@focussouth.bsky.social
Activist think tank in Asia providing analysis and building alternatives for just social, economic, and political change.
#FOCUSDispatch: http://focusweb.org/subscribe
@focussouth.bsky.socialJoseph Purugganan lays out why ISDS is a toxic element of FTAs, and why a strong LBI to hold transnational corporations accountable is the path away from investment arbitration. Both actions assert the primacy of human rights over trade and investment agreements.
@focussouth.bsky.socialIntervening at the 12th session of the UN working group mandated to elaborate a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and human rights, Joseph Purugganan, Focus Co-Director, emphasized the human rights concerns related to trade agreements.
@focussouth.bsky.socialFocus on the Global South called on States to recognize the primacy of human rights over international and regional trade agreements.
Read at focusweb.org/recognition-...
@stoptncimpunity.bsky.socialReposted by @focussouth.bsky.socialWe're in Geneva demanding a strong #BindingTreaty on Human Rights and transnational corporations. This is a pivotal moment in the struggle against corporate power, and the #Checkmate campaign is in full swing.
Follow along this week as we call for an end to corporate impunity!
@focussouth.bsky.social"We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. We stand against genocide, against occupation and repression in Gaza and West Bank but also at home- against the same perpetrators."
Solidarity and resistance for Palestine: focusweb.org/solidarity-a...
@focussouth.bsky.social“Who Pays for the City? Urban Inequality, Climate Crisis and the Financing of Asian Cities” 📅 Tuesday, 13 October 2026 🕐 1:00–2:30 pm (Bangkok time, GMT+7) 📍 Peony 6–7, 2nd Floor, Ambassador Hotel, Sukhumvit 11, Bangkok Please scan the QR code on the poster to register for online participation.
@focussouth.bsky.socialJoin us at the International Peoples' Assembly to discuss how the Global South can build finance that supports peasant agroecology, strengthens local food systems and repairs historical injustices, without pushing countries into another cycle of debt.
@focussouth.bsky.socialWhoever controls finance controls food. Loans and policy reforms from global financial institutions shape what farmers grow, who owns the land and how food reaches our tables.
@focussouth.bsky.socialLoans, Reforms and Food: How Global Financial Institutions Shape Agrarian Futures
📅 Tuesday, 13 October 2026
🕓 4:00 to 6:30 pm
📍 Orchid 1 Hall, Third Floor, Ambassador Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
Read the concept note: bit.ly/4B0uqYu
@focussouth.bsky.socialFrom Price-Taker to Producer: Africa in the Global Solar Value Chain
📅 Wednesday 15 October 2026
📍 Victor Club @ FYI Center, Building 1, Bangkok (in-person only)
⏰ Refreshments from 5:00 p.m. | Programme 5:30–7:00 p.m. | Reception to 7:30 p.m.
🎟️ This is an in-person event. RSVP: luma.com/6600wn6i
@focussouth.bsky.socialYou can read our September 2026 edition of FOCUS Dispatch on the link here: bit.ly/Dispatch2609.
Don't miss out on future issues — subscribe to our newsletter and get the Dispatch straight to your inbox!
📮Learn more and subscribe at focusweb.org/focus-dispatch.
@focussouth.bsky.social🆕 #FOCUSDispatch September 2026 is out. Reclaiming our rights: the farmers who feed us are treated as criminals for saving seed, countries are still repaying decades-old debt, and communities are organizing to take back control of their land, food and futures.
Movements continue to resist ✊
@focussouth.bsky.socialAfter recording a podcast on militarism, KontraS’ Andrie Yunus was followed and attacked with acid in Jakarta. Fatia Maulidiyanti joins the first episode of our Podcast to talk about Indonesia’s shrinking space for dissent.
Listen at focusweb.org/podcast
@focussouth.bsky.social* forms.gle/NjK2it47UMBJSjSu6 - RSVP via link to attend in person at Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park
* go.networkideas.org/4h8hEhM - Bookmark this link for Zoom session #CSPF
@focussouth.bsky.social📌 Participate in our independent panel event: “IMF in Asia & Latin America: Historical & contemporary reckoning”, happening during week of Civil Society Policy Forum.
Read: go.networkideas.org/4ADKvDk
🗓 Sched: 14 Oct, 9:30-13:15 (Bangkok time)
✋🏼Participation mode: Hybrid
@ipes-food.orgReposted by @focussouth.bsky.social🚨 NEW REPORT: The world’s largest workforce is also its most exploited.
1.4 billion people – 2 in 5 workers worldwide – work in food systems. Yet food systems exploit more workers than any other sector.
Read & share #FoodWork:
ipes-food.org/report/food-...
@focussouth.bsky.socialYou can read our August 2026 edition of FOCUS Dispatch on the link here: bit.ly/Dispatch2608.
Don't miss out on future issues — subscribe to our newsletter and get the Dispatch straight to your inbox!
📮Learn more and subscribe at focusweb.org/focus-dispatch.
@focussouth.bsky.social🆕 #FOCUSDispatch August 2026 is out. One year after Indonesia's uprising, we look at the closing space for dissent, the fight to keep ISDS out of RCEP, and the demand for a people-centred Global South — movements continue to resist ✊
