In partnership with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launched the ASEAN HeForShe Campaign on 30 November.The campaign intends to raise awareness on gender equality in the ASEAN region by encouraging men and boys to act as agents of change to promote a culture of respect for women and girls.

With Beijing smiling down upon him – showering the developing country with investments minus any obligations to human rights and democracy – Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen continues his iron fist rule without any fear of opposition.His most blatantly undemocratic move was to dissolve the existing opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) which was met with immense condemnation by the western world.Now, he is going after the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), a lea

Stunning mini-revolutions have erupted in recent months in two of the world’s largest Muslim countries. The first shock came in Indonesia, where a little-known group of activists led a mass protest against the Christian governor of Jakarta. Accused of disrespecting the Prophet, the governor, a close ally of the country’s president Joko Widodo, is now in prison.

The Philippines intends to sue Sanofi after authorities suspended the pharmaceutical giant's anti-dengue vaccine in response to the company warning the drug could lead to severe infections in some cases, the health secretary said Thursday.Regulators froze the Philippines' world-first public dengue immunisation programme last week and suspended all sales of the vaccine on Monday after Sanofi said Dengvaxia could worsen symptoms for vaccinated people who contracted the disease for the

The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning the systemic human rights violations in Myanmar against the Rohingya Muslims in the northern Rakhine State.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In will visit China next week for talks on North Korea and other issues, his office said Wednesday, amid tentative signs of diplomatic movement after months of high tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile threats.The announcement came as a high-level United Nations representative held talks with a senior North Korean official during a rare trip to Pyongyang.Jeffrey Feltman, UN undersecretary general for political affairs, arrived Tuesday to discuss w

Despite the enormous progress, both politically and economically, freedom of press continues to be a point of contention in Southeast Asia.

“These are interesting times to be alive,” Singaporean Foreign Minister, Vivien Balakrishnan told a room full of journalists, former ambassadors, diplomats and academics at the ISEAS – Yusuf Ishak Institute on Tuesday.That was the precursor to his lecture entitled “ASEAN: Next 50” on charting the next 50 years for the association as it celebrates its golden jubilee this year.

Southeast Asia has its problems with drug-related crime mostly with trafficking and substance abuse, and each country in the region has been tackling this issue differently. There was a visualisation of a Drug-Free ASEAN in 2015.

The Philippines has suspended the sale and distribution of Sanofi's dengue vaccine, authorities said Tuesday, after the French pharmaceutical giant last week warned it could worsen symptoms for people who had not previously been infected.Regulators on Friday froze the country's world first public immunisation programme that has seen more than 733,000 schoolchildren receive the Dengvaxia vaccine.Authorities have now ordered a blanket suspension for private use as well."Whether (