ActionAid in China
In August 1998, ActionAid signed a ten-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to undertake participatory poverty reduction work in China together. The National Research Centre for Science and Technology Development (NRCSTD) was designated as the interface between the two parties.
Actionaid China worked in both absolute poor and relatively poor communities Initial work on the ground has largely been service delivery such as construction of water wells, irrigation canals, hydro-powered rice mills, sanitary facilities for women and girls, paving of village roads, training of women in reproductive health-- all at small-scale and at village level.
At the later stage, AA China put its effort further in building citizenship awareness, women's participation and gender equality, and to encourage the poor and excluded groups to articulate their interests, take initiative to improve their own living conditions as well as improve their self-managment.
At the same time, we tried to establish appropriate communication and dialogue mechanism for government agencies to better respond to the needs of the poor and marginalized groups.
By 2009 we have established 18 Development Areas (DA) in five provinces, covering 215 administrative villages in 45 townships in Hebei, Shaanxi, Gansu, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces.
In addition, we are in another 13 administrative villages through thematic approach in Yunnan, Anhui,Henan and Sichuan provinces.
We are in partnership with around 175,000 poor and excluded people in our grassroots work to reduce inequality and justice and promote rights awareness.
Policy advocacy and researches
Meanwhile, ActionAid China has built its ground to do policy research for campaign through thematic interventions.
In the past five years, AA China’s thematic interventions covers in the following areas:
- Rights to food and livelihood for farmers and migrant workers
- Education for rural children
- HIV/AIDS prevention and support to positives
- Disaster preparedness
- Two cross-cutting themes - governance and women’s rights
Our research on intellectual property rights and the indigenous knowledge protection was built into the publication series and the recommendations were taken into consideration in the strategy formulation of the IPR strategy development in China.
Research on corporate accountability including Wal-Mart supply chain and selected agribusiness in China has revealed the extent to which power groups may impact on farmers and small holders in the production chain.
Research on right to information and case collection on TRIPS mobilized a number of research institutions and academia, government and NGOs to work together.
In the past five years, ActionAid China has built various networks and organized a series of events such as farmers' rights under the China accession of WTO, Anti-discrimination against HIV/AIDS positives through Positive Life Photo Exhibition which covered 4 provinces, education campaign on Every Child need a good teacher under Global Action Week which covered 13 provinces.
We mobilized partners and grassroots organization in participating campaign related to MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) through GCAP, which formed an alliance among NGOs and grassroots organization in the area of environment, education, HIV/AID and women development.