La Via Campesina welcomes the UN Human Rights Council move to challenge corporate impunity
by La Vía Campesina
_LA VIA CAMPESINA PRESS RELEASE_
LA VIA CAMPESINA WELCOMES THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL MOVE TO CHALLENGE
CORPORATE IMPUNITY
(Geneva, 27th of June 2014) La Via Campesina welcomes the resolution
approved at the UN Human Rights Council to draw up a binding treaty to
punish the crimes of transnational companies (TNC's). _"This is a
victory for peasants, who in most cases are unable to access legal
systems to take actions against the impunity of TNCs. Also, looking at
the current agricultural activities that have been captured by
multinational companies, the instrument will be a great tool for the
victims to file cases against land-grabbing by TNCs. We thank the
initiating countries and the countries that voted in favour."_ said
Themba Chauke from the South African Landless Peoples Movement, a member
of La Via Campesina.
Violence, evictions, intimidation, the criminalisation of struggles as
well as assassinations of farmers who are defending their livelihood,
their land and their communities have become common practice used by
agribusiness, TNCs, local elites and governments. This violence is
linked to the privatization of nature, the concentration of land and the
increased corporate control of the food chain.
Transnational companies such as Nestlé, Syngenta, Bayer... have been
responsible for numerous crimes such as violent land evictions, abuse
and contamination of the commons (seeds, water, soil...), the promotion
of unhealthy junk food and the increased use of agrotoxins in food
production. The industrial food system exploits agricultural and food
workers, especially the undocumented workers.
The approval of the resolution is positive progress towards balancing
the power and accountability of these companies, and reducing their
global impunity. Social movements and NGOs have successfully brought
pressure to bear on States to approve the tabled resolution._ "The goal
of the mobilisation is not only to put pressure on the States to put in
place laws to control companies and to safeguard rights, but also to
denounce the "architecture of impunity" that protects TNCs operations
through aspects such as economic agreements, a long history of
structural adjustment imposed by the IMF, and the Free Trade Agreements
that are all harmful to human rights,"_ said Leandro Scalabrin of the
Movement of victims of Dams in Brazil.
The work to develop alternative ways of organising our societies in a
fair and just manner continues. As a peasant organisation La Via
Campesina remains committed to promoting food sovereignty and to
continue working in peasant communities to intensify the struggle
against corporate impunity.
CONTACTS:
Themba Chauke - Landless Peoples' Movement South Africa: +41766499591 or
+393510683306,
Philippe Sauvin - l'autre syndicat, Switzerland: +41 22 362 69 87 or +41
79 509 31 10
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10 years, 6 months
La Vía Campesina’s position on the International Year of Family Farming
by La Vía Campesina
PRESS RELEASE - LA VÍA CAMPESINA
LA VÍA CAMPESINA’S POSITION ON THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FAMILY FARMING
- 2014
A SPACE FOR THE PROMOTION OF CONCRETE POLICIES ON PEASANT FAMILY FARMING
(Harare, June 2014) La Vía Campesina defines participation in the
International Year of Family Farming, propelled by the UN in 2014, as
the creation of a space for discussion and collective action to to push
Food Sovereignty that has peasants and small farmers as a basis. All
throughout the world they continue to grow and distribute healthy,
self-produced food in their towns, in stark contrast to the commercial
food industry, whose priorities are profit and speculation and whose
strategy is to make agriculture increasingly dependent on agro-toxics,
increasing their profits through the sale of herbicides, whilst damaging
and contaminating natural resources.
We have witnessed a profound food crisis, which has brought attention
to peasant based food production and the eradication of hunger within
the UN's agenda. The UN has recognised the crucial role that male and
female peasants play in this arduous task.
During the International Year of Family Farming, La Vía Campesina looks
to offer political proposals within the framework of Food Sovereignty,
constructed by small farmers. The term 'family farming' is vast, and may
include almost any agricultural model or method whose direct
beneficiaries are not corporations or investors. It includes both
small-scale and large-scale producers (with farms covering thousands of
hectares), as well as small-scale producers who are entirely dependent
on the private sector, through contract farming or other forms of
economic exploitation, promoted though concepts such as "The value
chain". This is why La Vía Campesina defends family farming in terms of
peasant based ecological Farming, as opposed to the large-scale,
industrial, toxic farming of agribusinesses, which expel peasants and
small farmers and grab the world's lands.
It is imperative, during this International Year of Family Farming,
that critical steps be taken and that commitment be mobilised so that
policies to protect and to strengthen peasant family farming might be
implemented. La Vía Campesina supports a model of food production which
promotes Food Sovereignty. This includes:
Access and control over productive resources such as land, water, seeds
and finance. It is important to highlight, in this space for discussion,
the urgent need for Integral Agrarian Reform: the democratisation of
land, and the creation of direct employment, housing and food
production. We consider that the concept of integral agrarian reform
should not be limited to just the redistribution of land. We support an
Integral Agrarian Reform which offers full rights over lands, which
recognises the legal rights of indigenous populations over their
territories, which guarantees fishing communities access to and control
over fisheries and ecosystems, and which recognises the right of access
to and control over livestock migration routes and pastures;
The recognition that female peasants and female agricultural workers
have the same rights as their male counterparts;
The prioritisation of local food systems and markets;
The recognition of rights and protection against corporation-led
production, and the large-scale production of agro-fuel;
The use of ecological production methods.
During this UN International Year, as La Vía Campesina, we contemplate
certain threats such as the criminalisation, the judicialisation and the
continuous repression under which male and female peasants live, not
just at the hands of their states, but also at those of the
transnational corporations. Conflicts over land and other natural
resources exist throughout the world.
Of the national governments, we therefore demand: an end to land
grabbing, and that of water and seeds; that they promote policies which
guarantee Food Sovereignty, biodiversity and peasants' seeds, and that
they improve access to land and water; that they recognise peasant
rights regarding the production, reproduction and exchange of their
traditional seeds, guarantees of agro-biodiversity and peasants'
autonomy; and that they increase the support and public investments for
peasant based production, and guarantee markets and equitable trade.
At international level, we urge governments to apply the Guidelines on
Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests, and
other key decisions from the Committee on World Food Security (CFS), and
that they adopt the UN Declaration of Peasants' Rights. Additionally, we
urge that they implement the International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture, and that they end negotiations for
any new commercial agreements, particularly the TTIP (Trans-Atlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership) or the TPP (Trans-Pacific
Partnership).
In La Vía Campesina, we believe that we have to use this year to
redirect agriculture towards a model of Food Sovereignty which will
generate employment, provide healthy food, and respect natural
resources. We call for the creation of an alliance between countryside
and city, that it might revive the peasants' dignity and highlight their
great contribution to food production; we need important political
changes, both for our tables and for our fields.
CONTACT FOR THE PRESS:
S.Kannaiyan: +91 9444979543 - sukannaiyan69(a)gmail.com
Chukki Nanjundaswamy: + 919845066156 - chukki.krrs(a)gmail.com
Andrea Ferrante: + 393480189221 - a.ferrante(a)aiab.it
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10 years, 6 months
In order to feed Humanity, small farmers reclaim their rights!
by La Vía Campesina
IN ORDER TO FEED HUMANITY, SMALL FARMERS RECLAIM THEIR RIGHTS!
(Geneva, 18 June 2014) From June 11th to the 13th, a delegation of La
Via Campesina partook in the 26th session of the United Nations Human
Rights Council in Geneva in order to pursue its advocacy for the
drafting of an International Declaration on the Rights of peasants and
people working in rural areas.
BACKGROUND
This declaration stems from the international peasant movement called
La Via Campesina which has been working on the stated project for over a
decade. La Via Campesina, a movement composed of more than 160 peasants'
organisations across 70 countries, assumes the task of identifying the
various discriminations faced by people working in rural areas (farmers,
rural workers, nomads, fisher(wo)men, indigenous and landless peoples,
etc.) and to determine - with the support of organisations such as FIAN
International and CETIM (Centre Europe - Tiers Monde) - the inherent
rights attached to this group of people.
After several studies undertaken by the Consultative Committee of the
United Nations Human Rights Council, the Assembly (termed 'Council')
accepted the final report in March 2012. In September 2012, it voted in
favour of the resolution aiming at establishing an open
intergovernmental working group in charge of drafting a declaration
grounded on the project attached in the final report. In July 2013, this
working group held its first working session.
Following the 26th Human Rights Council meeting, the member states will
vote on a resolution calling for the renewal of the intergovernmental
group's mandate in order to further pursue the drafting of this
declaration, on the basis of recommendations that will emerge out of the
first working group meeting and from the consultative ones expected to
be held between June and November 2014.
INTENSE ADVOCACY
La Via Campesina places great emphasis on the pursuit of this line of
work, which is why it sent three farmer's leaders to participate in the
aforementioned session: Ibrahim Coulibaly (CNOP - Mali), Geneviève
Savigny (Confédération Paysanne - France) and Diego Monton (Cloc -
Argentina). They all participated in a "parallel event" organised by the
Bolivian and Filipino Ambassadresses on the topic of "Farmers' Rights
and International Year of Family Farming". The panel was complemented by
a video message by Mr. José Graziano da Silva, F.A.O. Director, and Mr.
Christophe Golay from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian
Law and Human Rights.
The Via Campesina delegation also participated in an open conference in
Geneva and encountered several other African, European and
Latin-American delegations.
EUROPE IN LINE OF SIGHT
Starting from June 16th, this delegation will be replaced by a strong
delegation from the Eurocpean Coordination Via Campesina representing
France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. The
farmer's organisations from the European region have since 2 to 3
months' time worked on a plea addressed to their respective governments,
calling for their support in favour of the resolution which will be
discussed and up for vote during the upcoming session. As a matter of
fact, the European countries have been the most proactive in this matter
to date. Hence yet another symbolic action will take place on the Place
de la Nation on June 17th at 11.30am when the European peasant's leaders
will meet the European delegations from the Human Rights Council.
Uniterre/La Via Campesina
MORE PICTURES ON VIACAMPESINATV [1]
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Links:
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[1] http://tv.viacampesina.org/Ginebra-La-agricultura-campesina?lang=en
10 years, 6 months
Nyeleni Newsletter: Creating knowledge for Food Sovereignty
by La Vía Campesina
READ THE NYELENI NEWSLETTER!
CREATING KNOWLEDGE FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
[1]
There is movement in the many worlds that are creating knowledge for
food sovereignty!
The stories in this newsletter provide a glimpse into some of these
worlds.
They show that we are questioning the assumption of a single truth
based on objective knowledge. Also that our understanding of the world
is enriched by considering it from multliple perspectives, multiple
cosmovisions. They indicate that for these multiple cosmovisions to
enter into an equal dialogue, common languages must be found. They show
the need to challenge academic knowledge, but also to be open to being
challenged by it.
We need to radically transform dominant knowledge and ways of knowing
for food sovereignty.
Click here to download the english edition [1]
or read it directly in the website at www.nyeleni.org [2]!
Links:
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[1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=56
[2] http://www.nyeleni.org
10 years, 6 months