Despite ongoing incidents of piracy in Asia, international co-operation efforts are having genuine success at containing the issue. Various policy initiatives are showing promise for the security of the region's sea lanes, now and into the future, Sam Bateman writes.

What was your favourite Policy Forum Pod episode of the year? On this final podcast of 2019, we put on our festive jumpers and gather around the Christmas tree in our podcast cupboard to look at our presenters’, and some of our listeners’ favourite episodes.

With low savings and foreign reserves, some states in Africa are struggling to secure investment for their development, but a recently announced policy model from the west of the continent provides a potential way forward, Lauren Johnston writes.

Diverse and inclusive teams bring about the best policy solutions, but the proportion of female economists – a profession key to policy-making – has stalled. Without a fix, the negative impacts could be far-reaching, Emma Richardson and Nicki Hutley write.

Investigating the struggle of people against power, Quentin Grafton looks to the past, finding implications for people power today and Australia’s future prosperity.

While cuts to benefits and the new universal credit system have caused many problems in the UK, their negative effect on women is especially problematic, Fran Bennett writes.