The Asia Society recognizes that social issues, such as ethnic and other types of communal conflict, the environment, migration, human rights, and HIV/AIDS, and the strategies used to deal with them will play a large role in international relations in the twenty-first century. It is in recognition of this fact that the Asia Society has launched the ASIP initiative and the AIDS in Asia Initiative.

Read More about ASIP, AIDS in Asia, and see a list of Advisory Committee Members.

Burma/Myanmar
Watch video clips of Burma Emergency Townhall meeting
Read Asia Society Op-eds
A conflict of interests by Mira Kamdar (October 14, 2007)
Saffron Through the Firewall by Roby Alampay (October 9, 2007)

Sedika Mojadidi's Motherland Afghanistan Afghan American filmmaker, Sedika Mojadidi, has produced a documentary about her father's work in women's medicine in Afghanistan following the American military intervention in 2003. Listen to an interview with Sedika Mojadidi on the making of her film Motherland Afghanistan.

Rural Poverty and Social Entrepreneurship in India: Local Problems, Global Solutions?
By the broader definition of poverty ($2 per day per person), nearly half the world’s population, over three billion people, lives in poverty. In India alone, over two-thirds of its one billion plus population is poor by this definition. Find out more about why development strategies have failed, and what alternatives are available in articles by ASIP director, Shyama Venkateswar, Abraham George, Mira Kamdar and others. .

Avian Flu in Asia
As Asia reflects in the aftermath of the 2003 SARS outbreak and forecasts the widely anticipated Avian Influenza epidemic, the international community, and the region in particular, struggles to prepare for the next great pandemic.

How Should Asia Prepare for the Next Great Pandemic?
Panel discussion co-sponsored by the Asia Society and Pfizer, Inc.
New York City, October 10, 2006
Read the transcript

Avian Flu Headlines, Reports, and Resources

Asma Jahangir: The Military in Pakistan
Asma Jahangir is a leading human rights advocate in Pakistan. A prominent lawyer, she has worked both in Pakistan and abroad to prevent the exploitation of religious minorities, women, and children. She is currently UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Commission on Human Rights. .

AIDS in Asia
Through AIDS in Asia, a new initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Asia Society will be joining those advocating for recognition that the next wave of the HIV/AIDS pandemic will be in Asia, and for policies and programs to stem it.

Interview with Dr. Gao Yaojie, China's most outspoken AIDS activist and public health crusader

Interview with Kevin Ryan, Director, Positive Lives conducted by Nermeen Shaikh, Asia Society

For information on Asia Society's AIDS initiative, please contact Elizabeth Williams.

Development as Freedom: AsiaSource Interview with Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 "for his contributions to welfare economics" and for restoring "an ethical dimension" to the discussion of vital economic problems. He has taught at universities worldwide and is presently Lamont University Professor at Harvard.

AsiaSource Interview with Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi
Iranian lawyer and human rights activist, Shirin Ebadi was awarded the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting democracy and human rights. Ms Ebadi has led efforts to change Iran’s discriminatory laws against women, to provide more protection for street children, and to free those detained for expressing their opposition to the government.