#25nov2022 La Via Campesina: We defend Food Sovereignty and our territories from violence, evictions and agribusiness!
by La Via Campesina
LA VIA CAMPESINA: WE DEFEND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND OUR TERRITORIES FROM
VIOLENCE, EVICTIONS AND AGRIBUSINESS!
15 NOVEMBER 2022 CAMPAIGN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN [1], PATRIACHY
[2], WOMEN [3]
_CALL TO ACTION_
(Bagnolet, November 15, 2022) On 25 November 2022, _International Day
for the Elimination of Violence Against Women_, as peasants organised in
La Via Campesina, we demand Food Sovereignty, the right to land, and an
end to criminalisation and all types of violence in the countryside and
the cities. At the same time, we condemn the fact that in the midst of a
food, political and economic crisis, the rates of violence against
women, children and minorities are alarmingly high. There is an urgent
need to build societies free from violence and peaceful communities with
social justice.
In addition to the situation of structural violence experienced by women
in the world, there is the high cost of living, the aftermath of COVID
19, the work of caring for the elderly and children due to lack of state
infrastructure, lack of employment, forced displacement and migration,
wars and climate disasters.
Today more than ever we must consolidate Food Sovereignty as living
spaces in the territories, and as a concrete way to confront capitalist,
colonial and patriarchal policies that oppress and violate women and
commodify life. Worldwide, it is estimated that 2 out of 3 women have
suffered abuse in their lifetime. In the countryside, violence is
further deepened by the expansion of agribusiness, extractivism and land
grabbing, as well as the lack of policies to support peasants,
especially women. The main economic resources are earmarked for large
agricultural investments in agri-hydro and mining business. Meanwhile,
violent evictions, feminicides and criminalisation continue with total
impunity in complicity with the state and the judiciary.
Throughout these 30 years, the political proposals of La Via Campesina
have remained valid and more relevant than ever, and peasants play a
fundamental role in Food Sovereignty, in the conservation of
biodiversity, in the production of healthy food with agroecological
practices, in markets, in the family economy, and in political and
organisational life. However, peasant women, indigenous women, sea and
forest women, landless women, fisherwomen, and pastoralists continue to
demand structural equality, paid and dignified work in the countryside,
recognition of care work, guaranteed political participation, access to
land, the right to basic services and investment in peasant agriculture
as recognised in the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants adopted by
the UN in 2018.
Article 4: Non-discrimination against women:
* States shall take all appropriate measures to eradicate all forms of
discrimination against rural women and other women working in rural
areas and to promote their empowerment so that they may fully enjoy, on
equal terms with men, all human rights and fundamental freedoms and be
able to work for, participate in and benefit freely from the economic,
social, political and cultural development of the rural environment.
LET'S DEFEND OUR TERRITORIES FROM AGRIBUSINESS AND FEMICIDES!
We cannot allow agribusiness and the plague of feminicide to advance in
our territories; feminicides are today the most violent expression of
patriarchy over women's bodies, and the numbers are growing all over the
world. This is why we call on our member organisations and allies to
commit to our STOP VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN 2008,
which is a political and pedagogical tool for dialogue within our
organisations, regions and with societies. It also allows us to
articulate struggles with women's organisations and diversities in the
cities to demand rights, justice and an end to impunity.
Currently, the Americas is one of the most violent continents for women,
with most of these murders occurring in the family environment as well
as by common and organised crime. For example, in Ecuador, a feminicide
is registered every 31 hours. While in Brazil, one occurs every 7 hours
and a rape every 10 minutes.
In Europe, the rise of the extreme right is causing an increase in cases
of femicide, as in Italy, where these cases increased by 15%, in France,
where femicides are recorded every 48 hours, and in Spain, where 76
femicides and other murders of women have been recorded so far in 2022.
Violence against women and children is also high in Africa, particularly
in conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. In South
Africa, from April to June 2022, more than 9,500 cases of rape were
reported, and almost 4,000 of these rapes took place inside homes.
Likewise, in Southeast Asia, 33 percent of women with intimate partners
between the ages of 15 and 49 will experience physical and/or sexual
violence by a current or former husband or male partner at least once in
their lifetime, according to reports.
In this sense, as La Via Campesina, we urge States to invest in public
policies for prevention of and response to gender-based violence, we
demand mechanisms so that justice bodies are aware of gender issues, so
that they have empathy and respect when dealing with these cases, as
well as political and economic conditions on the part of the State that
guarantee sufficient experts and respect for the dignity of the
survivors.
Women all over the world require comprehensive public health care and
guarantees of their human rights. Instruments such as the purple code,
which aims to protect and give priority attention to women victims of
gender-based violence, have proven not to work, and survivors are
re-victimised through long and tedious legal proceedings, which is why
many women drop their complaints. In many countries and cultures, girls
continue to be forced to marry and give birth, while millions of women
die from back-alley abortions, with no guarantee of their sexual and
reproductive rights such as access to dignified menstruation.
That is why as La Via Campesina, every 25 November, we raise our voice
for memory, justice and reparations for all women who struggle,
defenders of territories and survivors of violence. We stand in
solidarity with the families and organisations, and express our concern
for all defenders, women, youth and minorities who experience
harassment, violence and reprisals from the state, transnational
corporations and the judiciary for their active resistance to
agribusiness.
On this day of action, together with organised and rebellious women from
all over the world, we will call for marches, forums, direct actions in
courts, fairs and other events denouncing the daily and structural
violence experienced by women and peasant minorities.
DOWNLOAD AND SHARE! _#StopViolenceAgainstWomen #25Nov22_ [4]
You are very important to amplify our voices and actions, we need to
show unity of action, download our official poster and communication
materials for social networks available in ES, FR and EN, you can also
find a blank version to put it in your local language, HERE [4]. Check
out our publication " The Path of Peasant and Popular Feminism in La Via
Campesina", STUDY VERSION [5] and GRAPHIC VERSION [6] for grassroots
work.
JOIN US!
Send us information about your actions, videos and photos to our email:
communications(a)viacampesina.org, tag us on social media: Twitter
(@via_campesinaSP/@via_campesina/@viacampesinaFR), Facebook
(@viacampesinaOFFICIAL), Instagram (@la_via_campesina_oficial), and make
our collective mobilisation for societies free from violence and
agribusiness globally visible.
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/patriachy/campai...
[2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-against/patriachy/
[3] https://viacampesina.org/en/who-are-we/women/
[4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/xcKJdZjs7aqSbzw
[5]
https://viacampesina.org/en/publication-the-path-of-peasant-and-popular-f...
[6]
https://viacampesina.org/en/graphic-book-the-path-of-peasant-and-popular-...
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La Via Campesina Call to Action for the 27th UN Climate COP
by La Via Campesina
*|MC:SUBJECT|* *|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
(Bagnolet, October 31, 2022) Year after year, one UN Climate Conference
of the Parties (COP) after another, the global climate crisis only
worsens. Caused in great part by agribusiness and the destructive
capitalist system it fuels, today’s crisis is a direct result of an
economic system that exploits every form of life without recognizing any
limits to nature. Mother Earth’s intricate systems and life-sustaining
cycles are broken, with the devastating Covid19 pandemic, and the
inaccessibility of health care for many, demonstrating just how cruel
capitalism can be when it comes to inflicting the pain, suffering and
loss, caused by the destruction of nature. Be it in Pakistan, Palestine
or Puerto Rico – to name just a few – the once distant threat of
“climate change” now comes in wave after wave of “catastrophic weather
events” making climate-fueled tragedies an all-too-frequent part of
people’s daily lives. From droughts to floods, through wildfires and
hurricanes, these extreme manifestations have threatened and even
destroyed people’s lives and food sovereignty, who are calling for real
solutions to limit global warming to 1.5°C. As if that weren’t enough,
wars, occupations and sanctions are dished out by the power-hungry with
little regard for the UN-recognized rights to Food, Health, Peace and
Self-Determination, much less the now universal human right to a “clean,
healthy and sustainable environment” (UN General Assembly, 2022). In
addition, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI,
2022) reported that the climate vulnerable and extremes underline rising
numbers of hungry people, poverty and inequality.
At the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its annual
Climate COPs, transnational corporations (TNCs) use their control over
most national governments and multilateral institutions to commodify the
crisis, deny fossil fuel capitalism has anything to do with it, and
limit any real possibility of transformative change. Though the
corporate food system is responsible for more than 50% of all greenhouse
gasses (GHGs), the Bayer-Monsanto’s of the world offer nothing more than
profit-hungry proposals packaged into shameful “net zero” schemes.
Instead of a very real, urgent and necessary reduction in emissions –
whose main responsibility lies with the elites of historic emitters such
as the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia – corporate false
solutions provide a free pass to the dominant colonial core while
leading a global assault on rural communities, livelihoods and
territories. So-called “nature-based solutions” (NBS) such as REDD and
REDD+, “soil c/arbon for offsetting”/ and other market-based trading
schemes, and the corporate takeover of agriculture through patenting,
“digitalization”, “sustainable intensification” and
“climate-smart(ation)” are all big wins for agribusiness but terrible
losses for peasants, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, forest dwellers and
others on the frontlines of the global climate crisis. And when the
great hoax of “net zero” fails to calm the climate, transnational
corporations promise extremely high-risk geoengineering will somehow
save the day (or at least their profit margins). This has been the norm
at Climate COP after Climate COP, and the 27th Annual Conference of the
Parties (COP27) is unlikely to be any different.
Supposedly “Africa’s COP”, this year’s Climate COP is set to take place
at the elitist and artificial enclave that is Egypt’s Sharm el Sheikh.
Far removed from the African and Arab People’s steadfast struggles for
self-determination, COP27 is leaving very little room for organized
communities to speak truth to corporate power. For this reason, among
others, many of our sister organizations of the Africa Climate Justice
Collective (ACJC) organized the African People’s Counter COP demanding
real solutions rooted in climate justice, a prioritization of people and
the planet, and an end to corporate control of the UNFCCC. These demands
are in line with our hard-fought UN Declaration on the Rights of
Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP):/“States shall
take all necessary measures to ensure that non-State actors that they
are in a position to regulate, such as private individuals and
organizations, and transnational corporations and other business
enterprises, respect and strengthen the rights of peasants and other
people working in rural areas..(and)…take appropriate measures to ensure
that peasants and other people working in rural areas enjoy, without
discrimination, a safe, clean and healthy environment”./
It is precisely because of this context that La Vía Campesina will be at
COP27. Delegates from member organizations will make their voices,
traditions, experiences and solutions heard. We will continue to
promote, practice and uplift /Food Sovereignty/ as the right of peoples
to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically
sound and sustainable methods and the right to define our food and
agricultural systems. We will explain once again that peasants through
agroecological practices and territories cultivate more than 70% of the
food produced worldwide on less than 30% of the arable lands available.
We will emphasize that /Agroecology/ is a sustainable path forward based
on centuries of experience and accumulated real evidence – it is a
science, a social movement and a lifestyle practised by millions around
the world through meaningful work, cooperation, strategy and
organization. We will amplify and share /UNDROP/, an international legal
instrument that we helped to create and that defends people’s rights
over their territories, seeds, waters, forests and that promotes a more
sustainable way of being and living. We will stand in S/olidarity /with
all who struggle for collective rights and reiterate the need for
“/common but differentiated responsibilities/” among States – including
a vibrant Green Climate Fund free of any International Monetary Fund
(IMF) or World Bank (WB) influence, void of all neo-liberal impositions
that serve only to further exploit people and the planet, and fully
financed through climate reparations for the colonial legacies of the
past and present. We stand in solidarity with and support those in the
Climate Justice Movement demanding climate just reparations, not simple
“climate finance”. Finally, we will be in COP27 continuing to expand our
arms and shoulders building solidarity, action and common strategy with
grassroots organizations, alliances and social movements from around the
world fighting for climate and social justice.
While most national governments and multilateral institutions offer
capitalist solutions that systematically fail to address the climate
crisis, we, the organized voice of over 200 million peasants, landless
workers, indigenous people, pastoralists, fishers, migrant, farmworkers,
small and medium-size farmers, rural women, peasant youth and
gender-diverse persons of La Via Campesina, in convergence with a
diversity of movements for Climate Justice, reiterate here and now our
real solutions: *FOOD SOVEREIGNTY COOLS THE PLANET ! *We will build it
with agroecology and peasants’ rights to ensure a /Just Transition/
rooted in people’s power, ecological and social well being, and
solidarity at the local, regional and international context. Together,
in struggle, we will win!
*PEASANTS RIGHTS’ AND AGROECOLOGY FOR A JUST TRANSITION!*
*GLOBALIZE THE STRUGGLE!*
*GLOBALIZE HOPE!*
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