About Focus on the Global South - Secondary

Welcome to Focus on the Global South

An activist think tank based in Asia.

Established in 1995 to challenge neoliberalism, militarism and corporate-driven globalisation while strengthening just and equitable alternatives, we work in solidarity with peoples’ movements to challenge neoliberalism, corporate-driven globalization, and imperial domination, and to build just, democratic, and sustainable alternatives.

Asia/World

March 10, 2026

Development in a Crisis Ridden System

Articles

Originally published in French at the Revue Projet by Anusha Lall The crises of the present times are being linked to the collapse of development and climate financing, the retreat of official development assistance (ODA) and public funding, and increasing overreliance on private capital - globally and as reflected in national contexts. The United States’ brinkmanship in international affairs, the drastic budget cuts in its aid portfolio and the withdrawal of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) support set the stage for panic early on in 2025. This uncertainty has been accompanied by the general and steady shrinking...

The Philippines

March 2, 2026

EDSA 40: Reflections and Lessons

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Through the decades, across generations To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the EDSA People Power uprising of 1986, Focus on the Global South organized two film screenings and an intergenerational conversation to look back and reflect on the lessons of EDSA. EDSAngandaan: Apat na Dekada (Four Decades) with PRRM and R2KRN February , 2026 at PRRM in Quezon City. On February , Focus co-organized with the Right to Know Right Now Coalition (R2KRN) and the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) EDSAngandaan: na Dekada (Four Decades) Jess Santiago’s video performing his song, “Pagbabago” (Change) opened the program. The song’s refrain...

Mekong Region

February 24, 2026

On the Crossroad of Critical Transitions: Why Grassroots and Civil Movements in Thailand Campaign for the Constitutional Referendum

Longreads

The 2017 Constitution: Unjust Origin and Consequences It has been a decade since the 2017 National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)’s constitution has been in place, and continues to define the Thai political climate. As much as it was proclaimed by those who engineered it, “this Constitution intends to reform, restore peace, and strengthen the integrity of people in the nation,” after political turmoil and the colored shirts’ conflicts in the past two decades. In 2014, the anti-Yingluck Shinawatra government rally disrupted the election leading to the Coup by the NCPO, and it was the same junta who drafted...

The Philippines

February 23, 2026

Saving Private Marcos*

Staff

* Nicolas Maduro is not the only head of state that was whisked away by the United States. Before him, there was General Manuel Noriega, de facto ruler of Panama, who was snatched by US troops on orders from President George H.W. Bush in December 1989. And before Noriega, there was Ferdinand Marcos, president and dictator of the Philippines. In the case of Maduro and Noriega, they were flown to a US prison. In the case of Marcos, however, this close ally of the United States was removed by President Ronald Reagan to save him from the wrath of...

The Philippines

February 17, 2026

Trade Justice Pilipinas: Halt the Philippines–EU FTA — Don’t Trade Away Workers’ Right, and our development policy space

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February 2026 Progressive labor center SENTRO warned the European Parliament against pushing for a Philippines–EU Free Trade Agreement while workers in the Philippines remain trapped in poverty wages, repression, and exploitation. In consultations held today on the EU-Philippines FTA, organized by the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament (EP-INTA), SENTRO Secretary General Josua Mata asserted that “trade liberalization has already failed Filipino workers.” “Each new deal benefits a narrow elite, while wages stagnate and inequality deepens. Without structural reforms, this FTA will simply lock in an unjust economic model, Mata added. SENTRO also underscored how basic labor rights —...

Trade Justice Pilipinas: Halt the Philippines–EU FTA — Don’t Trade Away Workers’ Right, and our development policy space

Asia/World

February 15, 2026

Resisting ISDS in Asia Testimony

Articles

by Joseph Purugganan* I am, Joseph Purugganan, Co- Director of Focus on the Global South. Thank you for the opportunity to share a short testimony of resistance to Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) from the Philippines and our region. The investor state dispute settlement mechanism or ISDS has been widely recognized across the globe as a toxic element of free trade agreements. The arguments against it have remained pretty solid. First, it underpins the pro-corporate bias of these FTAs, by giving corporations the power to challenge public policy and claim billions as compensation. This is a one way street, only accessible...

India

February 11, 2026

India’s trade policy shift in the EU and US trade deals: Serious implications for Indian citizens and its development pathway

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Open Letter by Forum for Trade Justice, February 2026 The conclusion of the India–European Union Free Trade Agreement on January 27th and the announcement of an India–US trade deal US through Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform on 2nd February which was corroborated by the US-India Joint Statement released February 6th, represent a tectonic shift in Indian trade policy. These agreements promise substantial increases in Indian exports, driven by tariff reductions on around % of EU tariff lines and a cut in US reciprocal tariffs from to per cent. While these developments have been widely promoted as economic...

India’s trade policy shift in the EU and US trade deals: Serious implications for Indian citizens and its development pathway

Asia/World

January 20, 2026

Joint International Statement against the World Economic Forum 2026

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We, the undersigned, reject the World Economic Forum. Behind its language of global progress, the Forum serves to reinforce the wealth and power of the richest one percent at the expense of people and the planet. The World Economic Forum is the annual gathering of the corporate elite and state leaders to promote the expansion of corporate control over global governance. Participants are fostering new systems of exclusion that expand wealth and power whilst sacrificing people and the planet. It celebrates the wealth of those at the top, yet excludes the workers, communities, and marginalized peoples who create real value...

Joint International Statement against the World Economic Forum 2026

Asia/World

January 4, 2026

Stop the War Coalition Philippines — Statement on the U.S. Invasion of Venezuela

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January , 2026 The Stop the War Coalition Philippines condemns the U.S. invasion of Venezuela as a blatant act of imperialist war. This aggression is not about democracy or human rights—it is about domination, plunder, and the reassertion of monopoly control over the world’s largest oil reserves and strategic minerals. For decades, Venezuela has been targeted for refusing to surrender its resources to foreign corporations. Since the Bolivarian Revolution reclaimed oil and wealth for the people, Washington has waged economic sabotage, sanctions, and propaganda campaigns. Today’s military assault is the violent continuation of that imperialist project. The invasion is cloaked...

Stop the War Coalition Philippines — Statement on the U.S. Invasion of Venezuela

The Philippines

December 18, 2025

From Gaza to Manila: Our Struggles are One; Together, We Fight for Liberation

Articles

Forum on State, Institutional, and Corporate Complicity and Impunity in the Genocide in Palestine, Quezon City, Philippines 2025 November By Galileo de Guzman Castillo In the lead up to the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November , various Philippine civil society and social movements, human rights defenders, activists, cultural workers, and the youth converged at a “Forum on State, Institutional, and Corporate Complicity and Impunity in the Genocide in Palestine” in Quezon City, Philippines. Throughout the bahaginan (people-to people exchange and conversation), key messages emerged strongly: the imperative to stand in solidarity with...

From Gaza to Manila: Our Struggles are One; Together, We Fight for Liberation

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Recent Publications

CARE AND RESISTANCE ZINE

12 Aug 2025

This zine gathers the voices, visions, and everyday practices of five grassroots movements across the world, each weaving care into…

LORDS OF THE LAND

3 Jun 2025

LORDS OF THE LAND Transnational Landowners, Inequality and the Case for Redistribution AUTHORS: Philip Seufert, Sofía Monsalve, Luciana Rolón, Shalmali…

70th Anniversary of the Bandung Conference

7 May 2025

In April 1955, leaders and delegates from 29 Asian and African countries gathered in the city of Bandung, Indonesia, to…

Contemporary Crisis in India’s Dairy Sector

19 Dec 2024

The dairy industry in India is at a critical juncture. This policy brief Contemporary Crisis in India’s Dairy Sector explores…

Feminist Climate Justice Think Pieces

29 Oct 2024

Originally published here This series features short papers by leading researchers on the gender–climate nexus. These think pieces were commissioned…

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Longreads

Longread

On the Crossroad of Critical Transitions: Why Grassroots and Civil Movements in Thailand Campaign for the Constitutional Referendum

24 Feb 2026

The 2017 Constitution: Unjust Origin and Consequences It has been a decade since the 2017 National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO)[i]’s constitution has been…

Longread