The Asia Foundation: Qualitative Research in South and Southeast Asia

The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia by: strengthening governance, expanding economic opportunity, increasing environmental resilience, empowering women, and promoting international cooperation. Kore Global has worked in partnership with The Asia Foundation for the past two years to build country staff research capacity in Mongolia, Laos, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam and the Philippines, with a focus on qualitative research on gender equality and social inclusion in urban settings, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the lives of vulnerable groups. 

Kore Global designed an eight-module qualitative research course utilizing an online interactive platform and digital animations. The course provided a foundation in research design and implementation. Over the course of a year, we provided mentoring support to Asia Foundation country teams during research design, data collection, synthesis and analysis, and writing phases. The research has resulted in a cross-country research report on the impact of COVID-19 on women and marginalised groups in Asian cities, in researcher blogs (see here and here), and a Kore Global blog on building a feminist, decolonized research approach.