FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH will be holding a series of activities as it marks its 15th year. The celebration, hosted by Focus Philippines, will kick off on January 17, with an internal seminar on Alternative Regionalisms. This will be followed by the 3-day Focus staff planning/retreat, and will culminate with a dinner party on the 20th,where the new Focus on the Global South logo and the Focus on the Philippines 2009 Yearbook will be launched.
17 January: RECLAIMING THE REGION: Developing an Alternative Regionalisms Framework and Programme (An Internal Seminar)
18-20 January: Staff Meeting/Retreat
Venue: University of the Philippines
20 January: 15 Years of Focus: Dinner and Launch
Time: 7 pm
Venue: Village Patio, 185 Maginhawa St, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City
FOCUS@COP15
A Public Affair -- Radio show featuring our own Nicola Bullard and Benny Kuruvill: Download it here
Giving Developing Countries a Voice in Climate Talks -- Dorothy Guerrero: Watch the video here
Fresh Air Briefing: Focus on the Global South -- Dorothy Guerrero: Watch the video here
Call for Civil Society’s Participation
In the 2nd ASEAN Peoples’ Forum / 5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference
18-20 October 2009
Cha-am, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand
http://aseanpeoplesforum.net
Asian People's Solidarity for Climate Justice
The Gr8 Climate Sale
Video now available! To obtain a copy please contact
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The issue of climate change has come to the forefront and people both in the North and the South have been feeling the devastating effects of global warming. However, the links between the neo-liberal system and the model of over consumption to the climate crisis are not clearly stated.
by Akbayan! Representative Walden Bello
Like Hamlet, Shakespeare’s conflicted Prince of Denmark, China was caught between conflicting currents in Copenhagen. Its failure to manage these led to its biggest diplomatic debacle in years.
Almost a month after the debacle at the United Nations climate conference in Copenhagen (Conference of Parties or COP 15), the question of who scuttled the talks elicits fury and derision.
Interestingly, in many accounts, President Barack Obama comes across either as a figure who valiantly tries to rescue a doomed conference or as a well-meaning head of state whose hands are unfortunately tied by the realities of US politics
ON JAN. 1, 2010, the China-Asean Free Trade Area (Cafta) went into effect. Touted as the world’s biggest Free Trade Area, CAFTA is billed as having 1.7 million consumers, with a combined gross domestic product of $ 2 trillion and total trade of $ 1.3 trillion.
Under the agreement, trade between China and six Asean countries including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore has become duty-free for more than 7,000 products.
By 2015, the newer Asean countries, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, will join the zero-tariff arrangement.
The propaganda mills, especially in Beijing, have been trumpeting the FTA as bringing “mutual benefits” to China and Asean. A positive spin on Cafta has also come from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who hailed the emergence of a "formidable regional grouping" that would rival the United States and the European Union.
The reality, however, is that most of the advantages will probably flow to China.
India International Centre, New Delhi
10th - 12th January, 2010
The discussions in the India-Pakistan Conference: A Road map towards Peace over the last three days have shown how far the public sentiment in both India and Pakistan is inclined towards peace. The participating organizations from both sides of the border represent a vast constituency which is ready to work towards building enduring and sustainable peace between the two countries.
We believe there is a real window of opportunity today, which must not be wasted. These ideas are presented here in a sincere effort to develop friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
This conference is not a stand alone event. The participants resolve to work in groups on each of the areas that were identified in the sessions, to further the gains of the conference.
A
number of organizations and eminent people in India have got together
to organise an ‘India-Pakistan Conference: A Road Map towards Peace’ at
the India International Center (IIC) from 10-12 January 2010.
Both
India and Pakistan have, for the last 62 years, seen many ups and downs
in bilateral relations and talk. But the current phase of composite
dialogue was significant. Four rounds had been completed, and the 5th
round was in progress. The last year’s attacks on Mumbai completely
hijacked this scenario and brought the relationship between the two
countries to breakdown point. This was further intensified by the war
hysteria whipped up by the religious right wing in both the countries.
“ALL our fears have come true,” said Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello, reacting to the launch of the world’s biggest free trade area comprising China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on Jan. 1
The China-Asean Free Trade Agreement (Cafta), lauded by governments as a spur to intraregional trade and investments, cuts import tariffs on about 90 percent of products and offers members access to a combined market of 1.7 billion consumers. Cafta is bigger than the European Union and the North American FTA in terms of trade value and population involved. But it has its detractors.
“We have warned against the detrimental effects of free trade agreements with strong economic powers like China, Japan, the US and Europe,” said Bello. “Unfortunately, all our fears have come true.
Political Stability is a scarce commodity in the troubled region of Middle East; henceforth, the ultimate priority of Mubarak’s government has essentially remained the same over the decades: to ensure minimum stability and preserve a semblance of domestic political consensus.
Nothing justifies or validates the overly ‘cautious’ and ‘restrictive’ response of the Egyptian authorities to the 1400 strong Gaza Freedom Marches from 42 countries, but one should still evaluate the overall socio-political context and discern the immense pressure under which the Egyptian government is forced to make decisions.
At 8 am, on Wednesday, Dec 29, I took my seat in a bus in downtown Cairo that was about to head for Gaza.
The evening before, Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, the central organization in the Gaza Freedom March (GFM), had asked me to be titular head of a 100-person delegation that was representative of the 1362 people that had converged in Cairo enroute to Gaza. The reason for this “assignment” was my status as a member of the House of Representatives in the Philippines.
We, representing 1,362 individuals from 43 countries arriving in Cairo to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, are pleading to the Egyptians and your reputation for hospitality.
We are peacemakers. We have not come to Egypt to create trouble or cause conflict. On the contrary. We have come because we believe that all people -- including the Palestinians of Gaza -- should have access to the resources they need to live in dignity. We have gathered in Egypt because we believed that you would welcome and support our noble goal and help us reach Gaza through your land.
(Click the image to enlarge. From L to R) Paul de Clerck from the NGO Friends of the Earth
International, Dorothy Guerrero from NGO Focus on the Global South and
Canadian author Naomi Klein annouce the winner of the Angry Mermaid
award, given to the company which has done the most to sabotage
effective action to tackle climate change, at the Bella center.
Monsanto received 37% of the votes ahead of Royal Dutch Shell 18% and
the American Petroleum Institute 14%.
(Photo courtesy of the guardian)
The 7th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) ended as it started: on a subdued and uncertain note. Statements about the importance of a speedy conclusion to the Doha Development Round (DDR) by some trade ministers and in the Chairman's Summary during the closing plenary, lacked conviction. What came through instead was nervousness among government delegates and WTO Secretariat staff about the credibility and relevance of the WTO and its programme of corporate driven globalisation in the face of deepening crises in the real economy, agriculture and climate. Every pat on the back that delegates and staff gave the WTO was tempered by statements about the need for WTO members to respect multilateralism, past commitments, the development mandate of the DDR, transparency, inclusiveness, and the special needs of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs).
Credibility, relevance and vision are certainly what the WTO lacks at this juncture. Since its establishment in 1995, numerous farmers organisations, workers' unions, government officials, academics and civil society analysts have repeatedly warned against the dangers of WTO style liberalisation on local and national economies and the environment. These warnings proved frighteningly accurate: as global trade through the WTO expanded, unemployment, food insecurity, environmental destruction, impoverishment and social dislocation increased alarmingly in developing countries.
Focus on the Global South, a programme of development policy research, analysis and action, opens its 2009 Volunteer/Internship Program. The Focus internship is a non-salaried programme that is designed to provide exciting opportunities and exposure to highly-motivated college students, graduate students and fresh university graduates. Accepted interns/volunteers will have a chance to assist in a research on climate change.
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