#StayHomeButNotSilent - Call for Mobilsation April 17, 2020: Int'l Day of Peasant Struggle
by La Via Campesina
#STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT – IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC, PEASANTS ARE UNITED TO
FEED THE PEOPLE!
CALL FOR MOBILISATION – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEASANTS' STRUGGLE
MARCH 24, HARARE: On April 17, La Via Campesina will commemorate the
International Day of Peasants' Strugglei [1] in a context that once
again validates the historical role of the peasantry in societies and
their fundamental task of feeding the people, even in times of war,
fascism, authoritarianism and pandemics.
COVID-19 has crippled the world. This deadly virus expose the
vulnerability of the current globalised food system dominated by
industrial agriculture, and the dangers it poses to all life forms. We
should learn from this crisis and invest in building local, resilient
and diverse food systems. States must begin by implementing 'food
sovereignty' [2] through agroecological production and enabled by
popular agrarian reforms. Again, the extraordinary circumstances facing
humanity today must compel all countries to protect and guarantee the
Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, as
articulated in the United Nations Declaration, approved in 2018 (UNDROP
[3]).
LET'S BUILD SOLIDARITY!
During the week of April 17 - La Via Campesina - will continue to expose
the perils of capitalism and its devastating consequences - the
political, social, economic and health crises. The circumstances of the
impoverished urban and rural working classes have become more precarious
with the spread of COVID 19 and the subsequent economic fallout.
Therefore, the world's people need to grab this moment and fight back
and construct solidarity and class alliances, between rural and urban
areas. Alliances between the vulnerable sectors of the society, the
small-scale food producers and consumers are a must to promote fair
trade, healthy food. During this crisis, we must expose and denounce the
profit-driven expansionist policy of the transnational companies.
AS WE DID 24 YEARS AGO IN ELDORADO DOS CARAJÁS, in a single voice of
resistance and by keeping alive our long history of struggle - _we, the
peasants, indigenous people, pastoralists, fishers, agricultural
workers, migrants, racially oppressed people and the organised working
class_ - denounce the erosion of our rights as workers, our right to
health and education. We come together to condemn the systematic
violence, militarisation and oppression unleashed on our people and the
steady erosion of democratic principles. This pandemic reminds us of the
need to have robust public health systems, which have over the years
been systematically crippled by our Governments in favour of
privatisation. It has also exposed the real face of the profit mongers -
the agribusinesses, pharmaceutical companies and other transnational
companies seeking business opportunities in these difficult times.
Meanwhile, millions of us - the small-scale food producers - continue to
produce food and feed the people, guaranteeing the national food supply
and food sovereignty. We continue to do this even in the context of
quarantine, closed borders and curfew, by respecting biodiversity and
through agroecological production. We put the life of our soil and
mother earth as our priority and engage with small peasant markets that
are more just, based on solidarity and reciprocity and free from poison
and speculation.
[READ HERE THE EFFORTS AND STATEMENTS PUT OUT BY VARIOUS MEMBERS OF LA
VIA CAMPESINA] [4]
COVID 19: PEASANTS, MIGRANTS AND RURAL WORKERS AT RISK
As La Via Campesina, we are concerned about the condition of
agricultural and migrant workers, who operate under precarious working
conditions and without adequate access to healthcare or relevant safety
measures. Members of La Via Campesina in Asia, Africa, Europe and the
Americas are demanding that their governments respond quickly and
responsibly to the needs of the vast majority and not just 'provide a
stimulus for the coronavirus capitalists'. We do not want economic
measures that benefit the elites as they did in the past by bailing out
banks and businesses to "save the economy". We demand justice for the
peasantry and the oppressed sectors of the world. This April 17, 2020,
we call upon our members and allies to be alert against all kinds of
opportunism in this global crisis.
#STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT - WE CALL FOR CREATIVE MOBILISATIONS!
A moment of crisis like this reveals that our interrelationship with
each other as humans is important. We are much more interconnected with
each other than this brutal economic system leads us to believe.
However, _to protect the health and integrity of our members, friends,
and allies_, we are not issuing a call for land occupations, mass
marches, public talks, public forums or film screenings this April 17,
2020.
BUT:
* STAY AT HOME, AND PLEDGE NOT TO REMAIN SILENT. Now is the time to
carry out creative struggles from within the confines of our farms and
houses.
* LET US TRANSFORM the windows, the terraces, the gardens and fields
into our demonstration squares, turn our pots and pans into drums of
resistance.
* LET US MAKE our banners of denunciation! Let our walls speak and
show our strength and resistance amid this scenario of crisis and
capitalist hegemony.
* LET US BUILD SOLIDARITY and think about how to share with the
community, neighbourhood or friends and how to help the most vulnerable
people.
* LET US PLEDGE TO CONSUME FOOD FROM LOCAL PEASANT COOPERATIVES and
communities, and not from the transnationals! Go to the local markets,
buy directly from the producer and your neighbourhood shops and promote
humanist values.
Be our communicator and take to social networks! Make videos, photos or
audio reports to know that the same struggle and resistance unite us in
all corners of the world! We are in this, together! Send them to
lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org to be published in our media.
Hashtags: #STAYHOMEBUTNOTSILENT | #17APRIL2020 | #PEASANTSRIGHTSNOW
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/stayhomebutnotsilent-in-times-of-pandemic-pea...
[2] https://viacampesina.org/en/food-sovereignty/
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/en/united-nations-declaration-on-the-rights-of-p...
[4]
https://viacampesina.org/en/covid-19-several-members-of-la-via-campesina-...
4 years, 9 months
#08March2020: La Via Campesina releases illustrations amplifying the voices and demands of rural women
by La Via Campesina
08 MARCH 2020: LA VIA CAMPESINA RELEASES ILLUSTRATIONS AMPLIFYING THE
VOICES AND DEMANDS OF RURAL WOMEN
9 MARCH 2020 CAMPAIGN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN [1], PEASANTS'
RIGHTS [2], WOMEN [3]
On the occasion of the International Day of Women, La Via Campesina has
launched a series of illustrations under the banner Peasant and Rural
Women with Rights.
Ten visually powerful sketches illustrated by Artist Carlos Julio from
Argentina explore the role played by peasant women in food production.
They also amplify the voices of rural women and reasserts their demands
for an equal, dignified life.
This work takes its inspiration from the 'UN Declaration on the Rights
of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas' (UNDROP), which was
officially adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in December
2018. For over a decade, rural and indigenous communities had patiently
negotiated for a global Declaration of this kind. The Declaration
promotes the rights of millions of small-scale food producers, who feed
nearly seventy per-cent of the world's population despite having access
to barely a quarter of the world's arable land.
These illustrations particularly seek to highlight the rights of rural
peasant women as cited in the Declaration - by promoting equal ownership
over territories and resources; calling for better healthcare systems in
rural areas and better infrastructure and education facilities; echoing
the demands for fair wages; highlighting the immense contribution made
by women workers and peasants in peasant food production. These works of
art are also an expression of resistance against patriarchy and all
forms of violence against women and people of diverse gender. These
illustrations also call for an end to the use of toxic agrochemicals in
the fields, which poses huge health risks to food producers.
Through these sketches, La Via Campesina once again calls for the
promotion of the rights of people to produce and consume healthy and
locally produced food. It also aims to promote training and mobilisation
actions for our member organizations as well as for allied organizations
and civil society on the issue. This provides necessary elements for the
development of public policies with dignity and social justice. During
the year, La Via Campesina will launch more such materials that would
help popularise the contents of the Declaration among rural communities.
To download the illustrations, please click here. [4]
A PDF version of the illustrations are also available here [5]
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/patriachy/campai...
[2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/human-rights/
[3] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/women/
[4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/ywEi3zjnsoLZssz
[5] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/ywEi3zjnsoLZssz#pdfviewer
4 years, 10 months
La Via Campesina denounces UN Special Envoy for the UN Food Systems Summit for diminishing peasants and their rights
by La Via Campesina
LA VIA CAMPESINA DENOUNCES UN SPECIAL ENVOY FOR THE UN FOOD SYSTEMS
SUMMIT FOR DIMINISHING PEASANTS AND THEIR RIGHTS
In December 2019, it was officially announced that the UN Headquarters
in New York will host a Food Systems Summit in 2021. The Summit aims to
maximize the benefits of a food systems approach across the entire 2030
Agenda, meet the challenges of climate change, make food systems
inclusive, and support sustainable peace.
Since the announcement, many peasant organizations, civil society
organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have expressed
concern on the lack of transparency in the process leading to the
Summit, including the appointment of Ms. Agnes Kalibata, the current
President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as UN
Special Envoy for the Summit. It is further apparent that the process is
following through without the involvement of all concerned UN member
states.
After meeting Ms. Kalibata during the IFAD Farmers' Forum (FAFO 2020),
we remain deeply concerned regarding the legitimacy and process of the
2021 Food Systems Summit and about the approach of the UN Special Envoy.
Although we recognize and appreciate the UN Special Envoy's presence in
the FAFO to hear the concerns of small-scale food producers, we regret
to report that several red flags were raised in the session.
First of all, we were shocked by her lack of awareness of the political
mandate and significance of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants
and Other People working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) that was promoted by
LVC and small-scale producers' organizations and negotiated by LVC and
small-scale producers' organizations over the course of nearly two
decades and adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2018.
La Via Campesina delegate Jordan Treakle from the National Family Farm
Coalition, representing North America, asked Ms. Kalibata "How will the
World Food System Summit assure that UNDROP, and its political mandate
promoting a rights-based approach, be integral to the Summit's focus and
outcomes?" Ms. Kalibata's response was "it's an interesting question…
Peasant? What is a peasant? What is peasant rights? Because I don't
understand what that means to be honest with you."
The UN Special Envoy doubled down on this statement later in the
discussion, affirming that she does not recognize "peasants" as a
constituency, despite the many decades of LVC and allies advocating for
the rights of food producers (farmers, fisherfolks, pastoralists, and
food workers) under this banner.
"I completely appreciate what you do and I'm going to make sure that
gets heard. I just wanted to underscore (…) what I said earlier: the
word that was used is not how I look at farmers ( …) Farmers are
farmers, it's a business for us, we don't want charity, we don't want to
be pitied, we don't want anything like that. We see ourselves as
business people. So I'm sorry if the word means something else to you,
to me it means something that I grew up not appreciating (…)"- said she.
Ms Kalibata also affirmed she "is not working for the UN", raising
further our concerns about her impartiality, and willingness to separate
her agribusiness background from this UN Special Envoy role.
Several participants reacted to Ms Kalibata's discourse. Elizabeth
Mpofu, General Coordinator of La Via Campesina, said "We are urgently
requesting for a strong commitment to transparency by those involved in
the Summit planning. And most critically, we call on Rome-based
Agencies, member states, and the Special Envoy, to ensure that Civil
Society Organizations and peasants have the possibility to be fully and
equally involved in all stages of the organization of the Summit and
have their voice heard."
The role of the UN Special Envoy requires a neutral and unbiased
approach to the United Nations system, and existing UN processes such as
the Committee on World Food Security, that will work to build bridges
and consensus across a range of food system constituencies to ensure
that the voices of food producers are heard and respected. The UN
Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and FAO should be leading the
process towards the Food Systems Summit due to their mandate of ending
hunger and malnutrition.
Although the Special Envoy expressed several times during the meeting
promises of inclusiveness and underlined that she has just started her
mission, the process of organizing the Summit and the fact that right
holders and constituencies will have a seat at the table, remains
unclear.
Therefore, we reiterate our call to ensure that the civil society and,
in particular, the peasants have a clear, equal and influential role in
shaping all phases of the Food Systems Summit.
As Via Campesina, we urge a Food Systems Summit which is focused on
peasants and other small-scale food producers and to their local and
territorial markets that provide the 80% of the food production in the
world. Instead of representing the interests of the corporate sector
which is aggravating the food systems crisis. Given the fact that Mrs
Kalibata is clearly representing corporate sector interests, we demand
the UN to revoke Mrs. Kalibata's appointment and appoint a special envoy
who indeed represents the needs and rights of peasants and other small
scale food producers and those who are most affected by hunger.
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_For media enquiries, contact lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org_
4 years, 10 months