Justice Lost in Mongolia’s Prisons
Tucked away from the scrutiny of civil society, Mongolia’s jails epitomise the limits of democracy in this county of 2.8 million people, where marginalised members of society often bear the brunt of a...
View ArticleMining Saps a Thirsty Desert
The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the southern Gobi desert in Mongolia has become a symbol of a looming crisis: a limited water supply that could be exhausted within a decade, seriously threatening...
View ArticleCambodian Activists Challenge ASEAN Policies
For a brief moment last month, mainstream international media turned the spotlight on Cambodia, one of the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs), as a high-level visit from U.S. President Barack...
View ArticleCan Cambodia Trade its Way out of LDC Status?
As one of the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs), Cambodia is afforded the most beneficial trade ranking to the European Union (EU) under the generalised scheme of preferences (GSP) known as...
View ArticleBetter to Ride These Bikes Than Make Them
Cambodia’s export business is in the process of changing due to shifts in manufacturing in Asia. A business publication in the country has reported unexpected growth in the “machinery and transport...
View ArticleLand Is Life, and It’s Slipping Away
Nean Narin, a humble man and father of three children, says his family is going hungry. Narin lives in the village of Boeung Kak, situated on the edge of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. For years, he...
View ArticleNo Rest for Weary Massage Workers
Times are tough in this Southeast Asian nation of 14 million people, where over 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line of a dollar a day. Formal employment is hard to come by and...
View ArticleSugar Playing Catch-Up With Spice
Dotted with rice fields flanked by palm trees, Cambodia’s southeastern province of Kampong Speu is nothing short of picturesque. But behind the idyllic exterior is an on-going struggle to turn this...
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From Herders to Cultivators
When the food-strapped Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) appealed to the Mongolian government for food last month, it signaled a major turning point in the public image of this Central Asian...
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Building an Agricultural Empire
A camel outside a traditional Mongolian felt tent (yurt). Credit: Michelle Tolson/IPSGenghis Khan knew about hard times. The founder of the Mongol Empire, which spanned most of Eurasia until roughly...
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Cambodia’s Opposition Fights Back
Sochua Mu at a CNRP demonstration in Phnom Penh. Credit: Charlotte Pert/IPSThe violence that defined Cambodia during the years of the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979) may have been relegated to the realm of...
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/CORRECTED REPEAT*/River Diversion Project Spells Disaster
A major diversion project threatens to choke Mongolia's Orkhon River, the longest in the country. Credit: Michelle Tolson/IPSTsetseghkorol, a Mongolian herder, stares out nostalgically at the Orkhon...
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Cambodian Youth Look for Change
Cambodia National Rescue Party supporters walk in support of opposition leader Sam Rainsy [left, holding flag] in Angkor Wa. Credit: Erika Pineros/IPS.As Cambodia readies for general elections this...
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Justice Lost in Mongolia’s Prisons
Amnesty International has found evidence of horrific abuses inside Mongolia’s prisons, such as torturing and starving detainees to death. Credit: Ranmali Bandarage/IPSBy Michelle TolsonULAANBAATAR, Nov...
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Mining Saps a Thirsty Desert
Local communities fear mining projects will heighten the southern Gobi desert's water shortage and threaten livestock. Credit: Linh Vien Thai /CC-BY-ND-2.0By Michelle TolsonULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, Nov...
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Cambodian Activists Challenge ASEAN Policies
Members of the Women’s Network for Unity in Cambodia are fighting for LGBT rights, land rights, peasant rights and human rights. Credit: Michelle Tolson/IPSBy Michelle TolsonPHNOM PENH, Dec 13 2012...
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Some Rice, Served With Rainwater
Eb Mon welcomes CamASEAN volunteers who hand out food, water and educational materials to the village children he teaches in a one-room school in the Cambodian village of Chouk. Credit Michelle...
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Energy Hits New Rocks in Mongolia
The steppes of central Mongolia, the part of the country where exploration for oil shale is taking place. Credit: Michelle Tolson/IPSBy Michelle TolsonTOV PROVINCE, Mongolia , Oct 10 2013 (IPS)...
View ArticleSometimes, Sex Work is the Least Bad
“We are not saying that all people become sex workers, but you make more money,” Virak Horn, a 32-year-old gay sex worker who works freelance in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, tells IPS. He earns...
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Mongolia’s Wild Asses Cornered From All Sides
The remains of an illegally hunted khulan. Credit: Courtesy Goviin KhulanBy Michelle TolsonSOUTHERN GOBI REGION, Mongolia , Oct 24 2013 (IPS) Decades of international and local collaboration have...
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