Development Blogs.com

The Mongolian government should protect the human and labor rights of North Koreans coming to Mongolia to work, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Mongolia’s minister of social welfare and labor....

Since 1990, Mongolia has been widely held as an example of a developing country that, despite the odds, managed to accomplish a peaceful transition to democracy after seven decades of communist one-party rule. But is Mongolia’s democratic transition complete? The recent unrest following an election dispute calls the progress made into question and warrants a closer look at the health of Mongolian democracy. After the losing party’s accusations of electoral fraud – disputed by international election observers – scores of rioters (many intoxicated) attacked the headquarters of the winning party and the neighboring national art gallery. The ensuing mayhem resulted in five deaths, hundreds of arrests, and more than 1,000 priceless pieces of art destroyed or missing. But to many...

from CrosswalkLois OwenCorrespondent(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. government is projected to distribute $34 billion in foreign aid in 2008, with at least $6.5 million going to Mongolia and an additional $285 million to be distributed there over the next five years.That taxpayer-funded aid is conditioned on Mongolia becoming a freer society with stronger laws to protect the rights and property of its people, but indications are that Mongolia is slipping back into communism and should not receive more U.S. aid, according to a congressional watchdog group."The Mongolian government has acted to undermine the development of market institutions," according to Tony Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW). "It has assaulted the foundations of the private property system."Schatz...

The new and updated edition of the Digital Review of Asia Pacific contains authoritative reports on how 29 economies/countries are using ICT in business, government and civil society written by senior authors who live and work in the region. Included are three subregional chapters on the Pacific Island States, ASEAN and APEC....

As part of the project entitled "Capacity Building of Asia Pacific e-Government Initiatives," APDIP, UNDP's Asia Regional Governance Programme and the United Nation Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD) jointly organized a regional workshop in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-25 April 2006 to review and disuss 20 case studies from 12 different Asia-Pacific countries. This workshop was held back-to-back with egov Asia 2006, the Asian e-government conference, and at the same venue in Rama Gardens Hotel and Resort in Bangkok....