The three finalists for this year’s award are India’s Centre for Civil Society; Malaysia’s Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs; and Nepal’s Bikalpa - an Alternative, with all three organizations making innovative contributions to economic freedom and human progress.
Atlas Network’s winner will be announced at Asia Liberty Forum on September 20th and 21st in New Delhi, India. The event will be hosted by Atlas Network in collaboration with the Centre for Civil Society, shaping the future of Asia’s economic prosperity in the capital of the world’s most populous country. More information can be found here.
The three Asia Liberty Award finalists made exemplary contributions to the cause of freedom:
Centre for Civil Society (India)
To address the education gap in India, the Centre for Civil Society set out to liberalize K-12 education by helping reformers expand school choice and supporting low-income students who benefit from competition within the education system. Since education has been one of the most pronounced sites of India’s enduring socialist past, the Centre mobilized the support of more than 70,000 private schools across all states, hosting 23 roundtable discussions and conferences with participation from over 600 attendees, and rallying nearly 2.8 million petition signers in support of choice. Working with other education reformers, the Centre also encouraged states to constitute an independent regulatory body called the “State School Standards Authority” (SSSA) in each state, with SSSAs establishing minimum standards for schools, measuring learning outcomes, and addressing ineffective management without conflicts of interest. As a result, three Indian states are now in the process of setting up SSSAs, separating the government's regulatory and service delivery powers to expand competition, choice, and access to learning for millions of Indian students in need.
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Malaysia)
To encourage fiscal accountability and responsibility at both the national and state levels in Malaysia, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) championed budget transparency by creating Malaysia’s “Open Budget Index.” The tool—modeled after the Open Budget Survey—evaluates the level of budget transparency in Malaysia’s 13 states to educate Malaysians about spending and taxation, increasing public participation in the budgeting process and allowing people to keep their state governments accountable through more regular scrutiny. Because of IDEAS’ involvement, the Malaysian government now encourages public awareness through the publication of documents like the Mid-Year Review and Pre-Budget Statement, reforming a system that once operated in the shadows. IDEAS also protected Malaysians’ right to make informed choices through free and fair political competition by producing a civil society-led “Political Financing Bill,” which ensures transparency in fundraising without the secrecy and corruption that once dominated the political system. The bill requires the full and honest disclosure of all political funding in Malaysia, in addition to levying penalties and administrative fines that will hold wrongdoers accountable to the people.
Bikalpa - an Alternative (Nepal)
Given Nepal’s long history of authoritarian and Marxist influences, the country’s fledgling democracy is dominated by populist and nationalist viewpoints that threaten free enterprise. To create an alternative discourse promoting individual and economic freedom, Bikalpa - an Alternative established and scaled up their “Free Speech Media” initiative, covering topics like entrepreneurship and education reform through blog posts, documentaries, talk shows, and more. Within 15 months, Bikalpa published more than 300 videos on gender equality, poverty eradication, regulatory reform, and other hot-button issues, growing its core audience and reaching the very highest levels of Nepalese society—from business executives to politicians and policymakers. Since its inception, Free Speech Media has amassed more than 10 million video views, changing the hearts and minds of roughly one million people per month through various social media platforms.
The Asia Liberty Award is part of the Templeton Freedom Award prize program sponsored by Templeton Religion Trust—named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. In addition to Asia, the program sponsors awards in Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East and North Africa. Its grand prize, the Templeton Freedom Award, is presented annually at Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner in New York City. This year, the prize program will award $270,000 in grants to high-achieving organizations that make innovative contributions to economic freedom and human progress.
“Asia’s freedom movement is simply extraordinary, improving people’s lives in some of the world’s most populous places,” said Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network. “From India to Malaysia and Nepal, local think tanks and ‘do tanks’ have emerged as the region’s leading freedom champions, making sure that the citizens of these countries better understand the value of individual rights and free enterprise. Whether think tanks are increasing education access for millions of Indian students, expanding political and public policy transparency in Malaysia, or using social media to spread the ideas of liberty in Nepal, there is no limit to what the freedom movement can accomplish. And Atlas Network will support Asia’s freedom champions every step of the way, empowering local heroes to advance even further for freedom.”