Our Mekong - South East & East Asia

The programme's key strategy is providing financial support to writers and photojournalists from countries in the Mekong subregion. These journalists work to look at socio-economic changes and social issues not only as from a national perspective, but in relation to, and as in many ways inseparable from, the experiences their neighbours. The idea is to encourage them to look at cross-border aspects of development projects and trends from varied perspectives - and to cover those stories.

The fellows' work is uploaded regularly on the IPS site. In addition, an e-publication is sent to subscribers. In one such email posting, Ma Guihua wrote "Women Reap Fruits of Anti-Drug Battle", which is summarised as follows: "Tired of seeing their families and livelihoods destroyed by drug use, women in this village in Yingjiang country on the China-Burma border take matters into their own hands -- and say they have made a difference".

The Mekong subregion is home to 240 million people in countries divided by and at the same linked by land borders that have hastened the sharing of natural resources, economic integration, and development challenges. Land boundaries mean more mobility for people, trade, and culture; the Mekong river means the countries are linked by shared natural and economic resources.

Another factor that organisers say calls for increased journalistic investigation of this area: the Mekong subregion has entered a period of economic liberalisation at a time when globalisation has become a factor throughout all Asian countries. Specifically, they say that, "The experience of the past years gives room to look at where countries can steer their development engines to - have they learned lessons from other countries in Asia, like Thailand? Do they offer any new formulas? What are the common challenges brought about by economic and social integration amid globalisation?"

In addition, organisers explain that the Mekong subregion has been the site of many development projects and foreign business ventures. Common borders, they say mean shared environmental problems like deforestation, and disasters like floods. Projects like dams may benefit some countries upstream of the Mekong while hurting those downstream. This business-driven vision, they say, often has not had enough input from the communities themselves, and has often resulted in different, even conflicting, impacts across countries. In light of this situation, the project aims to urge reporters to ask what people think of this process, what changes it has brought to their lives, and what their common problems are and how to tackle them - in short, to explore various visions of the Mekong subregion.