By Gisa Hartmann
Like most small-sized NGOs the one thing we don't have too much of is time, so we try to keep our financial records in a manner that is easy to manage, but also allows us to comply with all the various reporting requirements.
With the beginning of the new year, Asia Catalyst paved the ground for rapid growth of our capacity building program in China and Southeast Asia. This year in China, Asia Catalyst will begin short-term capacity-building partnerships of three to six months with seven new Chinese NGOs run by drug users, sex workers, and LGBT people -- all communities directly affected by HIV/AIDS.
This year, an expanded technical assistance grant allowed us to issue a general call for applications from grassroots NGOs in China that want to strengthen their organizational management skills and build their future stability.
By Gisa Hartmann
In response to the rise of drug dependence, China has begun to embrace harm reduction, scaling up policies such as methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and needle exchange programs (NEP) in a growing number of areas. This shift in policy is expressed in the new Anti-Drug Law, which categorizes drug addiction as a medical condition rather than a criminal issue or moral failing. But how far along is the development of MMT and NEP in China, and what does the state plan for the future? How do current policies play out for drug users on the ground? This two-part blog will explore these and related issues.
Asia Catalyst and friends from China
and Thailand are going to Vienna in July for the International AIDS Conference
in July. Here's where we will be, hope to see you.
GLOBAL VILLAGE
Stop by our "Crossing borders" booth for a packet on how to plan your own human rights research mission, mini-trainings on human rights research, and cool gear from China & Thailand!
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.
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.