Message from J.V.R Prasada Rao

Mr. J.V.R Prasada Rao

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the 16 days of activism to End Violence Against Women and it is particularly an important period for our joint Community of Practice. The 16 days starting on 25 November and ending on 10 December, will also mark the International Day of Violence Against Women on 25 November, the World AIDS Day on 1 December and the World Human Rights day on 10 December. The joint Community of Practice by UNDP, UNAIDS, UNIFEM, UNOHCHR and APN+ on HIV, Human Rights and Gender (HIV-APCOP) is pleased to feature stories of individuals and communities who have demonstrated leadership and courage in addressing stigma, discrimination and gender-based violence..............Read More

Bob Monkhouse

Bob Monkhouse – 1941-2009
An unparalleled legacy.

Bob Monkhouse passed away on  8th November 2009, but he lives on in the hearts of thousands of young Indonesians whom he freed from the difficult consequences of drug and alcohol abuse and trained them to help themselves and others. He will also be remembered for his efforts to help young people living with HIV/AIDS lead lives with dignity, confidence and self-esteem. 

Fondly called ‘Uncle Bob’ by those who knew him, Bob Monkhouse came to Indonesia from Australia in 1974 and made Bali his home. In the 1990s, he set up the Indonesian version of Alcoholics Anonymous and also helped in the setting up of the Bali Health Foundation (Yakeba) which believes that people who were dependant on drugs or alcohol, or affected by HIV/AIDS are best equipped to help others like them. In June 2008, Yakeba received the prestigious Red Ribbon Award from UNDP and UNAIDS for its outstanding contribution in responding to the AIDS epidemic at the community level.............Read More

Vichuta Ly

Deep-Rooted Scar Triggered her Passion Vichuta Ly

Cambodia is still grappling with the fallout of the political upheaval dating back to the 1970s which affected every sector and the general population in the country.

Vichuta Ly, who as a teenager fled from the Khmer Rouge regime to Canada with her family, is now fighting with all her might for the rights of women and children. "My country is heavily burdened with domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, rape and abuse – based largely on the country’s troubled past" says Vichuta.

Trained as a lawyer, she set up the Legal Support for Children and Women (LSCW) in 2002. For the non-profit, non-political LSCW, the mission is to promote access to justice for all and to protect human rights, including those of migrants............Read More

People Like Us (PLUS)

A PLUS for Gender-Variant Men

"At college, the harassment and victimisation continued unabated. I approached different agencies such as the police. We tried all modes including protests. But it all came to nothing"

"Today, I understand the reasons for society’s hostility towards me and people like me. They do not want us because we challenge their entrenched notions of gender and sexuality. Generally, people are afraid of the unknown. And because of the fear of the unknown, they do not want to know. This breeds a vicious circle."-  Agniva Lahiri, Executive Director "People Like Us", Kolkata, Eastern India

This summarises the plight of many Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and transgendered people, who are humiliated, abused, discriminated against, exploited and marginalized by society...........Read More

Social Action for Women

Comprehensive Reach

In Mae Sot, along the Thailand-Myanmar border ringed by forest-covered hills, live an estimated 100,000 illegal migrants from Myanmar who have left their military-ruled country hoping to land some job. But many of them wait several years - even a lifetime - to find a job. Everyday, Thai "brokers" smuggle desperate truck loads of people into Thailand for cheap labour in factories or for sex work. The migrants - mostly irregular or undocumented - are routinely abused, exploited and discriminated against.

Hope for these vulnerable migrants (particularly women who have been sexually exploited and/or living with HIV/AIDS, and children abandoned and/or orphaned) comes from organizations such as Social Action for Women (SAW) that support the vulnerable migrants in the Mae Sot area..........Read More

Spiritia Foundation

Reaching out to PLHIV in Indonesia

In the 1990’s in Indonesia there was limited information about care, support and treatment for people infected with HIV. People infected with HIV were groping for information. They lived in silence and, secrecy because of shame, discrimination and social ostracism associated with HIV.

But today, the situation has changed dramatically. In Indonesia today there is care, support, treatment and, above all, a strong network of people who help themselves and others like them. This has been possible because of groups likeSpiritia Foundation

Now an umbrella organization for PLHIV- with support groups in Indonesia, Spiritia Foundation – from the word spirit to denote hope - was started in 1995 by fashion designer-activist Suzana Murni when she herself needed support after her partner died of AIDS and she was diagnosed HIV positive.........Read More

Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust

Popularizing Harm-Reduction Strategies

In a tiny single-story tenement on a busy street in the heart of India's financial capital Mumbai, men of different ages are waiting to see the nurse. Some are staring blankly at the ceiling, while others, who appear to be regulars there, are chatting among themselves.

The men are waiting outside one of the five drop-in centers (DICs) of the Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, where Mumbai's marginalized group of drug-using street-dwellers, come regularly seeking help to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. Sankalp works among Mumbai's drug-users who live on the streets, of which there are about 40,000 in the city, many of whom are at high risk of contracting HIV because of needles they share.......Read More

Eni Lestari

Now We Speak for Ourselves

"To effect any kind of meaningful changes, one must listen and learn from the oppressed."- Paulo Friere

"For long others have spoken on our behalf. Now we speak for ourselves," says Hong Kong-based Eni Lestari, Chairperson of the International Migrants Alliance. A migrant worker from Indonesia who had suffered extreme abuse and exploitation, Eni now stands up for the rights of migrants who suffer like she had.

Born into a poor family, which eked out a meager living with the income from a small shop, Eni barely managed to complete school though keen on studies. With the 1997 Asian financial crisis dealing a body blow to the family business that got hopelessly mired in debt, Eni cannot realize her dream to go to college. But keen to support her two younger sibling's education and to help her parents tide over the crisis, Eni decided to bury her dream of going to college but instead look for work in Hong Kong......Read More

Empower Foundation

"I am very happy here. I practice my profession in a safe and protective environment" says Lek, part-owner of the bar "Can Do" (an initiative of EMPOWER Foundation in Chiang Mai, Thailand) and a sex worker for six years. Lek is one of the over 50,000 sex workers in Thailand whose life has been directly enhanced by the Thai Foundation Empower which, over the last 25 years, has raised awareness of the dignity in sex work.

In Thailand millions are employed in sex work and a large majority is routinely harassed, abused and exploited. But thanks to organizations such as the EMPOWER Foundation, the sex workers are now not only being supported and equipped to take their lives in their own hands, but also given a public voice and a friendlier public space. The comprehensive and sustainable EMPOWER (Education Means Protection of Women Engaged in Re - Creation) model, systematically built over the years, has also empowered sex workers to fight for their rights and well-being, and has significantly changed the way sex workers are perceived in public..... Read More

Say NO-UNITE to end violence against women

Princey Mangalika
Sri Lanka