The economic crisis, emanating from the world’s economic and political centres—Europe and the US—and the global environmental crisis resulting from climate change and aggravations caused by big business, government policies and international financial institutions have not daunted peoples and societies. On the contrary, these crises have further emboldened people’s organizations and social movements to strengthen campaigns and build and forge more regional as well as global alliances. Recent proofs of these empowerment are the 9th Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) held in Vientiane, Laos (October 16th-19th), where more than a thousand participants from people’s organizations from Asia and Europe came, and the locally organized ASEAN Grassroots People Assembly (AGPA), which took place November 13th to 16th despite state-sponsored harassments. (Read AEPF statement at http://www.aepf.info/aepf9/94-final-declaration-9th-asia-europe-people-s-forum-vientiane-laos and AGPA statement at http://focusweb.org/content/asean-grassroots-peoples-assembly-peoples-statement-15-november-2012)
