, highlights areas of improvement, and suggests policy recommendations for clean governance in Asia.   Quotes from the Paper  “South Korea poses a corruption paradox. A large number of Koreans believe that the country is corrupt, but few Koreans have had the experience of paying a bribe. Instead, corruption in South Korea is perceived to exist at the institutional level; president, national assembly, police, tax officials, judiciary, and other public officials are deemed to be corrupt.” – East Asia Institute “This paper aims to make the argument that this increasing level of corruption has resulted in dwindling public trust in the ruling government. (…) The voting trends of the previous two elections are significant indicators of an increasing public demand for higher levels of accountability and transparency in government.” - Institute for Democracy and Economic Affair “Mongolia is a country where politics, especially involving top government officials, plays an almost-too-important role in all sectors. As a result, government policies and actions are failing to serve as a good governance model. (…) Mongolia must resolve its issues concerning institutionalization in the public sector, activation of civil society, and current economic conditions.” – Academy of Political Education “Public pressure for action against corruption has failed to translate into a stronger sys-tem of accountability for corruption by the executive. (…) In this context, strengthening horizontal accountability in Sri Lanka will entail enhancing the structural and operational autonomy of anti-corruption institutions from the executive.” - Verité Research “Pakistan has experimented with a number of models to address the menace of white-collar corruption. One major weakness in the laws controlling these institutions was the unbridled power of the ruling party to appoint and remove the heads of these institutions. A major improvement in the law governing the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was introduced through the National Accountability Ordinance of 2002 when the appointment of the NAB Chairman was required to be made through a bipartisan process involving consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.” - Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency “The overarching issues of political independence; protection of witnesses, complainants and victims; public participation in anti-corruption measures; and providing anti-corruption education to the public must be given priority in reforming anti-corruption institutions in Myanmar.” - Sandhi Governance Institute   Authors  Various researchers from East Asia Institute, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Academy of Political Education, Verité Research, Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, and Sandhi Governance Institute contributed to the research and writing of each report.  EAI provided support in the form of typesetting and proofreading for the production of the reports.    

Introduction   Over the last two years EAI has been working with civil society organizations in Myanmar as a part of the “Strengthening Civil Society in Myanmar” program, which builds off of the previous “Building Civil Society Capacity in Myanmar through Budget Monitoring” project. As part of this program, seven Myanmar partner organizations, Sandhi Governance Institute, the Open Myanmar Initiative, the Yangon School of Political Science, Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society, Salween Institute for Public Policy, Another Development, and Naushawng Development Institute, conducted research on current policy issues in Myanmar. Each organization focused on a different aspect of government policy and investigated the current status and potential changes that could be made to improve the nation’s governance.   Sandhi Governance Institute researched the changes in budget execution in the Myanmar national legislature before and after the new administration. The Open Myanmar Initiative focused on the role of committees in the assessment of the government budget. The Yangon School of Political Science explored the policy and administration of constituent development funds in the Yangon region. Yone Kyi Yar looked at the tender process for construction projects in Mandalay. Salween Institute for Public Policy examined the implementation and impact of the Yangon City Development Committee’s new policy on street vending. Another Development assessed the impact of community-based tourism initiatives in the areas of Myaing and Thandaunggyi, and Naushawng Development Institute studied national education policy regarding Kachin students who live in areas controlled by the Kachin Independence Organization. All of these reports are valuable as they represent one of the first steps in revealing the current state of governance in Myanmar and will assist civil society and other stakeholders in improving governance and creating good policy.   Quotes from the Paper   “Nevertheless, compared to Myanmar’s previous governments, budget execution has improved greatly… According to the township officers, people are using social media sites such as Facebook to reveal corruption among government officials and staff. Naturally, this habit helps to reduce corrupt behavior. The township officers interviewed also feel that accountability and transparency are important to improving the credibility of the government.”- Sandhi Governance Institute   “Regarding the committee sys-tem, OMI finds that a link between the budget assessment teams and the existing house committees, which run throughout the entire year, is lacking. As a result, there seems to be a lack of scrutiny regarding the government’s implementation of the budget by different ministries. This lack of scrutiny or oversight places the role of the existing committee sys-tem into question.” – Open Myanmar Initiative   “Although Myanmar’s CDF Law and Procedure tries to shield against corruption and the misuse of the CDF by MPs and Committee Members, it should also include more detailed provisions for forming committees and outlining the responsibilities of those committees and of committee members.” – Yangon School of Political Science   “…certain private firms are prohibited access to information about procurement, many civil servants are unqualified or lack knowledge about the process, public offices lack computers, payment sys-tems are burdensome and outdated, and so on. At the same time, there is a rising demand from the public for the government to deliver effective healthcare, education and infrastructure services. Public sector reform has become crucial for the NLD. However, Myanmar lacks sys-temic knowledge or research that can guide effective reform.” – Yone Kyi Yar   “A majority of street vendors surveyed stated that the YCDC also needs to review its relocation plan because some street vendors are getting more space by giving bribes to the authorities. As a result, there is a lack of equality among street vendors who are working in the new places and sometimes it leads to quarrelling and arguing among street vendors.” – Salween Institute for Public Policy   “The CBT initiatives of Myaing and Thandaunggyi are seen to be in line with almost all of the CBT principles set by ASEAN, but neither of the initiatives seems to be paying much attention to linking their existing CBT developments to the local and regional economic growth. The degree to which national and local governments work together to create an ideal niche for Myanmar in supporting the growth of tourism and in particular its value chain could be strengthened.”- Another Development   “Despite their importance, health and education issues have not been part of the discussion during the peace process. More progress has to be made regarding education and health in order to raise these issues in the peace process and political dialogue…. Otherwise, many Kachin students, especially those from KIO-controlled areas, will continue to face difficulties joining schools in government-controlled areas, losing their dreams as they are left behind.” –Naushawng Development Institute         Authors Various personnel from Sandhi Governance Institute, the Open Myanmar Initiative, the Yangon School of Political Science, Yone Kyi Yar Knowledge Propagation Society, Salween Institute for Public Policy, Another Development, and Naushawng Development Institute contributed to the research and writing of each report. Professor Jae Hyeok Shin (Korea University), Dr. Kaustuv Kanti Bandyopadhyay of Participatory Research in Asia (India), Dr. Thawilwadee Bureekul of King Prajadhipok’s Institute (Thailand), Dr. Tobias Basuki of Center for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia), Ms. Maxine Tanya Hamada of INCITEgov (Philippines), Mr. Ryan Evangelista of the Center for International Private Enterprise (Philippines), and Dr. Alexander Dukalskis of University College Dublin all provided input and feedback on the reports. EAI provided support in the form of typesetting and proofreading for the production of the reports.      

  ADRN “Sharing Our Practices for Better Governance” 아홉 번째 인터뷰 동영상은 태국 프라폭끄라오학원(King Prajadhipok’s Institute)에서 제작했습니다. 프라폭끄라오학원은 루엔그라위 피차이클(Ruengrawee Pichaikul) 젠더발전연구소(Gender and Development Research Institute) 소장을 모시고 인터뷰를 진행했습니다. 본 인터뷰에서 피차이클 소장은 비록 태국이 헌법상으로는 성차별을 금지하고 있지만 여성 정치인들은 남성 정치인에 비해 현실적인 제약을 많이 받는다고 설명했습니다. 젠더발전연구소는 현재 여성 단체 멤버들이 정부기관들과 정치이슈에 대해 대화할 수 있는 소통의 장을 준비하고 있으며 정계뿐만 아니라 시민사회 내에서도 양성평등의 가치를 전파할 수 있도록 노력하고 있습니다. 피차이클 소장은 좀 더 나은 양성평등을 이루기 위해서는 성별에 대한 고정관념을 타파할 수 있도록 청소년 교육이 실시되어야 할 뿐 아니라 정치인들도 인식을 바꿔야 한다고 강조했습니다.      

  ADRN “Sharing Our Practices for Better Governance” 시리즈의 여덟번째 동영상입니다. 미얀마의 싱크탱크 Yangon School of Political Science (YSPS)에서 미얀마 하원의원 중 한명인 아예 먀 먀 묘를 인터뷰하였습니다. 미얀마의회는 잦은 시민들과의 만남을 통해 법과 정책을 결정하기 위해 노력중이며, 아직 시작하는 과정이지만 꽤 긍정적인 성과를 보이고 있다고 합니다.      

  ADRN “Sharing Our Practices for Better Governance” 시리즈의 일곱 번째 인터뷰는 필리핀 Jesse M. Robredo Institute of Governance 에서 제작하였습니다. 인터뷰를 한 사람은 크리스 아블란(Kris Ablan)이며, 2017년 현재 대통령 통신운영부서(Communications Operations Office) 에서 차관보를 맡고 있습니다. 필리핀에서는 기존 서류 베이스로 이루어지던 정책결정 작업을 웹 베이스로 변경하였고, 이로 인해 주민들의 보다 직접적인 정치참여가 가능해졌다고 합니다. 또한 섬으로 이루어진 국가인 만큼 지역간 정보공유가 가장 문제로 지적되어왔는데, 이를 해결하는 데에 큰 역할을 하였다고 합니다.      

  ADRN “Sharing Our Practices for Better Governance” 시리즈의 다섯 번째 인터뷰는 대만의 Academia Sinica/Asian Barometer 에서 제작한 정치학과 교수 시오우 두안 황(Shiow-duan, Haung)의 인터뷰입니다. 황교수는 2007년 설립된 대만의 시민의회모니터링(Citizen Congress Watch: CCW) 시민단체의 단체장을 맡고 있습니다. CCW는 의회의 입법활동을 국민들에게 공개할 수 있는 것을 목표로 활동하여 성공적인 결과를 얻어냈고, 그 결과 그 전에 비해 국민들이 정치에 보다 긍정적인 이미지를 갖게 되었으며, 정치인들은 의회활동에 더욱 열심히 참여하게 되었다고 합니다.