Via Info EN September 2018

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[Info EN] Breaking: UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights declaration in Geneva
by La Via Campesina 28 Sep '18

28 Sep '18

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/Declaration-… [3] * Latest Draft of the UN Declaration can be found here [4] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-ado… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-ado… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/03/Declaration-… [4] https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/WGPleasants/Session5/A-H…

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[Info EN] Nyéléni Newsletter: Migration and Food Sovereignty
by La Via Campesina 13 Sep '18

13 Sep '18

_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/

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[Info EN] Peasant struggles against Neo-Liberalism to realize a ‘WORLD BEYOND THE BANKS’
by La Via Campesina 07 Sep '18

07 Sep '18

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-trade…

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[Info EN] "La Via Campesina |e-newsletter| July-August 2018 "
by La Via Campesina 06 Sep '18

06 Sep '18

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 [1]. [30] [31] Twitter [31] [32] Facebook [32] [33] Vimeo [33] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [2] Links: ------ [1] https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/viacampesina [2] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/global-day-of-action-against-wto-and-free-trade… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/managua-declaration-the-meeting-of-the-broadene… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-struggles-against-neo-liberalism-to-rea… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/it-is-time-to-declare-the-food-sovereignty-of-t… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-calls-for-the-release-of-the-d… [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/a-week-of-hunger-strike-the-federal-supreme-cou… [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/spi-extends-solidarity-to-those-affected-by-nor… [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-negotiation-must-stop-demands-assembly-of-… [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/a-handful-of-countries-legitimising-claims-made… [12] https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-will-be-disastrous-for-indian-dairy-farmer… [13] https://viacampesina.org/en/we-want-all-children-to-be-happy-and-free-landl… [14] https://viacampesina.org/en/to-include-food-sovereignty-in-the-swiss-consti… [15] https://viacampesina.org/en/mobilise-for-a-un-declaration-now-is-the-time-t… [16] https://viacampesina.org/en/palestine-uawc-denounces-the-continuous-attacks… [17] https://viacampesina.org/en/nicaraguan-womens-cooperative-building-self-suf… [18] https://viacampesina.org/en/ecvc-analysis-of-the-proposed-regulation-for-th… [19] https://viacampesina.org/en/kenya-should-ignore-imf-reform-package-and-stop… [20] https://viacampesina.org/en/gene-drive-is-a-threat-to-people-country-and-ev… [21] https://viacampesina.org/en/the-european-parliament-demands-that-eu-members… [22] https://viacampesina.org/en/south-india-floods-paddy-farmers-plantations-po… [23] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-announces-solidarity-with-hung… [24] https://viacampesina.org/en/decision-of-the-european-court-of-justice-on-ne… [25] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-women-in-korea-denounce-smart-farm-poli… [26] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasants-rights-south-asia-peasants-allies-call… [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/ [31] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina [32] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [33] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina

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[Info EN] Global Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements – Call to Mobilise!
by La Via Campesina 05 Sep '18

05 Sep '18

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-percent-… [2] http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/15-09-2017-world-hunger-again-on-the-ri… [3] http://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/E4ytb6azGxZr63w

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Via Info EN September 2018