Breaking: UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights declaration in Geneva
by La Via Campesina
UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights
declaration in Geneva
PRESS RELEASE
(GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018) Seventeen years of long and arduous
negotiations later, peasants and other people working in rural areas are
only a step away from having a UN Declaration that could defend and
protect their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, local markets and a
lot more.
On Friday, 28 September, in a commendable show of solidarity and
political will, member nations of United Nations Human Rights Council
passed a resolution concluding the UN Declaration for the Rights of
Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. The resolution was
passed with 33 votes in favour, 11 abstentions and 3 against. [1]
The declaration now goes before the upcoming 3rd Committee session at UN
General Assembly in New York in October. From there, in November 2018,
this Declaration will be up for voting and adoption by all Member States
of the United Nations. Once adopted, the UN Declaration will become a
powerful tool for peasants and other people working in rural areas to
seek justice and favourable national policies around food, agriculture,
seeds and land keeping in mind the interests of millions of rural food
producers comprising all genders and youth.
After several rounds of international consultation process, La Via
Campesina - a global movement of peasants, indigenous people,
pastoralists and migrant workers adopted in 2008 a Declaration of Rights
of Peasants - Women and Men[1] [1]. With the support of civil society
groups like CETIM and FIAN International, La Via Campesina presented
this proposal to the Human Rights Council in 2008.
"This has been a long tough path but as peasants, as people who have
seen the worst of poverty and neglect, we are tough too and we never
give up", says Elizabeth Mpofu, the General Coordinator of La Via
Campesina
To be clear, today, peasants and others working in rural areas have
insufficient recourse in the face of the discrimination they suffer and
the other challenges they confront when seeking an adequate standard of
living when subjected to forced displacement and marginalization.
However, with this win in Geneva, peasants a step closer to getting
their rights recognised and protected. According to Elizabeth, "This
includes the right to life and adequate standards of living, the right
to land, to seeds, to information, justice and equality between women
and men" For her, it is a turning point for peasant struggles around the
world. "Today, we are just a step away from acceptance by all member
nations of the United Nations." She added.
THIS UN DECLARATION CAN PROVIDE A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL
LEGISLATION AND POLICIES TO:
* better protect the rights of peasants - women and men - and improve
livelihoods in rural areas
* reinforce food sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the
conservation of biodiversity
* take actions to implement comprehensive agrarian reform and a better
protection against land-grabbing
* realise the right of peasants to conserve, use, exchange and sell
their seeds
* ensure remunerative prices for peasant production and rights for
agricultural workers
* recognise the rights of peasant women and bring about social justice
for people of all origin, nationality, race, colour, descent. Sex,
language, culture, marital status, property, disability, age, political
or other opinion, religion, birth or economic, social or other status
without discrimination
"While all of the member states said they are committed to human rights
for all, the no votes and also abstentions are abysmal," says Ramona
Duminicioiu from Via Campesina Europe. "The nos and abstentions mean
that these countries are not up to the protection of human rights of
peasants and rural populations. They are against a bigger picture:
eradication of poverty, food sovereignty, and the effort to reduce
inequalities," lamented Ramona.
"Our campaign for food sovereignty and people's agrarian reform in
Indonesia has received an important and much-needed boost," says Henry
Saragih, the Chairperson of Serikat Petani Indonesia. Indonesia has just
passed a Presidential Decree in support of agrarian reform that favours
peasants.
"Once the resolution is adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York,
we will take the message of the Declaration to our people back home, and
elaborate its significance and how it could strengthen our struggles
against privatisation, criminalisation and more. The more we educate and
inform our people back home, the stronger our movements become. It will
enable us to demand better policies and laws that will take into account
the rural realities of the developing world" added Henry.
"At this point, despite producing the bulk of the food we eat - peasants
are subjected to extreme forms of violence. Those who resist are either
murdered or arrested. This criminalisation of peasant struggles has to
stop and this Declaration is a step forward in that direction", says
Diego from Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indígena (MNCI) Argentina
CLOC-Vía Campesina
The adoption of such a Declaration and the recognition of rights
contained in the proposed legal instrument can contribute to better
protect the rights of peasants and improve livelihoods in rural areas in
the long term and at the global level. It will fill existing normative
gaps in protection and should also be forward-looking to deal with
emerging gaps and thus end discriminatory practices by giving them more
visibility and coherence.
CONTACTS:
_English:_
Henry Saragih: +62 811 655 668, Email: hspetani(a)gmail.com
Elizabeth Mpofu: +263 77 244 3716 Email: eliz.mpofu(a)gmail.com
Ramona Duminicioiu: +40 746 337 022, Email: ramona(a)ecoruralis.ro
_Spanish:_ Diego Monton: +54 9 261 561 5062, Email:
diegomonton(a)gmail.com
_French:_ Ndiakhate Fall: +221 77 550 89 07, Email: fallriso(a)yahoo.fr
NOTE:
[2] Resolution A/HRC/39/L.16 on the UN Declaration on the rights of
peasants and other people working in rural areas
In favour: Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d'Ivoire,
Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq,
Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama,
Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa,
Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela
Abstention: Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan,
Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
[1] [2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/03/Declaratio...
[3]
* Latest Draft of the UN Declaration can be found here [4]
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-a...
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-a...
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/03/Declaratio...
[4]
https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/WGPleasants/Session5/A...
6 years, 3 months
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Nyéléni Newsletter: Migration and Food Sovereignty
by La Via Campesina
_The new edition of the Nyéléni Newsletter is now online!_
The so-called migration crisis has taken a highly tragic turn. Many
escape due to the violence of the wars of occupation, others do so
because of the disasters of the climate crisis and many more because of
the inequities of this voracious and savage capitalist system.
For our part, the Collective on Migrations of La Vía Campesina proposes
to understand migration as an act of resistance by the dispossessed.
When human beings leave their families, their communities and their
lands, they are challenging the system that has condemned them to
disappear as peasants, as indigenous people, as women, as people of
color, as youth, as another culture, as a community and as a people.
By understanding migration in this way, we recognize in the struggle of
La Via Campesina the key role of migrants and their potential as actors
of change.
Click here to download the English edition [1] or read it directly in
the website at www.nyeleni.org [2]!
For any further information, please contact info(a)nyeleni.org
PLEASE CIRCULATE IT TO YOUR CONTACTS!
Links:
------
[1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=127
[2] http://www.nyeleni.org/
6 years, 3 months
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Peasant struggles against Neo-Liberalism to realize a ‘WORLD BEYOND THE BANKS’
by La Via Campesina
THE IMF-WORLD BANK ANNUAL MEETING IS SLATED TO TAKE PLACE IN BALI,
INDONESIA FROM 8-14 OCTOBER 2018. LA VIA CAMPESINA CALLS UPON ITS
MEMBERS AND ALLIES TO MOBILIZE IN LARGE NUMBERS.
-------------------------
05 SEPTEMBER, HARARE: La Via Campesina calls upon its members, allied
social movements and civil society organizations in the world to gather
and move to jointly build actions against the policies of International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which is going to organize
their "Annual Meetings IMF-WB 2018", in Bali-Indonesia on 8-14 October
2018.
These institutions were created in 1944, with a proclaimed goal to
reduce poverty. However, they have mainly served the interests of their
main contributors and imposed neo-liberal agenda comprising market
fundamentalism, privatization and deregulation around the world.
The loans they provide are given under strict conditions to open-up the
markets and dismantle all kinds of national policies. In doing so, they
have acted as global economic colonizers. Instead of alleviating
poverty, as they promised in their programs, they marginalize and evict
farmers from their farm land. Moreover, the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund are undemocratic institutions and utterly
discredited, where 'one-dollar-one-vote-decision-making' marginalizes
Southern countries.
The IMF and its safeguard policy rests on liberalization, privatization
and deregulation which results in the degradation of State sovereignty,
such that the State cannot play its role in implementing economic
justice and welfare for its people.
Vital sectors that control the lives of many people are left to the
private sector, so that the mechanism or timing of debt repayments can
run smoothly. As a result, the welfare of peasants is neglected and
becomes the main cause of poverty.
This impact can be clearly seen in an instance, when the signing of the
Letter of Intent (LoI) between the Government of Indonesia and the IMF
in 1997, led to the weakening of the BULOG (National Public Stock
Holding), due to which Indonesia started to import food in large scale,
especially rice.
This policy then is coherent with Agreement on Agriculture of WTO, which
is also about market liberalization and public stock holding. Therefore
IMF and WTO as well as Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are all
inter-connected with each other in terms of advancing neo-liberalism.
IMF continues to promote market liberalization and privatization through
other international forums in developing countries, even though there
are no countries now that can claim to be unaffected by by the IMF
.That's why people mobilized in large numbers against the IMF during the
G20 meeting in Argentina July 2018, soon after Government of Argentina
received new debt from IMF. As is widely know,Greece is also a 'victim'
of IMF now.
World Bank(WB), as a world development funding institution, implements
various models of mega infrastructural projects, purportedly carried out
to increase economic growth. These have led to rampant land grabbing,
criminalization against peasants who resist and eviction of peasant's
houses in various parts of the world such as Indonesia, India, Srilanka,
Bangladesh, Thailand, Philippine and Brazil.
In period of 2001 to 2010, due to large-scale investments driven by WB
in the agricultural sector, mainly in African and Asian countries,
around 203 million hectares of land was forcefully grabbed. In
particular, the WB infiltrates the agrarian and agricultural sectors by
providing an agrarian reform model that is considered to support the
agricultural sector economy through a project called the Program to
Accelerate Agrarian Reform (One Map Project).
This is nothing but market-based agrarian reform, which neither
emphasizes the redistribution of land in a fair way, nor assures the
control of the land by peasants or peasant family. Instead, it only
emphasizes the issue of land monetization, which takes the control of
Land from individuals and in turn facilitate capital infiltration.
It is evident in the implementation of One Map Project in Indonesia and
in all developing countries from 2000 till now, where the program has
only focused on the distribution of land certificates without resolving
ongoing agrarian conflicts and without giving equal size to land
control. Those are only to create land market or land bank for big
plantation, infrastructure, factory, dam, irrigation etc.
World Bank also pushed Southern countries who were systematically
'trapped in debt' to privatize public sectors services, such as health,
education, water management, forest and plantation, paving a way for
corporations to make huge profit. At the same time, climate change
brought about extreme climatic events resulting in terrible natural
disasters including heavy flooding and severe drought, which aggravated
the food crisis. Forced eviction, criminalization of people who resist,
agrarian conflicts, hunger and poverty are terrible consequences of
privatization, both directly and indirectly.
Not stopping at this oppression through infrastructure development, the
World Bank expanded its activities into the realm of climate change
mitigation. One such example is the Forest Investment Program (FIP)
under REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation). The program is a collection of funds within the World Bank
to provide funds for developing countries that have forests. Recorded
until 2010, funds collected amounted to $577 million.
At first glance the program appears to strike the right boxes but in
reality has a negative impact on the community, especially for peasant
and indigenous people. The program legalizes forceful grabbing of
peasant's land under the guise of land conservation and enter into legal
partnerships with Corporations thus handing out to them the task of
forest conservation. Indonesia itself in 2016 received funding from the
FIP program amounting to 17.5 million USD.
This multi-faceted oppression of World Bank and IMF must be called out.
We invite all social movements and civil society organizations to
mobilize on the streets to resist this this neoliberal regime and help
in building an alternative world; A WORLD BEYOND THE BANKS. Let us make
ourselves heard in Bali between 8-14 October 2018.
With this appeal, as La Via Campesina we hope to move together and move
forward to demonstrate the power of organized people to defend our Food
Sovereignty and promote social justice.
-------------------------
_END WORLD BANK!_
_END IMF!_
_FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE NOW!_
-------------------------
Also Read: Global Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements -
Call to Mobilise! [1]
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/global-day-of-action-against-wto-and-free-tra...
6 years, 4 months
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"La Via Campesina |e-newsletter| July-August 2018 "
by La Via Campesina
La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | July- August 2018
Donate [1]
This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of
organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide.
To subscribe click here [2]
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS – CALL TO
MOBILISE!
_WTO and a host of __multilateral__ and bilateral Free Trade Agreements
have created criminal levels of inequality: La Via Campesina_
Global bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank,
International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are directly and indirectly
promoting a host of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements have
created a criminal level of inequality in this world, wherein according
to reports, 82% of the world's wealth is now controlled by merely 1% of
the people. Global Hunger is again on the rise, with peoples' food
sovereignty under severe threat. Read more ... [3]
FEATURED ARTICLES FROM JUNE 2018
MANAGUA DECLARATION: FROM THE MEETING OF THE BROADENED INTERNATIONAL
COLLECTIVE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE
_"Workers and peasants of the land and water for Climate Justice"_
La Via Campesina, in representation of millions of peasant families,
farm workers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, allies from social
movements and academics, have met in Managua, Nicaragua, Central America
from 24-27 August 2018, to deepen a strategy for environmental and
climate justice. Read more ... [4]
Peasant struggles against Neo-Liberalism to realize a 'WORLD BEYOND THE
BANKS'
La Via Campesina calls upon its members, allied social movements and
civil society organizations in the world to gather and move to jointly
build actions against the policies of International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the World Bank (WB), which is going to organize their "Annual
Meetings IMF-WB 2018", in Bali-Indonesia on 8-14 October 2018. Read more
... [5]
It is time to declare the food sovereignty of the citizens of
Switzerland
As the result of an impressive campaign led by the agricultural union
Uniterre and members of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty, on September
23rd, 2018, Swiss citizens will be able to vote for the inclusion of
food sovereignty in the Swiss constitution. Read more ... [6]
LA VIA CAMPESINA CALLS FOR THE RELEASE OF THE DETAINEES OF HIRAK RIF AND
ALL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ACTIVISTS IN MOROCCO
_Declaration_
Following the Popular march of Rabat of the 15th July, 2017, La Via
Campesina supports the Vital Forces in Morocco and calls for the release
of the detainees of Hirak RIF and all social movements activists, for
the opening of an investigation on the torture and ill-treatment they
suffered, and for accomplishing their demands. Read more ... [7]
A week of hunger strike: The Federal Supreme Court is responsible for
life of Brazilian militants
Protesters alert the judges of the Supreme Court that their decisions
may result in the salvation or death not only of the strikers, but of
thousands of Brazilians. Read more ... [8]
SPI extends solidarity to those affected by North Lombok Earthquake,
Indonesia
Last Sunday (July 29), the land of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) was rocked
by an earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude, causing severe damage and
casualties. Several farmers, who are also members of the Indonesian
Farmers' Union (SPI) in North Lombok are among the people affected. Read
more ... [9]
RCEP negotiation must stop, demands Assembly of the Poor, Thailand
The administration of the military dictatorial government under the
junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) creates immense
hardship to the grassroots people. Read more ... [10]
A HANDFUL OF COUNTRIES LEGITIMISING CLAIMS MADE BY AGRO-INDUSTRY,
DIMINISHING THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE TO SEEDS
_Convention on Biological Diversity - twenty-second meeting of the
Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technical Advice (SBSTTA)
- Montréal, Canada, July 2nd-7th, 2018 _
Press Release from La Via Campesina Read more ... [11]
RCEP will be disastrous for Indian dairy farmers and agriculture: La
Via Campesia South Asia during Bangkok negotiations
Kannaiyan Subramaniam, the General Secretary of South Indian
Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM), a member of La Via
Campesina South Asia, intervened during the 23rd RCEP negotiations held
in BANGKOK on 23 July 2018. Here is the full text of his speech: Read
more .... [12]
"WE WANT ALL CHILDREN TO BE HAPPY AND FREE": LANDLESS KIDS' MANIFESTO
Restating children's willingness to struggle and build the project for a
People's Agrarian Reform, 1,200 children coming from several different
camps and settlements across Brazil released the Landless Kids'
Manifesto during their National Meeting held in Brasília, Brazil, which
will take place until July 26th. Read more ... [13]
To include food sovereignty in the Swiss constitution would be to
recognise the real challenges and priorities for citizens: ECVC
On 23 September, Swiss citizens will be able to vote to include an
article on food sovereignty in the constitution.
This crucial decision comes at a very particular moment when Europe,
subjected violently to heat waves, drought, forest fires and lack of
water, is recognising the intense consequences of climate change and the
great fragility of industrial agricultural systems. Read more ... [14]
MOBILISE FOR A UN DECLARATION, NOW IS THE TIME TO GLOBALISE OUR
STRUGGLE!
_Declaration on the Rights of Peasants awaiting final voting and
adoption_
After ten long years of negotiations in Geneva, a 'United Nations
Declaration on Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural
Areas' is now at the point of being finalised. Read more ... [15]
Palestine: UAWC denounces the continuous attacks on Palestinian
fisherfolks by naval forces of the Israeli Occupation
Union of Agricultural Work Committees and Palestinian Peasants
Movement denounced the continuous attacks of Israeli Occupation Naval
forces against the Palestinian fishermen while fishing within the
allowed fishing zone. Read more ... [16]
NICARAGUAN WOMEN'S COOPERATIVE BUILDING SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND FOOD
SOVEREIGNTY
Over 30 La Via Campesina delegates and allies attending the face-to-face
meeting of the international working collective on climate and
environmental justice visited women's cooperative, Gloria Quintanilla in
Santa Julia, Municipality El Crucero. Read more ... [17]
ECVC analysis of the proposed regulation for the CAP 2021-2027 reform
and the Strategic Plans
For ECVC, the European Commission's CAP proposal, which is based on
simplification and subsidiarity through the Strategic Plans and the new
delivery model, entails a serious fragmentation of the policy. Read more
... [18]
Kenya Should Ignore IMF Reform Package and Stop Repaying Debts
The Kenyan Peasants League (KPL) a member of the La Via Campesina
Southern and Eastern Africa (LVC SEAf) is concerned about the reform
package being pushed down the throat of Kenyan government by the
International Monetary Fund ... Read more ... [19]
Gene Drive is a threat to people, country and even world's food
sovereignty: La Via Campesina in Montreal
Full text of the intervention made by Geneviève Lalumière of UNION
PAYSANNE at the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) ... Read
more ... [20]
The European Parliament demands that EU Members States vote in favour
of the peasants' rights declaration
On 3rd July, the EP adopted an important resolution on the rights
violations, including land-grabbing, that indigenous peoples across the
world suffer. Read more ... [21]
South India Floods: Paddy farmers, plantations, poultry and dairy
sector suffer severe losses
Kerala, a Southern State in India, suffered devastating losses after
torrential rains that lashed the state in three rounds, wreaked havoc
all across. Over 320 people lost their lives ... Read more ... [22]
La Via Campesina announces solidarity with hunger strikers and
denounces institutional violence in Brazil
Six members of La Via Campesina Brazil began an indefinite hunger
strike on July 31 in front of the headquarters of the Supreme Federal
Court (STF) of Brasilia to demand Lula's freedom and respect for
democracy, ... Read more ... [23]
Decision of the European Court of Justice on new GMOs: a historic
victory for peasants and citizens of the EU
Brussels, July 25th 2018 - The European Court of Justice has issued
its decision on the legal status of new GMOs. Read more ... [24]
Peasant Women in Korea denounce Smart Farm Policy, submit a charter of
eight demands to President Moon
Members of Korean Women Peasant Association mobilised in large numbers
in Seoul to draw attention to rural agrarian crisis and a reform in the
current agricultural policy. Read more ... [25]
Peasants' Rights: South Asia Peasants, allies call upon States to
support the UN Declaration
The All Nepal Peasant Federation (ANPFa), member of La Via Campesina
and among the largest peasant organisations in the Nepal, hosted a South
Asian Consultation on the proposed UN Declaration to protect the Rights
of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Read more ... [26]
FEATURED VIDEOS
[27]
Understanding the issues at stake around the Declaration on the
Rights of Peasants. Watch video [27]
[28]
Why is the proposed _UN Declaration for Rights of Peasants and Other
People working in Rural Areas _important? In this video Henry Saragih of
La Via Campesina explains the history and the importance of this
proposed declaration and why is it important for members and allies to
mobilise in support of it. Watch Video [29]
YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE AUTONOMY OF OUR MOVEMENT
-------------------------
As a supporter who has contributed financial resources to La Via
Campesina, and as an activist who joins us on the streets and in the
fields, your support is always welcome and put to good use.
You can renew your contribution to La Via Campesina by clicking here
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For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG
WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org
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[3]
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[4]
https://viacampesina.org/en/managua-declaration-the-meeting-of-the-broade...
[5]
https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-struggles-against-neo-liberalism-to-r...
[6]
https://viacampesina.org/en/it-is-time-to-declare-the-food-sovereignty-of...
[7]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-calls-for-the-release-of-the...
[8]
https://viacampesina.org/en/a-week-of-hunger-strike-the-federal-supreme-c...
[9]
https://viacampesina.org/en/spi-extends-solidarity-to-those-affected-by-n...
[10]
https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-negotiation-must-stop-demands-assembly-o...
[11]
https://viacampesina.org/en/a-handful-of-countries-legitimising-claims-ma...
[12]
https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-will-be-disastrous-for-indian-dairy-farm...
[13]
https://viacampesina.org/en/we-want-all-children-to-be-happy-and-free-lan...
[14]
https://viacampesina.org/en/to-include-food-sovereignty-in-the-swiss-cons...
[15]
https://viacampesina.org/en/mobilise-for-a-un-declaration-now-is-the-time...
[16]
https://viacampesina.org/en/palestine-uawc-denounces-the-continuous-attac...
[17]
https://viacampesina.org/en/nicaraguan-womens-cooperative-building-self-s...
[18]
https://viacampesina.org/en/ecvc-analysis-of-the-proposed-regulation-for-...
[19]
https://viacampesina.org/en/kenya-should-ignore-imf-reform-package-and-st...
[20]
https://viacampesina.org/en/gene-drive-is-a-threat-to-people-country-and-...
[21]
https://viacampesina.org/en/the-european-parliament-demands-that-eu-membe...
[22]
https://viacampesina.org/en/south-india-floods-paddy-farmers-plantations-...
[23]
https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-announces-solidarity-with-hu...
[24]
https://viacampesina.org/en/decision-of-the-european-court-of-justice-on-...
[25]
https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-women-in-korea-denounce-smart-farm-po...
[26]
https://viacampesina.org/en/peasants-rights-south-asia-peasants-allies-ca...
[27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4zHxVREUQ
[28]
https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/videos/1947578725312689/?t=1
[29]
https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/videos/1947578725312689/
[30] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/
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6 years, 4 months
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Global Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements – Call to Mobilise!
by La Via Campesina
WTO AND A HOST OF MULTI-LATERAL AND BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS HAVE
CREATED CRIMINAL LEVELS OF INEQUALITY: LA VIA CAMPESINA
-------------------------
03 SEPTEMBER, HARARE:Global bodies such as the World Trade Organisation
(WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are directly
and indirectly promoting a host of multilateral and bilateral trade
agreements have created a criminal level of inequality in this world,
wherein according to reports, 82% of the world's wealth is now
controlled by merely 1% [1] of the people. Global Hunger is again on the
rise [2], with peoples' food sovereignty under severe threat.
This comes on the back of a seven-decade long persistent push for
neo-liberal policies, which called for 'free market trade' regimes
around the world. Privatisation and de-regulation that came about as the
consequences of such a push has evidently made the rich richer, while
poverty and world hunger continue to remain at staggeringly high levels.
It is an unpardonable offense that brings into question the purpose of
existence of these institutions and the Free Trade Agreements they
promote. All that these agreements have ensured is the freedom for
Multinational Corporations to dump cheap food into economically weaker
countries, after having received heavy subsidies from their rich
governments.
Such dumping and a push for an industrial agricultural system has ended
up treating food grains as a commodity for trade, as a commodity to be
speculated upon - with peasants and family farmers unable to meet even
the cost of cultivation. It has destroyed rural peasant communities,
fishers and our peasant markets. Increased privatisation of services
have increased the cost of living, while income levels of peasant
households have plunged. The resulting debt has pushed millions of
peasants households into deep debt.
This industrial system of agriculture promoted by the criminal trio of
WTO, World Bank and IMF, has led to consolidation and control of the
global food chain into the hands of a few agribusiness corporations,
while creating devastating impact for the planet, its people and all the
living species.
———EDUCATE, AGITATE, ORGANISE!———–
It was to highlight this extreme violation of the rural side, that on 10
September 2003, Lee Kyung Hae - a rice farmer from South Korea and a
leader of our peasant movement - took his own life outside the
Ministerial meeting of WTO in Cancun, Mexico. While sacrificing his life
to expose the crimes of WTO and Free Trade Agreements, Lee was holding a
placard that read "WTO Kills Farmers".
Since that day, we have come to mark 10 September as the Global Day of
Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements, mobilising our peasant
members against the assault of global capital and free market regimes.
We have denounced WTO at all the ministerial meetings held ever since
through direct actions.
This year too, we will continue the resistance. Several multi-lateral
and bilateral agreements such as RCEP, CPTPP, EU-Mercosur, CETA and more
are being frantically negotiated by countries and global bodies behind
closed doors, with no respect to democracy and national sovereignty.
In the run up to September 10, we call upon all our members, allies,
supporters in the cities and the country sides and all friends to
organise marches, public meetings and rural actions that will continue
to denounce the existence of WTO, World Bank, IMF as well as expose the
details of these agreements that threaten to take away people's food
sovereignty and allow expansion of markets for multinational
agribusinesses.
Let us all, in our own decentralised and diverse ways of struggle, echo
the call Lee Kyung Hae gave us -_"WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS KILLS
PEASANTS"._
La Via Campesina will also soon be announcing a massive mobilisation
effort against criminal trio of World Bank, IMF and WTO. We urge every
member to stay together and show the power of people's resistance.
_Onward, now!_
WTO KILLS PEASANTS!
TAKE AGRICULTURE OUT OF ALL FREE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS!
WE WANT FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, NOT FREE TRADE!
-------------------------
VISIBILISE OUR STRUGGLES
Please send the details of your planned actions to
lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org or share it on
Whatsapp and Telegram with Nyoni/Abhilash - < +263 772 441 909 or +91
9717250202>
You can also tag the official pages of La Via Campesina on Facebook and
Twitter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [3]
Twitter: https://twitter.com/via_campesina
Hashtags:
EN > #WTOKILLS #FOODSOVEREIGNTY
ES> #OMCMata #SoberaniaAlimentariaYa
FR> #OMCtue #SouverainetéAlimentaire
TO DOWNLOAD POSTERS, FACEBOOK AND TWITTER BANNERS OR CREATE A CUSTOMISED
POSTER CLICK HERE [4]
-------------------------
Links:
------
[1]
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/wef-18-oxfam-says-worlds-richest-1-percen...
[2]
http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/15-09-2017-world-hunger-again-on-the-...
[3] http://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/
[4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/E4ytb6azGxZr63w
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