The East-West Center and Internews’ Earth Journalism Network, in partnership with the Stimson Center, are jointly offering Fellowships to journalists from Mekong Basin countries that aim to strengthen their data-journalism skills and support data-driven investigations into water security challenges and solutions in the Mekong region.  The Fellowship will provide selected Fellows the opportunity to gain an increased understanding of issues related to ...

This year has been rough for the 70 million people who call the Mekong River basin home:  a severe drought rocked the region for months before yielding to deadly flooding.  The Mekong slowed to its lowest level in recorded history, knocking the world’s largest freshwater fishery—Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake—out of ...

CHIANG KHONG, Thailand: From February to April each year, Kam Thon spends most of her days knee-deep in the waters of the Mekong River by her village in northern Thailand, gathering river weed to sell and cook at home. Kam Thon and other women who live ...

The third International Wildlife Trade Conference opened in Hanoi on November 17 with the participation of 47 countries, the European Union, 7 international organisations and over 40 inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations. Vietnam’s Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh; Laos’ Deputy Prime Minister Sonxay Siphandone; the UK’s ...

Customs authorities should work quickly to adopt an envisioned online registration system for cross-border cargo shipments that would expedite delivery and cut out pesky middlemen who tack on unofficial fees, Transport Minister Sun Chanthol said on December 5. “Online registration is important because right now ...

Ian G. Baird, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on dams in Southeast Asia, tells of meeting a farmer  and his five-year-old son from a village in rural Laos in 2009. The two were sitting in a canoe as the sun rose ...

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released their annual ranking of the global state of press freedom earlier this month and Countries in Southeast Asia did poorly—none of the 11 countries in the ASEAN bloc scored above RSF’s “difficult situation” designation. RSF ranks countries based on a questionnaire given to ...

Businesses in Southeast Asia are increasingly counting the cost of land grabs, more than half of which result in delayed projects and nearly three-quarters of which lead to lawsuits, according to a wide-ranging research report. Out of a sample of 51 major land disputes surveyed across ...

Setting fire to forest and agricultural land in Southeast Asia to prepare it for cultivation or grazing contributes to an estimated 59,000 premature deaths a year, say scientists. Their analysis reveals that the greatest health impact from the burning, which releases tiny particles into the air ...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will recommit the United States on a visit to Bangkok to supporting the development of Southeast Asian nations in the face of a rising China, an official said Thursday. Pompeo will travel to the Thai capital for the July 29-August 3 ...

A U.S.-funded project using satellites to track and publish water levels at Chinese dams on the Mekong river was announced on Monday, adding to the superpowers’ rivalry in Southeast Asia. The 4,350-km (2,700-mile) waterway – known as the Lancang in China and flowing south through Myanmar, ...

The Mekong is once again at historical lows. The Mekong River Commission (MRC) gauge at Phnom Penh Port shows river level to be four metres below average for this time of year – and lower than last year’s record. This gauge is measuring river level on ...

What is REDD+? REDD+ is a voluntary program intended to help developing countries contribute to climate change mitigation efforts. In order to do this, countries undergo three phases: preparation, implementation, and measurement and evaluation.1 It is a complex process and to date, in the Mekong Region, ...

As the most developed countries in the region, Thailand and Vietnam lead the Lower Mekong in their adoption, accessibility and investment in science and technology. Thailand is also the only Lower Mekong country to rank on UNESCO’s Atlas of research and experimental development. While all ...

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is a category of cross-border investment in which an investor resident in one economy establishes a lasting interest in, and retains a significant degree of influence over an enterprise resident in another economy. FDI involves capital flows from one country to ...

The countries of the Lower Mekong are moving from largely agrarian fishing and farming, to agro-industrial sectors where people farm cash crops rather than those that directly supply their families’ needs. While there are many crops and food products across the region, rice and fish ...

Across Southeast Asia, wild animals are being hunted out of existence to feed growing demand for bushmeat, according to conservationists. Thomas Gray, science director with conservation group Wildlife Alliance, which operates in Cambodia, says that snares — simple traps made of wire and rope — have become the single biggest ...

The Severe Weather Forecasting Demonstration Project (RAII-SeA-SWFDP) Regional Sub-project Management Team (RSMT) Meeting; the Southeast Asia Flash Flood Guidance (SEAFFG) System Initial Planning Meeting; and the First Southeast Asia Steering Committee (SEA-SC) Meeting of the project “Building Resilience to High-Impact Hydro meteorological Events through Strengthening ...

A herd of gaurs with calves was spotted by an infrared-triggered camera trap at one of the Kingdom’s many wildlife sanctuaries, raising hopes among local and international biodiversity conservationists that the species can be saved from extinction, according to the Ministry of Environment on July ...

According to think tank, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, across Southeast Asia, an estimated 10 million migrant workers live and work in major destinations such as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.  Malaysia is home to around two million documented migrant workers, comprising about 15 percent ...