SADC: Building unity and solidarity to effect a system change
by La Vía Campesina
SADC: BUILDING UNITY AND SOLIDARITY TO EFFECT A SYSTEM CHANGE [1]
Published on Saturday, 16 August 2014 01:55
_VIA CAMPESINA, RURAL WOMEN ASSEMBLY, PEOPLE'S DIALOGUE AND WOMIN_
Bulawayo, 14 August 2014- Women from all the corners of the Southern
African region descended on Bulawayo to participate in a parallel of the
SADC Heads of State Summit, the People Summit, which runs from the 14th
to the 16th. They have converged to share their experiences on how they
have been affected either by decisions made by governments with little
consultations with the people or the inherited colonial agro-mining
complex, which continues to grab land for extractive purposes. More
importantly, the women have gathered to build and strengthen their
solidarity, forge strong alliances and commit to the struggle to push
for a system of change.
Today, on the first day, the meeting was energized with a mystica,
singing and a drama depicting both the challenges faced by most rural
women (evictions from land, loss of livelihoods etc) and the victory
that comes with unity of purpose and solidarity.
Solidarity messages were expressed for the people of Palestine who
currently suffer gross human rights violation from Israel's massacre of
innocent civilians. Also, solidarity was offered to the many political
activists imprisoned in Swaziland for expressing their political views.
Mercia Andrews of Rural Women's Assembly, called on the women to build a
strong unity and solidarity to strengthen the resistance and the voice
of the people."Movements bring change! They change the society and the
country! Only organized movements, women can change our situation", she
said.
Women are the majority food producers and also constitute the majority
of the electorate in Southern Africa and Africa. Grace Tepula from
Zambia urged the women to use their majority power to effect change. She
said, "A woman is a woman, a mother. No woman, no food. Women should own
land and be given the title to it". Elizabeth Mpofu, general coordinator
of La Via Campesina emphasized that we should continue to build
resistance so that one day change would come. She further stressed the
importance of land and food sovereignty for the lives of rural people
and the need to guard against GMO seeds and policies such as the seed
harmonization, which destroy the people's livelihoods.
This year's SADC Heads of State Summit focuses on natural resources and
value addition, but not on the worsening situation affecting
communities. Samantha Hargreaves from WoMin (Women in Mining) called on
the gathered people to join the alliance to fight against extractive
mining companies which steal from communities and pollute their
environment. Farai Maguwu said that instead of the western governments
giving Africa development aid to end poverty, they should stop stealing
natural resources from the continent and allow its people to determine
their own development path.
Thus, there is a need to stop transnational corporations from stealing
African natural resources. A campaign to dismantle corporate power and
to stop their impunity is underway and aims to build people's
sovereignty. "Such sovereignty is critical in our struggle for a better
life for all people", said Brid Brennan, from the Transnational
Institute.
In the words of Elizabeth Mpofu, which resonated with all the speakers,
"We are not here to celebrate but to know who we are and what we are
fighting against. We are here to strengthen our resistance and no one is
going to come and rescue us from these challenges." The People's Summit
is not just a gathering that follows the Heads of States but a growing
force from below which seeks and envisages a better tomorrow
characterized by equality and equity for all. This movement and its
voice continue to grow and cannot be ignored by governments.
WATCH THE VIDEO: SADC PEOPLES SUMMIT - WHY ARE WE HERE? [2]
Links:
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[1]
http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/news-from-the-regions-mainmenu-29/16...
[2] https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=L75VfUGYWB0
10 years, 4 months
Farmers, rural women and mining impacted communities at the 2014 SADC People´s Summit to propose people-based regionalism
by La Vía Campesina
FARMERS, RURAL WOMEN AND MINING IMPACTED COMMUNITIES AT THE 2014 SADC
PEOPLE´S SUMMIT TO PROPOSE PEOPLE-BASED REGIONALISM [1]
Media Advisory
VIA CAMPESINA, RURAL WOMEN ASSEMBLY, PEOPLE´S DIALOGUE AND WOMIN
[2]Harare, 08 August 2014 - Hundreds of people from grassroots
organizations, including small-scale farmers, rural women, farm workers
and members of mining impacted communities from Southern African
countries will be at the 2014 SADC Peoples Summit. The summit takes
place in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe from 14 to 16 August, 2014. Members of Via
Campesina Africa, the Rural Women's Assembly (RWA), WoMin and the
People's Dialogue will be strongly present in Bulawayo, to build
alternatives and propose a regionalism that prioritizes people, not
corporations.
Caravans of African farmers, rural women and mining impacted communities
from Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Lesotho, the DRC,
Malawi and other countries will unite with Zimbabwean organisations and
movements in Bulawayo to demand social and economic justice, based on
the people´s perspectives.
The southern African region is faced with ongoing challenges and
deepening crisis as a direct consequence of neo-liberal economic
policies. Transnational corporate capture and control of people's basic
means of production (land, water, seed, etc.) is escalating, with the
complicity of political and government elites. Natural resources are
increasingly being privatized due to the myriad of investment agreements
our governments have entered into with corporations, western governments
and the "newcomer" emerging economies, like the BRICS.
Land has been grabbed at a significant scale in almost all SADC
countries and the agribusiness model is destroying peasant-family
agriculture, the only proven sustainable and ecologically friendly model
that produces most of the food for SADC countries. Extractives
corporations are grabbing land and water, and polluting the soil, air
and water that rural farmers rely on to grow food and sustain
livelihoods.
Ana Paula Tauacale, a farmer and leader of Mozambique Union of Famers,
UNAC - member of Via Campesina - said that in the case of Mozambique,
"land is being given away to foreigners to grow crops for export in the
expense of dispossession of local small-scale farmers. This is the case
of the ProSavana in Nacala Corridor", a programme to increase crop
output by bringing in large-scale agribusinesses. Ana Paula added saying
that "we need to defend small-scale and family based agriculture in our
countries since we have proven that we can feed the world".
Seeds, our common heritage, are now also within the radar of corporate
control and under threat from the proposed seed protocols under the
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern
African Development Community (SADC). The former seek to ease the flow
and marketing of commercial seeds in the eastern and southern African
regional markets and the latter, to harmonize the SADC region seed
policy on Plant Variety Protection (PVP) basis respectively. These new
laws will, with time, open up the whole region to transgenic seeds
(GMOs), which have found space in South Africa and recently in Malawi.
Traditional seeds will be pushed out and smallholder farmers' use and
exchange of such seeds will be criminalized.
Mercia Andrews from the Rural Women's Assembly added: "we need to fight
for peoples' livelihoods, which will benefit the home market,
organically linked to agriculture and manufacturing industries. This
will create jobs not only for the urbanites but also for the rural
communities and allow an equitable development within the SADC
countries. The SADC people need to be free to self determine their
destiny in all spheres of life (social, political and economic)".
Samantha Hargreaves from WoMin said "we call for a just transition to an
alternative development model, which protects and defends the land and
natural resources upon which rural communities depend, which is based on
a transformed renewable energy system, and in which decisions to extract
are made by the people and not by the transnational corporations and
their lackeys in our governments".
In Bulawayo, Via Campesina, the RWA, the People's Dialogue and WoMin
will have self-organized events addressing important themes, such as
Public Policies for Food Sovereignty in SADC, Tax justice to stem the
illicit flow of funds by crooked transnational corporations, and
Alternative development paths to address the devastating environmental
and social impacts of extractives industries. Solidarity exchanges to
local communities will be undertaken, and the Southern Africa People's
Tribunal on transnational corporations will also be launched. These
activities will help build a consciousness within a broader
constituency, which will be the locomotive of our struggle for popular
sovereignty, popular livelihoods and popular democracy.
CONTACTS FOR PRESS (FOR MORE INFORMATION AND PHONE INTERVIEWS):
Boaventura Monjane, Via Campesina - Email: boa.monjane(a)gmail.com -
Phone: +263 782049558 (From August 11)
Nyoni Ndabezinhle, Via Campesina - Email:
nyoni.ndabezinhle(a)viacampesina.org - Phone: +263 772 441 909
Thandiwe Chidavarume, Women and Land Zimbabwe - Email: wlz(a)mweb.co.zw -
Phone: +263 77 328 9764
Links:
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[1]
http://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/news-from-the-regions-mainmenu-29/16...
[2] http://viacampesina.org/en/images/stories/logo/via-mediaadvisory.jpg
10 years, 5 months
