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Fifteen Years of Focus
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

Trade & Climate Caravan 2009
Advancing a Peoples’ ASEAN: Continuing Dialogue
cha-am
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 This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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.


Read More
Watch the Full-Length Video

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Climate Justice Conference
Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok Thailand

For more information and to download the proceedings, visit the official website

Alternative Regionalism and ASEAN Phil Workshops
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Click here to download conference proceedings

FOCUS STAFF INTERVIEWS
Walden Bello on WSFtv , Aljazeera
Nicola Bullard talks about climate justice on Realworld Radio
Shalmali Guttal on WSFtv
Walden Bello talks about Asian Economy
Watch Aljazeera's 101 East Discussions on the Asian Economy.
Part 2

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The Prince of Denmark
Climate Change - Articles
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


Read more...
 
The China-Asean Free Trade Area: Propaganda and Reality
Trade Campaign - Article
by Akbayan! Representative Walden Bello

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.
Read more...
 
Declaration:India Pakistan Conference – A Road map towards Peace
India Programme - Article
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.
Read more...
 
India-Pakistan Conference: A Road Map towards Peace at the India International Center (IIC), Delhi
India Programme - Announcements
10th - 12th January, 2010

Dear Friends,  

Greetings! 

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.  
Read more...
 
Free trade bad for Asean, warns solon
Trade Campaign - Article
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
posted on inquirer.net

“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.


Read more...
 
The Gaza Freedom March: in the midst of a regional pandemonium
Peace and Security - Article
By Javad Heydarian*

The Mirage of stability

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.

Read more...
 
Lessons of the Gaza Freedom March
Peace and Security - Article
By Walden Bello*

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.

Read more...
 
OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT MUBARAK FROM THE GAZA FREEDOM MARCH
Peace and Security - Press Release
December 26, 2009

Dear  President Mubarak;
 
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.
Read more...
 
Angry Mermaid Press Conference
Climate Change - Statements/Declarations
cop15--angry-mermaid-awar-019(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)
 
Ailing but Alive: the WTO in December 2009
Trade Campaign - WTO
by Shalmali Guttal
11 Dec 2009

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.

Read more...
 
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EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Campaign
Country Level Thematic Reports
The EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Campaign  initiated  in 2007 a research project that would examine the nature and scope of the EU-ASEAN Relations including the impact of the proposed EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The project resulted in the publication in March 2009  of  the country-level studies that cover Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The publication also included  two articles  from Thailand that critique the EU- FTA’s proposed Chapter on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The country-level and thematic reports in the publication are intended to provide campaigners and trade justice advocates with  a broad overview and background information  on the extent of EU relations with particular ASEAN member countries. The reports outline the key areas of interests for both EU and ASEAN  that will likely be the key areas in the FTA negotiations. We hope that the reports will  contribute towards an informed public debate on the EU-ASEAN FTA not only across Asia and Europe , but in the global campaign for a fairer and more just trade system.

Included in the Information Package:

Introduction
Thailand Case
Indonesian Case
Vietnam Case
Sectoral and Thematic Cases

Download the complete reports here
 
Internship @ Focus
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.

Click here to apply


wallstreet
Wall Street: The Causes of Collapse
by Walden Bello
Updated: 18 October 2008
Download the Presentation

Links

INTERNSHIP OPENING AT FOCUS, INDIA
Focus on the Global South - India is accepting applications for internships.
Click here for more details>>
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