The Global Network for the Right to Food and Nutrition launches 'When Food Becomes Immaterial: Confronting the Digital Age”, a report exploring the impact of technologies on what and how we eat, as well as on how food is produced.
Bali, Indonesia - International Financial Institutions led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) have long touted infrastructure development as a mark of progress.
This paper was presented by Joseph Purugganan at the Asia Europe Peoples Forum in Ghent, Belgium September 29, 2018. Joseph is the head of the Philippine office of Focus on the Global South and coordinates the network Trade Justice Pilipinas.
Walden Bello traces the rise of the present-day Hindu nationalist movement from its marginal origins at the time of Indian independence to its formidable present domination of the political landscape.
Focus is pleased to release online its newest publication Repormang Agraryo at Pagbabago? Narratives on Agrarian Conflicts, Transitions, And Transformation; the launch of the book edition took place on September 11, 2018 in Quezon City, Philippines.
Focus seeks a Programme Officer for its India office to strengthen its existing programme and expand programme activities into related areas.
Focus on the Global South releases the 4th edition of Focus Newsletter, which tackles the issue of democracy in Asia and its different facets--elections, constitutions, (extreme) nationalism, populism, majoritarian rule, press freedom. Why democracy?
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Public Statement, 4 June 2018
For Immediate release
On the day of his birthday, 17th September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sardar Sarovar Dam, and dedicated this act to the nation.
Malolos, Bulacan— Around 150 farmers, women, senior citizens, and children who were part of a "Lakbayan" (march) from Bataan to Malacanang to request President Rodrigo Duterte to help get the lands
Civil society organizations from Indonesia, Philippines, and Europe criticized the European Union’s Multilateral Investment Court proposal as an attempt to multilateralise the investor-State disput
22 February 2017, Manila, Philippines - Civil society and grassroots organizations from across Asia gathered in Manila for a two-day strategy meeting, February 21 and 22, to discuss a global campai
Super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan has been a wake up call to Filipinos and the bigger global community to the reality that the impacts of extreme weather events related to climate change are already being felt now, and thus the urgency for concerted response.
October 2016
Small-scale food producers rely on access to and control over natural resources such as land, including farmland, forests, grazing land and fishing grounds, for the realization of their human right to food and nutrition, their survival and livelihoods.
However, a huge number of them face obstacles and threats to this access and control over natural resources.
Gloria Capitan, anti-coal activist from the Philippines; Mr. Kem Ley, social/political analyst from Cambodia; Melon Barcia, peasant leader from the Philippines. All felled by an assassin's gun.
Den Kamlae, land rights activist from Thailand; Sombath Somphone, development worker from Laos; Jonas Burgos, farmer and political activist from the Philippines. All forcibly disappeared.
2015 is a significant year in the history of the International Free trade regime, as its key multilateral instrument, the World Trade Organization (WTO), completes 20 years. Two decades of the WTO have raised many questions, most significantly, is the WTO relevant to small and marginal farmers in the Global South?
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Marked the 20th anniversary of Focus on the Global South with a two-day International Conference on Peoples’ Struggles and Alternatives - over 120 people attended, representing almost 80 organisations from 20 different countries
An economy is often defined as "the wealth and resources of a country or region".
Since the early 1990s, Cambodia has been heavily reliant on foreign aid. The Cambodian Government is seeking to reduce donor-dependence and increase self-reliance, aiming to lift the country to the status of higher middle-income country by 2030.
In the last decade, the resource-rich Philippines has bet heavily on the mining industry as a development strategy, an approach that has come under growing scrutiny.
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Fishing workers, through the very nature of their work, are especially vulnerable to human trafficking as well as forced, bonded and slave labour, operating as they do in isolated and hazardous conditions.
Focus on the Global South Statement on the 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) 2018
Save the Mekong, a coalition of non-government organizations, community-based groups and concerned citizens within the Mekong region, wish to express our shock and concern at the recent collapse of the Xe Pian - Xe Nam Noy hydropower project in Laos, and ou
On the 20th of July 2018, 25 civil society organizations in Thailand in the sectors of health, agriculture, fishery, environment, internet, labor rights, women rights and climate change convened a meeting on the impact of RCEP and CPTPP.
Corporate Concentration in Food and Agriculture; Implications on Food Sovereignty in South East Asia
Focus on the Global South, the ETC Group and Chulalongkorn University Social Research Institute (CUSRI) are organizing a Forum on Corporate Concentration in Food and Agriculture; Implications on Food Sovere
The following open letter has been issued and signed by scholars, academics, and civil society members from across the world in support of the five academics and researchers who have been summoned by the military following the International Conference of Thai Studies (ICTS13), and to object to attempts by the state to control spaces of learning.
We the undersigned express our alarm and dismay at the Summons issued by Col Suebsakul Buarawong, deputy commander of the 33rd Military Circle in Chiang Mai, to Dr Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, Pakawadee Veerapatpong, Chaipong Samnieng, Nontawat Machai, and Thiramon Bua-ngam. They are accused of violating the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) chief's Order No.3/2015, Thailand’s military regime's ban on political gatherings of five or more persons. Conviction on the charges issued against these five scholars carries a potential six months in prison.
Statement from iDEFEND on the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, the Philippines
On Tuesday night, President Rodrigo Duterte declared Martial Law on the entire Mindanao Island while on a state visit in Russia, following the fighting between the military and the Maute group.
It has to be clarified that the clashes were triggered by law enforcement operation in Marawi. This is a situation started by the government itself. Similarly, the Maute group is a local terrorist group, and not ISIS, even as the former tries to ally itself with ISIS.
It’s been over a year since the late afternoon on 16 April 2016 when Den Kamlae went missing on his way to collect forest items. Material evidence was later discovered between 23-25 March 2017. Today, these important materials are still under examination by forensic scientists and the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS).
On 14 March 2017, the International Day of Action for Rivers, we, the Save the Mekong Coalition along with civil society and community partners from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, make this statement to express our gratitude to the Mekong River and the way of life she supports. The Mekong is our mother river, home to unique biodiversity and a lifeline for millions of people throughout the river basin. We recognize the efforts of Mekong communities who are working to protect and preserve the unique ecosystems and resources of the river for future generations.
Joint Organizations
July 11, 2016 - We, the undersigned Cambodian civil society groups, are outraged at the brutal murder of independent political analyst and grassroots organiser Kem Ley yesterday morning, and call for a prompt, thorough and independent inquiry into his death.
Kem Ley, 46, was shot twice, in his chest and his head, in a heavily-frequented Caltex petrol station cafe in central Phnom Penh shortly before 9.00 on Sunday morning.
Secretariat: c/o NFBM #1066-B, Emerald St., Taglesville Subd., Balanga City, Bataan
Email: [email protected]
5th July 2016
Dear Friends,
5th July 2016
Translated from Filipino
Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KILUSAN) strongly condemns the treacherous murder of our comrade Gloria Capitan of Mariveles, Bataan!
Labor Day statement of Independent Senatorial Candidate Walden Bello
Today, I march side by side with our workers to affirm their struggle for labor rights and continue the fight for dignity for our working class.
Labor day is a celebration of what the labor movement has won over decades of struggle.
Not many people know this but the fact that it is illegal to force workers to work for more than 8 hours and that they have to be paid more if they work beyond that is something that workers—through collective action—achieved.
You may sign this statement by clicking here
Suffering the brunt of the ongoing El Nino, more than 6 thousand farmers converged along a national highway in Kidapawan in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines on March 30 to demand 15,000 sacks of rice and financial subsidy promised to them six months earlier by the provincial government. They urgently need this assistance to tide them over until they are able to plant and harvest rice again.