An Asia Catalyst submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health in advance of the Beijing Olympics.
[REPORT] China Goes to Bali
[:en]The sun is setting over the palm trees, and we’re finishing up a wonderful, exhilirating and intense week in Bali for the International Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP-9). For the first time, Asia Catalyst supported a delegation of 9 Chinese AIDS activists, provided translation throughout, and hosted events that brought Chinese and other Asian activists together at meetings, at workshops, and at a beach barbecue party under the stars (do you hate us yet?).
[REPORT] Crossing the Borders: The Haven Project
By Carol Wang
One of the programs we get the most satisfaction from is our summer Haven Project, which places Chinese AIDS advocates in more established AIDS NGOs for a few weeks to a few months. This program builds connections between AIDS activists across borders, while helping Chinese partners – who represent the first generation of civil society leaders in China – to build their skills. This weekend, the first of five Chinese colleagues will make their way to Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Thailand.
[COMMENTARY] How Out is Out in China?
Western media has been full of reports lately about Shanghai’s first ever gay pride festival. While police canceled some events, others went forward without interruption. It’s really a victory for China’s growing LGBT movement – as we learned when we hosted Comrades: the Chinese LGBT film festival here in New York last year, police have often shut down similar events in the past.
All this raises the question…what’s it really like to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) in China these days? We’ve been trying to get to the bottom of this, and the reality seems to be — surprise! — pretty complex.
[COMMENTARY] Challenges for NGOs in China
By Yu Fangqiang
This week’s blog entry is from Chinese lawyer and rights advocate Yu Fangqiang, who wrote this essay as part of our online colloquium on challenges for civil society in Asia. See the original post in Chinese and English, and responses at Asia Report.
In mainland China it is extremely hard to start up a non-governmental organization (NGO) without a background in government. The difficulties are due to restrictive government policies, monopolization of resources by NGOs with government background, a lack of trust throughout the overall society, the lack of capabilities among the grassroots’ organizations, and unrealistic expectations from funders.
