Although  women are  mostly at  the  receiving  end  of the negative  impacts  of  neoliberal globalization  and  war, the  reality is that they also  go through various cycles of coping   with,  adapting  to, and  resisting the onslaught of the multiple crises.

There has also been particular erosion of women’s intangible spaces  such  as  the   solidarity  and  community  support, leaving the basic survival weave of women’s lives torn apart by  the  push  of individualistic  value  systems generated by  market-based consumption patterns and policies. 

In many Asian societies, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is generally understood as being no more than corporate-run community development projects to compensate for social and economic injustices. Most of such projects, like constructing schools and health care centres, have been effectively hegemonic, providing strong legitimacy and extensive license to corporations to sustain the exploitation of the human and natural resources in many countries. A further implication of CSR is that it makes people think that it is the company’s obligation to meet people’s rights to a better education system, clean water, health care, etc., instead of the State or government. At the same time, this has allowed the State to escape from its obligations towards society.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit will be held on November 10-11 in Maldives. Like ASEAN, SAARC is a regional organization that seeks to promote economic, technological, social and cultural development through cooperation and integration efforts. Its member countries include the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan. The Republic of Maldives declared “Building Bridges” – both in terms of physical connectivity and figurative political dialogue – as the theme for the 17th SAARC Summit this year.

August 17, 2011
Bangkok, Thailand

We, 52 women and men from 18 countries Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China and Hongkong SAR,India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Spain,Thailand, Timor Leste, USA, and Vietnam  and representing peasants, agricultural workers, fisherfolk,indigenous peoples, workers, women, youth and students, refugees and stateless persons, academia,environmental and support NGOs and networks met for the ‘Promoting a Transformative Agenda forSustainable Development: A Strategy Workshop on Rio+20’ on August 15?17, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand.