News

Dr Cynthia Maung founded the Mae Tao Clinic 38 years ago along the Thailand-Burma border, in Mae Sot. Since the 2021 coup, Mae Sot has become a sanctuary for many Burmese refugees, in particular tens of thousands of ethnic Karen and other Burmese minorities who subsist on the fringes of the Thai economy and await a brighter future.

Since the 2021 military coup, communities across Myanmar have faced escalating violence, displacement, and political repression. Yet, women, especially those from ethnic minority backgrounds, continue to lead community organising and advocacy efforts.

In countries like Indonesia and the Philippines, journalists investigating corruption, environmental destruction, or military abuses have faced violence, including targeted killings and legal harassment.

16 representatives from six Asia-Pacific nations – Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Fiji, Indonesia, and Malaysia – travelled to Sydney to participate in the 2026 Asbestos Conference.

When Lidia de Jesus looks back at her life just a few years ago, she remembers fear, isolation and uncertainty. Today, she is helping lead a national movement for domestic workers in Timor-Leste. 

The Viet Nam Women’s Academy, in collaboration with the Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA, held an international workshop in Ha Noi called “Enhancing Opportunities for Women Candidates to be Elected to People’s Councils at All Levels”.

If the turn of events in Minnesota in the US and Greenland have anything to teach us, it’s that defending our rights and livelihoods depends on re-discovering our common humanity and forging a path of unity together to win.  Authoritarianism and neocolonialism may be on the rise but so are the forces which have forever countered them – organised people. Social movements and […]

Australian Karen Organisation Inc. (AKO) and Burmese Community Development Collaboration (BCDC) are honoured to co-host a Gala Dinner with Dr. Cynthia Maung, internationally respected physician, humanitarian leader, and recipient of the 2013 Sydney Peace Prize.

In Cambodia, earning a living often comes at a high personal cost. Women are overrepresented in low-paid, insecure jobs where long hours, unsafe conditions and weak legal protections are common. For street vendors, factory and hospitality workers, or women carrying heavy loads on construction sites, basic rights are often out of reach.

Ban asbestos campaigners in Malaysia have united to form a ban asbestos network. This coalition comprises trade unions, consumer associations, and health civil society organisations that have come together to form a unified voice in support of the Malaysian government’s efforts to enact a ban on asbestos.