Via-info-en April 2021

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#17April2021 - “A movement in formation” | Online Screening, this Sunday, 18 April 2021 - 12.00 CEST/ Harare
by La Via Campesina 17 Apr '21

17 Apr '21

“A MOVEMENT IN FORMATION” | ONLINE SCREENING, SUNDAY, 18 APRIL 2021 12 APRIL 2021 PUBLICATIONS [1], VIDEO [2], VIDEOS AND PODCASTS (WHAT IS LVC?) [3], WHAT IS LA VIA CAMPESINA? [4], WOMEN [5], YOUTH [6] We live in a historical age in which capitalism has exhausted all its possibilities. >From now on, more than ever, capitalism will only offer us more crises of conflict, war, migration, global warming, hunger, pandemics and death. In this context, formation in the La Via Campesina with a perspective of human emancipation is strategic. It has the historical task of contributing to forging collective political subjects, capable of mobilising consciences, resources, and processes for the construction of an emancipatory political project and to transform the reality, the living conditions in the countryside and in the cities. In La Via Campesina, the political-organisational formation processes become not only trenches of resistance and defence of peasant ways of life and agroecological production, but also seeds for the flourishing of new social, political and economic relations with Mother Earth. Formation as a comprehensive, systematic, broad, continuous and permanent process must be present at every step of the organisation. If the peoples of the countryside have the great task of producing healthy food, the Movement at the international level has the most beautiful, free and emancipatory work, to be part of the construction of transformations and sovereign, free societies. For this purpose, we built "A movement in formation" a new video of LVC that shows this construction in the movement, with different voices and actors from all over the world, showing the different practices and methodologies but with the same objective, because to Globalise the struggle and the Hope is not just a slogan, it is our permanent task. See it this Sunday, APRIL 18 VIA FACEBOOK. TIME: 12.00 CEST/ Harare https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/media-and-publications/publications-publication… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/video/ [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/what-is-la-via-campesina/videos-and-… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/what-is-la-via-campesina/ [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/women/ [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/youth/

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Food Sovereignty and Solidarity: A Historic Moment to Advance Our Peasant Struggles
by La Via Campesina 15 Apr '21

15 Apr '21

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND SOLIDARITY: A HISTORIC MOMENT TO ADVANCE OUR PEASANT STRUGGLES 15 APRIL 2021 AGROECOLOGY AND PEASANTS'SEEDS [1], CAPITALISM AND FREE TRADE [2], FOOD SOVEREIGNTY [3], GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR AGRARIAN REFORM [4], INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY [5], TRANSNATIONAL COMPANIES AND AGRIBUSINESS [6] INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEASANTS' STRUGGLE: DECLARATION BY LA VIA CAMPESINA, HARARE, ZIMBABWE: 17 APRIL 2021 This April 17th, our international Day of Peasants' Struggle, is a moment to reflect on our vision of food sovereignty, and strengthen further our solidarity against the increased criminalization of our struggles, and killing of peasants, indigenous peoples, and those fighting for the rights of their communities, for dignity and equity globally. As we join our hands for solidarity demanding full respect for our rights and the end of impunity, criminalization, and killing, we are alert to the current difficult social and economic context facing many peasants and peoples globally. Firstly, the continuing COVID19 pandemic, a health crisis that started in 2020, has led to over two million deaths globally. Measures to mitigate and stop the spread of the pandemic have caused a profound social crisis with severe setbacks in workers' rights, unemployment, corruption, misery, hunger, and violence. This health crisis occurring in tandem with the prevailing climate crisis only worsens the social and economic condition of the masses. Secondly, the agribusiness and corporate lobbies increased their efforts to capture democratic global governance spaces. Citing the worsening hunger, some called on governments to lift the ban on the use of GMOs. While some big businesses, under the cover of the pandemic, worked with policymakers to relax laws that protect natural resources. We witnessed deliberate attempts to close civil society participation in global policymaking processes and UN spaces. Shifting Human Rights Council meetings and other events online meant limited participation from peasants and indigenous communities. Thirdly, the current realignment of the geopolitical forces and actors - exemplified by increased tensions between the economically advanced nations (United States/EU versus China and Russia; etc), the on-going heightened militarisation in tandem with repartition of global markets among these big nations, and the re-introduction of trade tariffs to fence off the foreign competition among allies (US vs. EU) are distress calls of a capitalist system in decay. The competition for sources of raw materials particularly rare minerals and the repartition of world markets is the inevitable cause of armed conflicts and devastating wars. This has worsened the migrant crisis in Africa, Middle East, Latin and North America, and Europe. THE MULTIPLE CRISES CONFRONTING THE WORLD ARE NOT NEW BUT A POLITICAL MOMENT TO ADVANCE THE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AGENDA The food, climate, environmental, economic, democratic, and health crises that culminated with the Covid-19 pandemic show clearly to all humanity that a transformation of the current agricultural and food model is vital. Each crisis, be it COVID-19 pandemic or food shortages, has shown us the importance and resilience of the same local food systems which neoliberalism continues to erode and weaken. Since its birth in 1993, La Via Campesina has been developing and promoting food sovereignty as an alternative to the dominant capitalist relations of production, particularly in agriculture. Over the twenty-eight years, food sovereignty has gained more ground among social movements, civil society organizations, and others. Thus, for us, food sovereignty and peasant agroecology continue to triumph in each crisis as solutions to strengthen localized food systems critical in the fight against hunger and to cool the planet, preserve biodiversity, and respect peasants' and workers' rights. Moreover, food sovereignty promotes solidarity, a key aspect of humanity - rather than individualism as promoted by capitalism - that has strengthened our collective will to survive. People and not profits matter the most! Now is the time to transform and build a value-based society. UN DECLARATION ON PEASANTS' RIGHTS IS OUR MAIN POLITICAL TOOL TO STRENGTHEN THE GLOBAL PEASANT STRUGGLE We, La Via Campesina, believe that the time is ripe for governments to formulate and implement urgently the radical public policies to bring relief, dignity, and equity to billions of people whose survival is hanging by a thin thread. Without radical public policy changes, the desperation will increase, so are the unintended outcomes, for instance, the current rise of extreme right-wing, fascism, and other forms of regressive nationalism in different countries. Food sovereignty continues to offer the only coherent solution--a solution that benefits rural families as well as consumers, in our countries. After much work over the last 28 years generating proposals, accumulation of experience, and building of alliances, we have a historic opportunity to achieve good policies with the support of some progressive governments, UN Special rapporteur for the right to food, Committee on World Food Security (CFS)-Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSM) processes, and using the UN declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP). UNDROP must be a tool for the worldwide promotion of urgently-needed agrarian reform programmes, as essential components of public policies that countries should implement in their respective territories for decent living and working conditions in rural areas. We will work with progressive governments and like-minded rural and urban movements, as well as with other organizations to monitor and ensure proper implementation of public policies. It's an opportunity that we cannot let pass us by. Even the current attempts by the World Economic Forum initiative to organize and hijack the UN Food System Summit should not hinder our progress. Only peasants and their active participation in shaping the food policies lead to lasting a solution - public policies based on food sovereignty. We must gird ourselves as peasants to fight and resist transnational corporations, agribusiness, large landowners, and imperialism. To take advantage of the political moment, to regain control over food La Via Campesina together with our allies, call upon governments to define and refine public policy proposals to achieve food sovereignty at all levels. This means the recovery of national productive capacity, _rooted in the peasant and family farm_ sector, through public sector budgets, guaranteed prices, credits, and other forms of support--including support for direct marketing between producers and consumers, and genuine land reform. _ _We call for genuine comprehensive agrarian reform programs to strengthen peasant and family agriculture, food and farming systems that respond to both urban and rural necessities and should reconstitute improved versions of research and technical assistance systems based this time on the principles of the "campesino to Campesino" (peasant to peasant) model. We, as peasants, also fight for health to be treated as a human right, especially in the global COVID-19 pandemic. As La Via Campesina, we demand the Right to public and free health care for all peoples as defined in Article 23 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP), including the processes of prevention, vaccination, and long-term treatment. Vaccines should not be patented neither should they be left under the control and profit of large transnational corporations. If patented, it allows the market further to commodify life. All members of society must have access to information and be able to evaluate the treatments offered. We affirm that health care must begin with a healthy, sustainable diet that strengthens the immune system, as proposed by Food Sovereignty, a way of caring for the well-being of both people and the environment. THE TIME TO TRANSFORM IS NOW! It is unacceptable that in the 21st-century hundreds of millions are hungry when there is enough food for all; inequalities and human rights violations are worsening; criminalization, brutal repression, and authoritarianism are increasing globally. This April 17, we say: Struggle for dignity, for health, for public policies based on food sovereignty, and for protecting our communities and natural resources is not a crime but our right! The states must not criminalize our struggles nor violate our rights! Neither must we be killed by them! Their duty is to protect our rights. We, therefore, stand in solidarity with all the peoples struggling for their rights in all four corners of the world. With food sovereignty and solidarity, we can attain social justice and dignity for all! WE FEED THE WORLD AND BUILD FOOD SOVEREIGNTY! GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE, GLOBALIZE HOPE! #NoFutureWithoutFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereigntyNOW ------------------------------------------ For media enquiries, questions or comments write to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/biodiversity-and-genet… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/capitalism-and-fre… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-t… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/agrarian-reform/global… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/international-solidari… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/transnational-comp…

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La Vía Campesina | e-Newsletter | #8March - Special Edition
by La Via Campesina 01 Apr '21

01 Apr '21

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* La Vía Campesina | e-Newsletter | 8 March 2021 Donate [1] This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of organisations that are part of La Via Campesina around the world. To subscribe click here [2]. 08 MARCH: GLOBAL SOLIDARITY ACTIONS DEMAND EQUAL OWNERSHIP OF LAND, RECOGNITION OF WOMEN'S WORK AND A WORLD FREE OF VIOLENCE [3] Across the world, peasant and indigenous movements carried out solidarity actions to mark International Women's Day on (and during the week of) the 8th of March 2021. La Via Campesina had issued a clarion call to all its members worldwide by pointing out that to defeat the virus of patriarchy and capitalism, we need the vaccine of feminism and solidarity. Pastoralists, peasants, fisherfolks, agricultural workers, indigenous and landless people across member organisations responded positively to this call for solidarity this year. They organised peasant fairs showcasing diversities in food production and the work women and people of diverse identities do in the farms and inside rural social movements. Several solidarity actions that took place emphasised the urgent need for food sovereignty to positively address the crisis humanity is currently experiencing and transform our societies. PEASANTS ALSO EMPHASISED THAT THE UN DECLARATION ON PEASANTS' RIGHTS ADOPTED IN 2018 IS A CRUCIAL TOOL TO GUARANTEE RIGHTS AND GENDER JUSTICE IN RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITIES. With colourful marches, sit-ins, food donations, forums, meetings, and even blood donations, they showed the importance of feminism in the struggle against patriarchy and capitalism. We share a summary of the actions carried out by our LVC member organisations in different territories around the world. Read More [4] FEATURED ARTICLES Peasant movements, workers and activists in Asia mobilise on International Women's Day. Here is a summary [5] of the many actions that took place around Asia in March. Gender-based violence in the rural sector, understood as physical, sexual and psychological violence against women, is a central area of work [6] for our member organisations since 2008. As capitalist countries rush to save their economies, they have left the workers who provide the basic necessities of human life to risk their lives on the front lines. Women make up the overwhelming majority of those who work in these industries. Read the statement [7]. On the 25th anniversary of the collective construction of Food Sovereignty, this is our tangible and sustainable way to face the different crises we live today. We need to end the systemic violence of capitalism and patriarchy, which today violate the rights of women, diversities, children, and the working class. Read La Via Campesina's call for mobilization [8]. In the most difficult moment of the pandemic, which is plaguing Brazil and which - so far - has killed more than 260 thousand people, women from more than 80 organizations in the popular field, came together to support and spread solidarity [9] in actions in the four corners of the country. Peasant Organisations in Spain - COAG and the Confederation of Rural Women (CERES) - demand that [10] the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Rural Development Plans (RDP) be drawn up with a gender perspective, as they marginalise the lands of peasant women and livestock breeders. This March 8, 2021, the peasant members of the Sindicato Labrego Galego, SLG, also supported the feminist strike [11]. One year after the last women's strike and for peasant women, in terms of equality, the situation continues to deteriorate. Srilanka: Women step up protest [12] against exploitative micro-finance firms in rural areas. According to activists in Srilanka, an estimate of 28 million people are caught in a debt trap and over 200 were forced to commit suicide. RECENT PUBLICATIONS NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER: FOOD SOVEREIGNTY IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020, few imagined the scale of the devastation that the disease would wreak across the world, or for how long it would last. This edition of the Nyéléni newsletter presents excerpts from some of the documentation and research conducted by practitioners and advocates of food sovereignty. DOWNLOAD NOW [13]. VIDEOS [14] #LaViaCampesina - Song "Triste, loca o mala", by the group Francisco El Hombre [14]. The clip features more than 100 landless women from across Brazil in a show of strength and solidarity. 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]. [15] [16] Twitter [16] [17] Facebook [17] [18] Vimeo [18] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [19] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [20] 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://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=viacampesinaOFFICIAL&set=a.5… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/08-march-global-solidarity-actions-demand-equal… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-movements-workers-and-activists-in-asia… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/cloc-via-campesina-gender-based-violence-in-the… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/working-women-of-the-world-unite-against-imperi… [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/8m2021-against-the-virus-of-patriarchy-and-capi… [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/brazil-landless-women-mobilize-in-defense-of-li… [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/spain-peasant-women-find-it-more-difficult-to-a… [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-women-in-galicia-strike-against-inequal… [12] https://viacampesina.org/en/srilanka-women-step-up-protest-against-exploita… [13] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=155 [14] https://www.facebook.com/342562582480986/videos/471196630576619 [15] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/ [16] https://twitter.com/via_campesina [17] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [18] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina [19] http://www.viacampesina.org [20] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org

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Via-info-en April 2021