By Meg Davis and Josh Clarkson
Acrackdown on sex workers and related businesses in April and May has resulted in over a thousand arrests and the shuttering of hundreds of businesses throughout Beijing, according to news reports.
[NEWS] Be an Expert
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria seems to be casting a wide net in its search for new expert reviewers of funding proposals. This might be an opportunity for AIDS activists to get a bit more input into the way funds get disbursed… Anyway, check out the call for applicants, below.
[REPORT] The Thai Protest Zone
By Karyn Kaplan
Note from Asia Catalyst: On May 20-22, Asia Catalyst will join with Thai AIDS
Treatment Action Group and Korekata AIDS Law Center to hold a training for
Chinese and Thai AIDS NGOs in Bangkok. We’ve been communicating with Karyn
Kaplan of TTAG to figure out if the training could still go forward, given the
protests. Karyn wrote us an email describing the situation on May 4. Since
then, the New York Times reports that divisions
are emerging between protest leaders as the state again threatens to use
force to end the protests. Karyn gave us permission to reprint her email to us –
a picture of the scene in the protest zone.
[NEWS] Asia Catalyst Scholarship for IAC/亚洲促进会国际艾滋大会奖学金
Asia Catalyst invites applications for one scholarship to
participate in the International AIDS Conference in Vienna from July
16-24. Applications must be received by April 25. The scholarship will support a Chinese
PLWHA， a current or former sex worker or drug user to
participate in the meeting.
亚洲促
进会邀请中国艾滋NGO申请一个参加
维也纳7月16日到24日召开的国际艾滋大会的奖学金。申请截至日期是4月25日。我们会支持一位感染者,
现在或者目前性工作者/成瘾者，参加会议。
[REPORT] Death and Taxes in Yunnan
By Gisa Hartmann
Last month, I went on my second trip to China for Asia
Catalyst. As we’ve previously discussed in this blog, Asia Catalyst is spending
several years “incubating” or building the internal management skills of
Phoenix, a nonprofit organization of sex workers living with HIV/AIDS. Phoenix
is based in Gejiu, Yunnan, on China’s borders with Vietnam. My main objective
during my two weeks there was to help Phoenix to develop their staff management
system, as well as improve their understanding of budgeting and financial
reporting. We spent an intense two weeks tracking down and discussing every
single receipt for the past two quarters.
One morning, as I was preparing for another day of office
work, I received a call on my cell asking me to come to the office as soon as
possible. The husband of a Phoenix member had died the previous day.
