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Analyses, Perspectives and Opinions

RLS Southeast Asia regularly publishes political analyses and working papers on current and relevant topics from the Mekong Region. Together with our partners, we shed light on different opinions and introduce perspectives on pressing social and ecological questions and challenges. The publications are categorized according to topics and countries and can be selected using the links below.

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 Social Justice, Vietnam

According to research reports from INGO and government organizations, Vietnam state budget and resources have not been adequate in meeting the needs of social care for vulnerable people. Many official documents from the government call for contributions from all stakeholders in this area of “socializing social assistance”. In fact, for the past decades, many individual charities, philanthropists, religious groups, self-help groups… have supported vulnerable people, filling this gap of social assistance.

 

 Social Justice, Vietnam

With financial support from RLS SEA – Hanoi Office, the research team assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the group of migrant female workers in the informal sector in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. With the desire to have a concrete and comprehensive assessment of COVID's impacts on this target group, the research team used a participatory approach with a sociological survey method to survey over 600 qualified samples and 12 case studies in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

 

 Social Justice, Vietnam

More than 200 households in the two above-mentioned communes, tourism service companies and representatives of governmental agencies related to the tourism industry of Sa Pa town were selected to survey.

 Social Justice, Vietnam

The research study found 99% of couples had marital/domestic conflicts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to 80.9% of women reported suffering from controlling behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic; 34% experienced economic violence; the rate of women being abused psychologically and physically are 87.8% and 59% respectively. Furthermore, 25% of women were found to be victims of sexual violence.

 Cambodia, Social Justice

In our collaborative program with Cambodian Center for Independent Media, we illustrate incidents and problems encountered by the workers, by having them speak up for their own. The authority and employers are also interviewed for their sides of the stories, and their responses accordingly.

 

 Social Justice

The Institute of Policy and Management (IPAM) and the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Asia (RLS SEA) have cooperated to implement the first research projects on SEET in Vietnam from 2018 up to now. SEET is an interdisciplinary research direction focusing on common interests on a real sustainable development and policy implications for ensuring a balance between social, ecological, and economic factors. The purpose of this interdisciplinary research direction is to create knowledge that allows approach and proposal of practical solutions to ensure a better future for all. The main focus of the social, ecological and economic transformation research is to find ways to change the current production methods and lifestyles by examining and assessing the impact of the current methods on the social and ecologic foundation.

 

 Social Justice, Social-ecological transformation, Vietnam

Vietnam is known for its remarkable economic and human development in the last 30 years. From one of the poorest nations in the world, the country successfully transformed to a lower-to-middle income country in 2010. Besides economic growth, Vietnam has also witnessed impressive human development as the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) value increased by 45.9 percent between 1990 and 2018 (UNDP, 2019). However, despite the huge and stable growth in the economy and human development, the country records low utilization of health services, especially among poor demographics. This study examines the impacts of health inequalities, political, economic, and social determinants on health utilization.

 

 Social Justice, Vietnam

Talking about sexual violence, in general, is always a sensitive and hard-to-say topic. That is especially true in Vietnam. Data about sexual abuse is poor and primarily from qualitative research. The most recent national survey on violence against women reported 13 percent of married women experienced sexual violence from their husbands. A study of 2000 women and girls in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city in 2015 shows that 87 percent of women and girls suffer from sexual harassment in public places.  Starting with an assumption that sexual abuse emerged as a product of socio-cultural and historical progress, we sat down with Dr. Khuat Thu Hong - an expert with 40-year experience in this field, to explore its root causes. The interview also examines the responses of different actors to sexuality-related conflicts and reveals obstacles to the absent widespread of the #Metoo debate in Vietnam.
 

 

 Social Justice

The issue of migrant workers’ rights has been a difficult challenge for ASEAN to address. Many commentators have pointed out the inadequacies of ASEAN’s governance on this issue, such as the lack of legally binding regional instruments which are compatible with international labour standards; the absence of an enforcement mechanism; and the poor protection of migrant labourers’ rights in its member states.

 Social Justice, Vietnam

As an effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of Vietnamese workers are finding ways to deal with the difficulty of massive layoffs from manufacturers. The pandemic also reveals flaws in the argument in favour of the national economic strategy based on the advantage of a cheap labour force and outsourcing manufacturing.