Capacity building 建设能力
Asia Catalyst provides direct assistance to selected local partners for up to three years, providing our partners with training in strategic planning, staff and volunteer management, fundraising, financial management, and human rights documentation and advocacy.
Our first partnership with the Korekata AIDS Law Center (惟谦艾兹法律中心) began in January 2007. The mission of the center is to defend the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and to legally advance the development of Chinese law to protect the rights of people with AIDS. Through casework, publications, advocacy and workshops, the Korekata Center promotes access to and participation of people with AIDS in China’s developing legal system. The Korekata Center is emerging as a leader in the field.
Our next project is with Phoenix （苦草工作室), a group of over 90 women living with HIV/AIDS in Yunnan Province. The group, which includes current and former sex workers and drug users, provides direct services to women in need. These range from hospice care to prison visits and funerals for those cut off from their families. Asia Catalyst is helping Phoenix with everything from creating its first organizational budget to linking up with peer organizations in other countries. In summer 2009, the executive director of Phoenix and staff of Korekata spent several weeks visiting and learning from Stigma, an organization of injection drug users in Jakarta, Indonesia.
This year, Asia Catalyst will also begin offering project-based technical assistance to grassroots NGOs working on AIDS and human rights in Southeast Asia.
Li Man (Phoenix) reviews her notes of meetings with Stigma in Jakarta; Ronda Goldfein of the AIDS Law Project in Philadelphia explains their AIDS law hotline to Meg Davis (Asia Catalyst), Li Dan and Shen Tingting (Korekata AIDS Law Center)
Advocates haven program 访问学者奖学金
This program places AIDS advocates who are under local political pressure in short-term fellowships of two weeks to three months at international AIDS NGOs, usually elsewhere in Asia. The fellowships give advocates who are at risk an opportunity to move somewhere safe for a short period while the situation cools down, and gives them a chance to build their skills and expertise by working at a larger and well-established organization. It also enables host institutions in Asia to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by peers in other parts of the region.
The fellowship includes all travel costs, including airfare, ground transportation, accommodations, and an allowance for food and personal needs. HIV-positive fellows are given a medical stipend to support a visit to a doctor. If you wish to nominate someone for the fellowship, please write to info@asiacatalyst.org to request information. We will accept nominations on a rolling basis.
Fiscal agent -- For small nonprofits that require tax-exempt status in the United States in order to receive funding, Asia Catalyst acts as a fiscal agent, receiving funds and passing them on to the local group for a 5% administrative fee. Our current partnerships are with Korekata AIDS Law Center, Chinese LGBT group Aibai, and WKCV Project, a US-based group that is producing a documentary on the assassination of Cambodian labor rights advocate Chea Vichea.
Advocacy 倡导Asia Catalyst conducts ongoing advocacy to promote greater space for grassroots NGOs in Asia and to promote the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. We work with the UN, international NGOs, international donros, and partners on the ground to promote policies that are based on science and direct experience in the field.
Asia Catalyst graduate researchers conduct research and write reports on priority human rights issues for our local partners, placing these issues in a global context. These carefully-researched reports make tailored recommendations to the government, international donors, international agencies, and NGOs. The reports are released in English and the local language simultaneously. Download our reports:
AIDS Blood Scandals: What China Can Learn from the World's Mistakes English(pdf) or 中 文报告(pdf)
I Will Fight to My Last Breath: Barriers to AIDS Treatment for Children in China English (pdf) or 中 文报告
Asia report (亚洲调查)
www.yazhoudiaocha.com
Asia Report is a Chinese-language blog that brings together Asian human rights news, opinions and conference information for rights activists in China. The platform enables Chinese grassroots NGOs to learn about and make contact with groups working on the environment, HIV/AIDS, women's rights, and related issues in East, South, and Southeast Asia. Read the Asia Report launch press release.
Josh Kurlantzick, Maureen Aung-Thwin and Thaung Htun discuss China's role in Burma at NYU; Speed-dating for progressives
New York events
To share our research, and showcase our partners’ work, Asia Catalyst occassionally holds events in New York City. These include panel discussions, film screenings and film festivals, such as COMRADES: the Chinese LGBT Film Festival (September 5-7, 2008). Asia Catalyst also aims to provide a “home away from home” for Chinese grassroots activists visiting New York, including email access, network-building, translation and emergency assistance. Email us to join our spam-free events list.
Dim Sum Brunch
Asia Catalyst convenes occasional dim sum get-togethers in New York for professionals and students with an interest in human rights and rule of law in China. We meet in Chinatown on the last Sunday of the month from 11 am to noon or so to chat about the latest developments in the field and gorge ourselves on dim sum. Everyone pays their own way -- which usually is about $10-15. If you're interested in joining us for the next get-together drop an email to info@asiacatalyst.org with a few words about your background.
past events
2009
april 28- Panel discussion on AIDS treatment in China, launching our report, I Will Fight to My Last Breath: Barriers to AIDS Treatment in China featuring Sara Davis, Joanne Csete, Ken Legins, Lauren Burke, and moderator Jerome A. Cohen. For more information, please click here. (pdf) You can also see a complete video of the panel on our blog.
march 23 - Fundraiser: Speed-dating for progressives
2008
december 11: Holiday party and celebration of Asia Catalyst's 2 year anniversary!
october 7: Asia Report launch party.
september 5-7: Comrades: The Chinese LGBT Film Festival - Three days of hauntingly beautiful queer films from China.
july 17: Panel discussion on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights in China. In the run-up to the XVII International AIDS Conference, leading AIDS experts discussed the challenges faced by civil society in China's fight against AIDS. Li Dan (Korekata AIDS Law Center), Gao Qi, PhD (CHAIN), Prof. Jerome Cohen (NYU Law) and Joe Amon (Human Rights Watch).
may 27: Screening and discussion of Who Killed Chea Vichea? Cambodia Labor Rights Under Attack
april 23: Screening and discussion of Song Journeys: The Impact of Chinese Ethnic Tourism. Screening of the documentary Mosuo Song Journey, with discussion led by Prof. Robert Barnett (Columbia University) and Khanan Sam Sao (Columbia University). Co-sponsored by Greater China Initiative and Columbia University Asia-Pacific Affairs Council.
april 4: Screening and discussion of Prisoner of Freedom City: Hu Jia, co-sponsored by freeDimensional.
march 25: Discussion on Asian Women on the Move: Forced Labor and Migration, with Nisha Varia (Human Rights Watch) and Carolyn deLeone (Domestic Workers United). Co-sponsored by Columbia University Asia-Pacific Affairs Council.
february 27: Screening of Crossing the Line at NYU Law School. Co-sponsored by NYU Asia Law Society and Columbia University Asia-Pacific Affairs Council.
january 23: Discussion on China’s 17th Party Congress: Did Anything Change? Prof. Andrew Nathan (Columbia University) & Prof. Bernard Yeung (NYU).
2007
october 15: Discussion on Burma: Where Next? A Roundtable on the Saffron Revolution, with Josh Kurlantzick, Dr. Thaung Htun, and Maureen Aung-Thwin. At New York University, co-sponsored by NYU Asia Law Society and NYU Law Students for Human Rights.
september 6: Asia catalyst report release of AIDS Blood Scandals: What China Can Learn From the World's Mistakes.
june 28: Asia catalyzer on Getting into bed with China: Human rights and China’s foreign policy in Africa and Burma, featuring Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt (Council on Foreign Relations) and Dr. Thaung Htun, UN representative for Burmese government in exile.
april 28: Discussion with Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao, authors of Zhongguo Nongmin Diaocha [中国农民调查], or Will the Boat Sink the Water?
march 8: Kick-off event, featuring legendary AIDS advocate Dr. Gao Yaojie, and Gao Yikun (China Orchid AIDS Projects).