Asia Catalyst

Asia Catalyst works with grassroots groups from marginalized communities in East and Southeast Asia that promote the right to health. We train our partners to meet high standards of effective and democratic governance, to establish a stable foundation for future growth, and to conduct rigorous human rights research and advocacy. We aim to help our partners become leading advocates at the local, national and global levels.

Asia Catalyst provides tailored coaching in organizational management, community research and advocacy to grassroots groups working on the right to health. We focus especially on groups from marginalized communities, such as sex workers, drug users, LGBTQ people, and people living with HIV/AIDS. Much of the work has focused on grassroots groups in the Peoples Republic of China. We have also worked with groups in South Korea, Thailand, and Myanmar (Burma).

Asia Catalyst’s approach uses tools we have honed in the field with input from our partners. We help each group to develop simple and clear strategic plans, project timelines, budgets, and volunteer management systems that fit their unique context. On this foundation we may also assist groups to develop community research and advocacy projects to build their capacity to advocate for their issues, such as discrimination, criminalization and access to health services. We train groups to engage effectively with local officials, international donors, and the UN, and to participate in international meetings.

Currently Asia Catalyst provides capacity-building in China through the NGO Leadership Cohort, a one year training course that brings together representatives from ten organizations over the course of four workshops, as well as individualized one-on-one coaching of up to six months which focuses on one specific skill set.

Based on our training experience, we develop curriculum materials which fit the needs and demands of our local partners. The NONPROFIT SURVIVAL GUIDE is a handbook for grassroots nonprofits that provides clear and user-friendly tips and templates to use in strategic planning, volunteer management, and basic budgeting skills. The series KNOW IT, PROVE IT, CHANGE IT! A RIGHTS CURRICULUM FOR GRASSROOTS GROUPS is created to help grassroots organizations in communities affected by HIV/AIDS understand their basic rights, document their local situation, and design advocacy campaigns. This is a joint project with Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG) and Dongjen Center for Human Rights Education and Action.

Asia Catalyst conducts our own research and publishes reports, which draw on individual testimony to document legal rights issues that affect our partners. Our most recent report is China's Blood Disaster: The Way Forward. This joint publication with the Korekata AIDS Law Center documents the need for a national mechanism in China to compensate tens of thousands of victims of the HIV/AIDS tainted blood disaster since victims have been unable to get fair compensation on their own.