[INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE]

The biannual International AIDS Conference brings over 20,000 AIDS experts together to share the latest on their work. This year's conference theme, "Rights Here, Right Now", had special meaning for the groups we work with in Asia.

At this year's Vienna meeting, Asia Catalyst provided support to a group of Chinese AIDS nonprofits. KOREKATA AIDS LAW CENTER sent three people, who joined with us and THAI AIDS TREATMENT ACTION GROUP to run a workshop on rights documentation skills. AIBAI, a Chinese LGBT group, sent William Lian, who provided ongoing support and translation for Zhao Gang (KANGXIN HOME, a Yunnan drug users' group) and Ai Khamngen (SANGHA METTA, an ethnic minority Buddhist group working on HIV/AIDS in Yunnan). We also helped a few other Chinese and Thai activists by arranging phones, maps and apartments.

We worked hard with each Chinese activist who needed help to make sure they got everything they could out of the conference. We provided advance training on advocacy, then set up meetings for Chinese NGOs with Open Society Institute, UNAIDS, the Global Fund, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health.

Chinese activists were also able to connect with their own government representatives in a different context. As one observed, "When they see me here, it's like we're on an equal footing." (You can see more Chinese NGO comments on the conference at http://bit.ly/bEEYL6).

A highlight of the conference was the march for HIV/AIDS and human rights in the center of the city. Our Chinese colleagues expressed amazement at the sight of thousands of people marching peacefully, while police watched on the sidelines. Asia Catalyst had a booth in the Global Village, and gave oral and poster presentations. Ken Oh, the editor of Asia Report, took part in an advance training on HIV/AIDS for journalists.

It was an intense but energizing meeting. We're still thinking about ways to carry the spirit and theme of the conference forward in our work. A special thank you to everyone who donated - we raised over $1300 to fund our work at the conference.

[TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE]

In May, Gisa Hartmann conducted her first solo technical assistance trip to China, spending a week with PHOENIX, the organization of sex workers in Yunnan. Together, they worked on reviewing financial reports, creating a system for volunteer management, and starting a new project to reach out to trafficking survivors from Vietnam.

While driving together back to Kunming, the provincial capital, Phoenix director Li Man became seriously ill and was hospitalized. She is now fully recovered and back in the office, working with members and volunteers on a strategic plan and budget for the next year (and thanks everyone who sent their good wishes).

Gisa's visit overlapped with the arrival of summer graduate intern Mike Frick (an MPH student at Harvard University). He spent May through August in Gejiu, training a group of five Phoenix volunteers in the basics of rights research. For this innovative training, Mike used our rights documentation curriculum (still in development), and some exercises he developed himself. The research team has now interviewed ten PLHIV about medical discrimination. You can read more in Mike's blog: http://bit.ly/cJJsnV

Our two fiscal agent grantees, AIBAI and the WHO KILLED CHEA VICHEA PROJECT, are both building on their past successes. This spring and summer, Aibai held a series of trainings for LGBT groups in China on how to use democratic methods to hold meetings and make decisions.

Who Killed Chea Vichea?, a documentary investigating the assassination of a Cambodian labor rights activist, has been gathering accolades at film festivals, and got some international press after a screening in Cambodia was shut down by police (http://www.whokilledcheavichea.com/wccv.html). The film will preview on PBS in the not-too-distant future.

For 2010-11, we're planning to change our approach to enable us to help a larger number of Asian AIDS groups. This will allow us to provide consulting services on a more short-term basis and to begin working with more groups in Thailand and Myanmar - stay tuned...

[RIGHTS CURRICULUM]

Asia Catalyst, Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group, and Korekata AIDS Law Center are working together to develop a rights documentation and advocacy curriculum for grassroots NGOs working in AIDS-affected communities. Know It, Prove It, Change It: A Rights Curriculum for Grassroots Groups is a three-part series that draws on intensive consultation with local NGOs to create a resource that meets their needs, in Thai, Chinese and English.

We originally planned a workshop to field-test the first book of the series, Prove It: Documenting Rights Abuses, in Bangkok in May, but this was postponed due to the unrest in Thailand. The workshop will take place in the near future. We'll have Prove It out this fall, and have already begun work on the second volume, Know It, which explains how to analyze rights issues in local communities.

[ONLINE]

Our Chinese-language website on economic and social rights, Asia Report (http://www.yazhoudiaocha.com), featured in-depth coverage of the International AIDS Conference. Ken, our editor, is continuing to build the Asian AIDS Law Database and profiles of NGOs in Asia. Our English-language blog Economic and Social Rights in Asia (http://www.asiacatalyst.org/blog/) is attracting a growing number of viewers to such posts as our report-back on the Vienna conference, our analysis of new regulations on Chinese NGOs, and the ever-popular strategic planning tools.

Our work to inform people about the new rules on Chinese NGOs got us a couple of mentions in the press this quarter. Check out the coverage in the Christian Science Monitor (http://bit.ly/8ZCaSC) and South China Morning Post.

In the coming year, we'll expand our online resources, creating a single site to share short Asian-language posts and training videos on organizational management skills.

[ON THE HOME FRONT]

Asia Catalyst is delighted to welcome three new board members: Carolyn Bartholomew, Christina Lem and Prof. Timothy Pachirat.

Carolyn is the Vice-Chairman of the U.S-China Economic and Security Review Commission, and has a long-time interest in HIV/AIDS policy issues. Christina is the Grants Specialist at Poets House, and formerly worked with the Gates Foundation. Tim is an assistant professor in the Department of Politics at the New School. 

Our new board members are bringing new ideas and energy, and we're excited to have their help as Asia Catalyst grows.

We're also pleased to welcome back Carol Wang as part-time editor of our rights curriculum. Carol previously helped to edit and publish our report on access to AIDS treatment for children.

We had a great team of interns and volunteers this summer. In addition to Mike in Yunnan, our team included Hayley Curry in Nepal, who wrote about new developments on civil society and democracy there for Asia Report. In New York, Adam Froiran worked part-time as administrative assistant and part-time as a researcher on AIDS and human rights. And artist Sally Hancox worked with us to design a snappy, colorful poster and booth for the International AIDS Conference.

A shout-out, too, to Ariel Herrera, who has been helping us to think through plans for an Asia Catalyst office in Southeast Asia. We're grateful to all our staff and volunteers, on the board and in the office, for their commitment and dedication.

[LEND A HAND]

Individual donations from you are essential to our survival, and all gifts are tax-deductible.

To make a secure gift via Paypal, go to www.asiacatalyst.org/get_involved. You can also give through our Facebook Cause page for Asia Catalyst. Or, mail a check to: Asia Catalyst, P.O. Box 20839, New York, NY 10009.

We're also looking for assistance with a long-overdue overhaul of our website. If you know any talented young designers looking to build their portfolio, please send them our way.

We always welcome comments and suggestions at info@asiacatalyst.org.