Despite pledges by world leaders and the UN to support civil society, AIDS nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face heavy restrictions in Cambodia, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, Asia Catalyst said in a report released for World AIDS Day. “Heads of state have learned to pay lip service to the role of NGOs in order to gain international support, but the reality on the ground can be quite different,” said Sara Davis, executive director of Asia Catalyst. “Restricting civil society has slowed Asia’s response to the AIDS crisis.”
[REPORT] Restrictions on AIDS NGOs in Asia (2009)
Despite pledges by world leaders and the UN to support
civil society, AIDS nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) face heavy
restrictions in Cambodia, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, Asia Catalyst
said in a report released for World AIDS Day. English press release (pdf) Download the report in English (pdf)
[NEWS] UNAIDS Chief Spotlights Civil Society in China
UNAIDS Executive Secretary Michel Sidibe’s trip to China got off to a strong start today with a round of meetings with Chinese NGOs. He began with
an awards ceremony given by International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in Shanghai. Over lunch, he heard from representatives of NGOs, including sex workers and drug users, about the challenges they face doing their work, and the need for more government cooperation with civil society.
In an open letter in August, Asia Catalyst and over 30 international AIDS and human rights organizations called on UNAIDS to speak out against restrictions on civil society. NGOs in China are growing despite burdensome restrictions on registration, censorship, and on individual AIDS activists.
[REPORT] Asia Catalyst in Yunnan
Part 2 of Asia Catalyst’s trip to China brings Meg and Gisa to Yunnan
Province, where they are working with their new partner Phoenix
（苦草工作室), a group of over 90 women living with HIV/AIDS. The group,
which includes current and former sex workers and drug users, provides
direct services to women in need. These range from hospice care to
prison visits and funerals for those cut off from their families.
[RESOURCE] Strategic Planning: The Asia Catalyst Approach
by Gisa Hartmann
An integral part of Asia Catalyst’s approach to assisting organizations to become stronger and more effective is teaching groups how to create a simple strategic plan. Having just returned from an intensive working trip to China, and having also participated in AC’s strategic planning meetings with Phoenix in China, with IKON in Bali, and with Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) in New York, I have noticed some issues that appear to be integral to the process, even for diverse groups in different parts of Asia.
