The onset of industrialization brought about the brutal decomposition of rural Cambodian families since poverty and indebtedness led to the emigration of an unskilled workforce from the countryside especially to the capital, Phnom Penh. The first clothing factories started up here and were followed by many others. They are run by Chinese, South Korean, Bangladeshi…
Pol Pot’s regime caused one million seven hundred thousand deaths, devastating families and the entire country. Being a French protectorate brought no significant changes in Cambodian life or economy except for introduction of more formal rules for civil registration and education. Thus, the pagoda monks retained responsibility for primary schools but were required to obtain…
The development of smart cities in ASEAN countries is of fundamental importance to respond to the challenges posed by the dizzying urbanization of South-East Asia. The need to develop more resilient, efficient and sustainable urban centres. The challenges posed by urbanization increasingly require the help of technology and artificial intelligence for the administration of public…
Jeepney drivers often hang rosaries and display religious images on their dashboards. Why is this devotion to religious items in the jeepneys? We went to find out. Riding a jeepney in the Philippines, you will be accustomed to seeing a hanging rosary in the rear-view mirror of the jeepney. Sometimes, the image of the Santo…
The new year comes not only with a wide series of events, starting with important elections in several countries, but it also opens onto a restless scenario with open conflicts and tensions that could further increase the instability of crucial areas of the continent from the South China Sea to the East China Sea, as…
Left a very poor country after the end of the Second World War, South Korea is today at the forefront on a technological, economic, and social level. However, it exists in a world marked by profound contradictions in which young and old remain on the margins, as Father Vincenzo Bordo says from the capital. “Here…
According to a recent UNICEF report, there are 640 million, 200 million in India alone, child brides. In Polur – in Andhra Pradesh – a congregation of nuns runs the ‘Sree Jeevan Jyothi Vocational Junior College’, a nursing school that welcomes young women who are victims of early marriage Kavitha and Navyashree, are two Indian…
Pakistan has been in a situation of heavy economic crisis for some time now, perhaps one of the worst in its history, further aggravated by internal political instability and the massive floods of 2022, the toll of which was almost little short of dramatic: around 1,700 people lost their lives, 33 million were left homeless,…
Pakistan is experiencing a now prolonged period of political instability which began in April 2022 following a parliamentary motion of no confidence in the then Prime Minister Imran Khan, former cricket star and founder and President of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pti). A key role in the development of this crisis was undoubtedly played both by the…
Pakistan has the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia. Its population is young, with an average age of around 21 years, and is very diverse from an ethnic point of view with notable somatic and cultural varieties. The largest ethnic group is made up of the Panjians who account for approximately 45% of the population,…
A tortuous path towards independence. Contrasts with India. The Kashmir disputes. The power of the military. Economic crisis. Internal security issues. The next general election will be held in January 2024. The young Islamic Republic of Pakistan, officially created in 1956 following the abolition of British rule, is geographically located in South Asia. The territory…
“It is not too late to save the ‘Amazon of the oceans’, the appeal of Edwin Gariguez, parish priest and director of Caritas in the island of Mindoro, in the centre of the Philippines, expresses the desires, dreams, hope of thousands of fishermen who want to preserve a marine ecosystem unique in the world, ‘a…
“We want to create a federation of international journalistic organisations that collaborate in this effort, starting from the global South,” says Filipino journalist and 2022…
Three young Comboni missionaries from three continents share their vocation stories and missionary experiences.
Fr Victor Cunanan Parungao from the Philippines reflects on 15 years of…