By Annie Ye Ren
For the past four years, I have periodically worked with a Chinese grassroots HIV/AIDS
non-governmental organization (NGO) that serves children in Fuyang Prefecture,
Anhui Province. The Fuyang AIDS Orphan
Salvation Association (AOS) gives aid directly to local communities, addressing
local needs that are often overlooked or underfunded by large-scale government
projects.
Once again, be blown away by how much stuff we did with 2.25 staff people.
Part two of our vlog on Gisa and Meg’s trip to Yunnan and Beijing. You can also see the video here.
By Christina Lem
At times of change, start-up organizations should ask
themselves what they want to become. If you want to remain independent, what is
your future plan? Do you eventually want to be absorbed into a larger organization?
Will you shut down once the need you’re serving is met? NGOs should know how to shape their own
future before others make the decision for them.
“International experience has shown that nongovernmental organisations are critical to the fight against HIV/AIDS. But in practice, and despite the public promises of many world leaders, AIDS NGOs often face obstacles on the ground. In Cambodia, a proposed new law risks making it harder for these groups to do their work. NGOs need regulation, but not regulations so burdensome as to entangle them in bureaucracy and drive them underground – as is threatening to happen in other parts of Asia.”
Read the full text of our World AIDS Day op-ed in the Phnom Penh Post.
