COVID-19 Special series

The illusion that the domestic space is only a site for social reproduction is over, but what will replace it?

Neighbourhood leaders enjoy high levels of public trust but concerns about legitimacy and conflict limit the extent to which they can implement COVID-19 restrictions.

The approach used in the creation of these policies ignores that women may face more difficulty in accessing the promised benefits.

During the pandemic, “immodest” or ungrateful receiving by the poor has been strongly denounced both by the state and middle-class donors.

LGBTQ+ Indonesians are driving some of the most effective community responses to the hardships of the pandemic.

Extraordinary measures may in the long run jeopardize civil liberties and constitutional democracy.

In the Philippines, local governments are stepping up to cover gaps in national public health and welfare infrastructure.

While not resource-rich, Vietnam's intelligent communication methods helped maintain zero recorded deaths from the pandemic.

Indonesian disability activists are leading action to assess needs and advocate for the inclusivity in the government's COVID-19 response.

The President's handling of the Social Amelioration Program in the regions seems to betray an intention to consolidate centralised power.

...grounding democracy in ambág and bayanihan can help heal the polarized political landscape in the Philippines.

Filipino grandmothers often bear the brunt of providing and caring for their families. The Duterte government's COVID-19 response overlooks them.

“For hundreds of years, we’ve been practising so-called self-quarantine. Long before the recent COVID-19 outbreak. We called it besesandingon.”

With tourism making up a relatively small portion of Indonesia’s GDP, investment and household consumption do the heavy lifting in this trillion-dollar economy.

Young people are at a higher risk of mental health conditions when compared to the rest of the population, leading to poorer health outcomes, human rights violations and local and global economic loss.

Women in Rakhine state are doubly jeopardised when the threat of COVID-19 intersects with war.

Reports emerging of anti-communist attacks in cities and rural areas, arrests of activists and union members, and military action in spite of a declared ceasefire.

Is adherence to social restrictions being used as "an uncritical litmus test to judge good and bad citizens?"

Waning philanthropy has exacerbated the risks COVID-19 poses to Southeast Asia.
But there are lessons to be learned.

The success of large-scale social restrictions is heavily reliant on effective coordination.

Economic disasters have a history of bringing down governments in Indonesia; COVID-19 impacts hardest on the disadvantaged in an already fragile system.

From Timor-Leste, 'this is not a friendly letter. You’re like the black storm clouds that block us from seeing the moon.' Dadolin Murak reflects on what humanity might learn from the challenges we are facing.