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Global Compact for Migration is more of the same: migrants as cheap labour, criminalised for simply being migrants
by La Via Campesina 15 Dec '18

15 Dec '18

GLOBAL COMPACT FOR MIGRATION (GCM) DOES NOT REPRESENT A CHANGE IN THE CURRENT OFFENSIVE AGAINST MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES : LA VIA CAMPESINA At the PEOPLE'S SUMMIT FOR A GLOBAL PACT OF SOLIDARITY WITH MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES, held in Marrakech December 8th and 9th of 2018, hosted by La Via Campesina and its member organisations of the Middle East and North Africa (MeNa) Process, the global peasant movement and its allies have issued a scathing critique of the Global Compact on Migration and rejected it. The Agreement on an International Pact of Solidarity and Unity Of Action [1] For The Full Rights Of All Migrants And Refugees, that was issued at the People's Summit reads; "In this summit, we have concluded that the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) does not represent a change in the anti-migrant policies and current offensive against migrants and refugees being waged by many States, especially of the North. The GCM is more of the same: migrants as cheap labour, criminalised for simply being migrants. Analysing it further, we consider the GCM a step backwards with respect to human rights and the protection of migrants and our families as established in past International Conventions approved by the United Nations and other institutions such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). While it is true that some countries have decided not to sign the GCM, this is not the result of their is agreement with the agreement which represent a step backward regarding migrant rights. Their disagreement is motivated by a refusal of any multi-lateral engagement on migration. Those state have clearly stated their anti-migrant position. The GCM proposes to discipline and organise migration to serve the interests of States and their true owners, transnational corporations and financial capital. Other than a few apparent mentions of migrants, human rights are left beneath security concerns of states and economies. For the above reasons, we express our public rejection of the Global Compact for Migration and place in the hands of social movements, collectives for the protection of migrants' human rights, progressive States and civil society, our alternative that brings together the spirit, conclusions and recommendations of our Summit." Download the Complete Agreement [2] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/global-compact-for-migration-gcm-does-not-repre… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/12/EN-AGREEMENT…

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Nyéléni Newsletter | Food Sovereignty at the rural-urban interface
by La Via Campesina 11 Dec '18

11 Dec '18

NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER: FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AT THE RURAL – URBAN INTERFACE The rural-urban interface is a complex social space where politics and culture are in constant flux. It can also be a physical place, where the wealth and resources of villages, towns, peri-urban suburbs, and suburbanized rural areas are in dispute. Taken globally, it is a vast territory with potential to grow food sovereignty. This issue of the Nyéléni Newsletter addresses the challenges and opportunities of building food sovereignty in peri-urban areas, and the ways that the producers and consumers of urban and rural communities form alliances to transform the food system. Click here to download the English edition [1] Links: ------ [1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=130

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New “genome-editing” techniques generate even more risks to biodiversity
by La Via Campesina 05 Dec '18

05 Dec '18

THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO BLOCK THE UN CONFERENCE ON BIODIVERSITY, BUT IT WON'T BLOCK FARMERS Despite lengthy negotiations, the 14th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) ended on 29 November in Sharm El Sheickh (Egypt), leaving the door open to contamination and appropriation of all natural biodiversity and the food chain through patents from the biotech industry. The "exterminating" GMOs developed using "gene drive" techniques aim at the permanent eradication of entire species: animals, plants or microbial. Once dispersed, no border can stop them until they have completed their deadly mission. The promises to eliminate in this way any vector of diseases such as malaria mosquitoes are lies: nature abhors the void and may even reveal new and even more aggressive vectors. Progressive governments have not been able to obtain the long-awaited moratorium to prohibit the spread of these chimeras. The Convention only recommends precautions: risk assessment, consultation with indigenous or local populations, but above all not with all interested citizens who could support them against the promoters of the "gene drives". By reducing the genetic modifications thus obtained to a simple dematerialized "information" to fit into computer algorithms, the industry extends the scope of its patents to all plants, animals or microorganisms that naturally contain the same "information". The patent on the genetic information associated with genes that accelerate the growth of chickens thus allows the appropriation of all naturally fast growing chickens! We had hoped that this genetic information would be verified so that we could ban these patents on "native genes". By multiplying uncontrollable artificial genetic modifications, the new "genome-editing" techniques generate even more risks to biodiversity, health and the environment than transgenic GMOs, while violating the very principles of the CBD. They were expected to be regulated in the same way as recently decided by the Supreme Court of the European Union. The Convention confined itself to referring these two issues to new expert committees. In the meantime, industry can continue to release its new patented GMOs, even in countries that reject them, but will not be informed in the absence of binding international standards. Delegates of the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty (IPC) and La Via Campesina, who participated in Sharm El Sheikh, strongly denounce the arrogance of a handful of rich countries that block all reasonable decisions and the hidden tricks of industry that has corrupted some representatives of developing countries to create the illusion of meaningful support for their new patented chimeras. Until stronger international decisions are taken, it is up to each country now to oppose all patented GMOs, whatever they may be. The millions of farmers in La Via Campesina, as well as all IPC organizations, will work with their many civil society allies to do so. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Antonio Gonzalez (ES) - atunkuljay(a)gmail.com Guy Kastler (FR) - guy.kastler(a)wanadoo.fr Marciano da Silva (ES) - marcianotol71(a)yahoo.com.br Genevieve Lalumiére (FR-EN) - genevieve.lalumiere(a)gmail.com https://viacampesina.org/en/the-biotech-industry-is-trying-to-block-the-un-…

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#25Nov: Breaking the silence, ending the violence. Resist patriarchy, Resist capitalism!
by La Via Campesina 26 Nov '18

26 Nov '18

#25NOV: BREAKING THE SILENCE, ENDING THE VIOLENCE. RESIST PATRIARCHY, RESIST CAPITALISM! 25 NOVEMBER 2018, NEGOMBO, SRI LANKA: We the peasant women of La Via Campesina coming from Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia and assembled here in Negombo, Sri Lanka this week for the Global Meeting of Women Articulation, unanimously condemn all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls everywhere. We say this while we realise that much remains to be done - to ensure that the violence that has occurred and is still occurring today in our countries, in our homes, in our organizations, rooted in patriarchy, taking the form of rape and commodification of women, is erased from our society, our territories, our bodies and lives. On this 25th of November and every day, the peasants of La Via Campesina say: "Let us put an end to violence against women, break the silence, resist and confront patriarchy and capitalism. We are against all types of violence that still affect many women in rural and urban areas. We must overcome barbarism, fascism and the lack of respect for the most fundamental rights. We must fight today and every day as a working class. We understand that capitalism is the main source of inequality and that many forms of violence emerge from these inequalities. That is why this struggle is such a class struggle. Our proposal and our tools for transformation come from the land in which we women are anchored. It comes from the land cultivated in agroecology to achieve food sovereignty; from the collective research we carry out for the construction of equality in our spaces of action and study; from the marches and struggles in which, women participate to build the NEW WOMAN AND THE NEW MAN that will build the new society. It is clear to us that the only way to end machismo is to confront oppression and exploitation and that only women and men organized in our popular, peasant, urban, fishing and forest peoples' movements can carry out this struggle for the construction of equality. We peasants of the world of Via Campesina, present in the 81 countries of the world, say YES to equality, and END to violence against women. We want and commit ourselves daily to building a life without violence, discrimination and exploitation against women. THE SOCIETY WE WANT IS FREE OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN! CONTACT FOR INTERVIEWS: ES: Nury Martinez |Fensuagro Colombia| +57 310 772 0098 FR: Ehaibi Torkia| 0026 93116634 EN: Anuka de Silva|Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform|Sri Lanka|+94 71 588 3723 ------------------------- Download our materials here: https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/j9JXXsNwYBq8LWd You can also tag us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ViaCampesinaOfficial [1] Twitter @via_campesina @via_campesinaSP and @viacampesinaFR @viacampesinaFR ] Links: ------ [1] http://www.facebook.com/ViaCampesinaOfficial

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Two years after the signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the revolutionary armed forces of Colombia (FARC)
by La Via Campesina 23 Nov '18

23 Nov '18

TWO YEARS AFTER THE SIGNING OF THE PEACE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMED FORCES OF COLOMBIA (FARC) LA VIA CAMPESINA As is widely known, on November 24th, 2016, the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, on behalf of the Colombian State, and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia-FARC (which has now become a legal political party) signed a peace agreement. This agreement brought to an end an armed conflict which had debilitated the people of Colombia for more than 50 years, and which had profound economic, political and social effects, creating painful divisions in Colombian society, its social fabric and within families. La Vía Campesina, an organisation bringing together 200 million women and men peasants from all over the world, which, at the request of the concerned parties, is one of the guarantors of the peace process, is very worried to see that, two years after being signed, key aspects of fundamental points in the Agreement for the Ending of the Conflict and the Building of a Stable and Lasting Peace have been modified by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the Colombian State. Thus, for example, Point 1, known as Comprehensive Rural Reform, calls for a rural registry to be created during the next ten years in order to clarify problems of land ownership. It provides for the creation of a Land Fund of 3 million hectares for landless or land-poor peasants, as well as for the massive clarification and formalization of property titles on 7 million hectares of landholdings. There has been practically no compliance with these provisions involving a total of 10 million hectares. With regard to Point 4: Solving the Illicit Drugs Problem is another vital point for the Colombian countryside and for rural communities. It calls for comprehensive plans, voluntary eradication, the participation of local and departmental authorities, and for government funding of substitution projects and programmes, all including dialogue with communities and community participation. These engagements have not been complied with; they have been replaced by criminalisation, prosecution, and punishment. Such departures from the Agreement had already started under the previous government of Juan Manuel Santos. They have been accentuated by the policies of the new president, Iván Duque, who has decided to give priority to forced eradication and aerial spraying with glyphosate, which has had serious effects on the health of human beings, animals and plants. These policies concretise a military and legally punitive approach to a problem that is above all social and economic. Essential features of fundamental parts of the Agreement, such as the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), were modified by the different branches of power. For instance, the obligation of third parties to testify at investigations has been eliminated. This not only prevents society from learning about the real participation of multinationals and that of national actors with ties to the banking and trading sectors and to cattle ranching and agribusiness - as well as the involvement of civil servants and civilian agents of the Colombian state in organising, funding, and supporting paramilitary groups and other structures and organisations that took part in the protracted armed conflict. As if this were not enough, the JEP has suffered another blow to its basic functioning. Its power to investigate and judge members of the military has been virtually removed, with the nomination of 14 new judges who are to assume that function. This change will undoubtedly provide a new cloak of impunity and immunity for military personnel. It will further weaken the right of victims to truth, justice, reparation, and non-repetition, as well as to find out what happened to their family members who were victims of torture, assassination, or forced disappearance, and to learn the name and identity of those who were responsible for planning and perpetrating these crimes. This change will make the work of the JEP, the Truth Commission, and the Special Unit for the Search for Missing Persons much more difficult. It is all the more serious when we consider that victims were the central focus of the Peace Agreement. The victims not only suffered a mockery of their rights with respect to this Point in the Agreement; the Colombian Congress also denied them their right, which had been stipulated in the Agreement, to 16 congressional seats. The political reform that was provided for in the signing of the Agreement is another point which the Colombian government and state apparatus have not complied with. In relation to the Reintegration of FARC ex-combatants, the Peace Agreement stipulates that each ex-combatant should receive a sum of 12 million pesos for productive projects. There are also guarantees for the construction and repair of highways as well as for the provision of other basic services such as housing, health, training and educations - obligations with which the Colombian state has also failed to comply. What is most serious and most shocking is that, once the Agreement was signed, a series of murderous attacks was unleashed against the FARC ex-combatants and their families as well as against leaders and activists on the political Left, human rights defenders, environmentalists, peasants, students, indigenous people, and Afro-descendants, a relentless wave of criminal extermination that reminds us of the dark period when the Patriotic Union was obliterated. For its part, the Colombian State has failed to fulfil its commitment to combat and dismantle the paramilitary forces and to make them subject to the force of the law. According to spokespersons from the Colombian police, the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force (Fuerza Alternative Revolucionaria del Común) recently reported that more criminal attacks are being plotted against its leaders, activists, and members - one more stage in the campaign of extermination. The Democratic Centre and Colombian President Iván Duque have made repeated announcements regarding the Peace Agreement, on some occasions expressing a desire to tear it to pieces, and on other occasions declaring their wish to subject it to major changes and reforms. Our two International Solidarity Missions to Colombia, the first in 2016 and the second in 2017, gave us a first-hand understanding of the challenges to peace, of the vision of women and peasants in their territories, and of the necessity for environmental justice as a precondition for social justice. We are committed to the peace process and to our role as guarantor. We will be organising our Third International Solidarity Commission in 2019, in the fervent hope of finding a people and a government advancing towards a stable and lasting peace. For all of these reasons, La Via Campesina is appealing to the Colombian People, to all of our member organisations in different parts of the world, as well as to the international community, the United Nations, the FAO, the ILO, the European Union, the Non-aligned Countries, governments, organisations, and personalities. We are asking them to speak out and to demand complete fulfilment, without reforms or delays, of the Final Agreement for the Ending of the Conflict and the Building of a Stable and Lasting Peace. CONTACTS Nury Martinez | +57 310 772 0098 | nury254(a)gmail.com Federico Pacheco | +34 690 651 046 | pachecofederico(a)yahoo.es Veronique Leon | +33 622 161 399 | verobique(a)gmail.com

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UNITED NATIONS: Third Committee approves the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas
by La Via Campesina 20 Nov '18

20 Nov '18

UNITED NATIONS: THIRD COMMITTEE APPROVES THE UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEASANTS AND OTHER PEOPLE WORKING IN RURAL AREAS PRESS RELEASE | LA VIA CAMPESINA 19 NOVEMBER. MONDAY, [NEW YORK] The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the UN General Assembly voted in favour of the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, through the Resolution no. A/C.3/73/L.30 [1]. The resolution was approved by 119 votes in favour, 7 votes against and 49 abstentions [2]. It is a significant leap forward in a campaign led by La Via Campesina, the world's largest peasant movement supported by many organizations across the world, including FIAN and CETIM. The UN Declaration aims to better protect the rights of all rural populations including peasants, fisherfolks, nomads, agricultural workers and indigenous peoples and to improve living conditions, as well as to strengthen food sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity. The endorsement of the UN Declaration also constitutes an important contribution to the international community's effort to promote family farming and peasant agriculture. Bolivia, the chair of the process, stressed upon the importance of the UN Declaration in realising more resilient, sustainable and inclusive societies: _"We believe this is a major step towards public policies that recognize not only the rights and needs of peasants but also their contributions to the well-being and quality of life of the societies they nurture through their daily work. We are sure that this instrument will play a central role in human rights as well as in the eradication of hunger and poverty, in line with Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and the Decade of Family Farming, without leaving anyone behind."_ Since its adoption at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in late September, La Via Campesina and its allies' focus has been to make sure that this UN Declaration is adopted by the UN General Assembly. La Via Campesina delegates who have been present in New York since the beginning of the Third Committee session expressed their satisfaction after the voting results. _"In this historic moment, in which financial capital and corporations are deepening their offensive to monopolize food and concentrate land and natural goods, at the cost of our lives, the adoption of the Declaration of Peasant Rights in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly is a strategic victory, not only for peasants but for the peoples of the world as a whole. We will continue on this long path of struggle and unity, for rights and social justice, convinced that full democracy is only possible through Agrarian Reform, the social function of land and the full enjoyment of the rights of peasants", SAID DIEGO MONTON LA VIA CAMPESINA (CLOC)_ The Committee's approval of the UN Declaration was marked by some debate but it benefited from a consistent support from Africa, Asia and Latin America regions. Some negative reactions came from Europe and other regions, with the US delegation rejecting the text as they have longstanding concerns about the UN Declaration, which sought to expand upon existing rights, singling out the human rights of peasants above those of other groups, and also on the collective rights stipulated in the contents. The European countries were divided in their response. _"In the Third Committee, where all the UN countries participate, we have witnessed a great diversity of positions in Eastern and Western Europe. For those who supported us, we thank them greatly. Your votes in favour put human values in human rights, giving hope for millions of peasants, men and women, across the continent. For those who abstained or voted against, we wish to tell you that peasants and small family farmers in your countries cannot be left behind", SAID RAMONA DUMINICIOIU FROM LA VIA CAMPESINA EUROPE._ _"After December's UNGA approval, we will start a new chapter of the Rights of Peasants and we are demanding that all UN countries commit themselves to implementing the Declaration. We are determined to contribute to a better society, to fight climate change, to end hunger, to provide diverse and nutritious food for everyone",_ she added. ZAINAL ARIFIN FUAT, FROM LA VIA CAMPESINA ASIA, said that this declaration is a landmark moment in the peasants struggle. _"The Declaration acknowledges the prominent role that peasants play in solving multiple crises facing us today - food, environmental, social and economic. Peasants are essential to food security and sovereignty and the realization of the right to food, particularly in developing countries where they provide up to 80% of the food locally consumed. This UN Declaration will also contribute to the humanity's efforts to end poverty, hunger and achieving our sustainable development goals. In Asia, we believe that if our rights are recognized and further protected, people will be able to develop rural areas and then avoid the rural-urban migration that creates insoluble problems", he added._ _"The scramble for resources that is going on in the African continent and elsewhere has put peasants in an extremely vulnerable position. The ongoing attack on peasant seed systems have repercussions that go beyond those who produce the food. It indeed affects everyone. For 17 years we have been patiently campaigning for an international instrument that can protect our rights as peasants and to guard our food systems from being dismantled to favour a few. It is a proud moment today for millions of peasants worldwide, who never give up when faced with adversity", SAID ELIZABETH MPOFU, GENERAL COORDINATOR OF LA VIA CAMPESINA_ _"The power of the peasant movement is being felt at the highest level of international governance: for this, we must acknowledge the hard work and passion of so many peasants worldwide. The solidarity of peasants internationally is a testament to how closely we and our issues are linked, regardless of where we live. However, today is only a stepping stone on the long path of human rights justice for rural people. We must carry forward this momentum and put the declaration into action at every level of society," SAID JESSIE MACINNIS, LA VIA CAMPESINA NORTH AMERICA_ The UN Declaration will be formally ratified by the UN General Assembly on December 2018, following the decision taken by the Third Committee this afternoon. ------------------------- EDITOR'S NOTE: Information Note on UN Declaration can be downloaded here [3] Full text of the Resolution and Declaration is here [4] For more information, visit www.viacampesina.org [5] PRESS CONTACT: Ramona Duminicioiu (English, French) : +40 746 337 022 , ramona(a)ecoruralis.ro Jessie MacInnis: (English) : +1 (902) 292-1040 , jessiemacinnis(a)gmail.com Diego Monton (Spanish) : +54 9 261 561-5062 , diegomonton(a)gmail.com Links: ------ [1] http://undocs.org/en/A/C.3/73/L.30 [2] http://www.un.org/en/ga/third/73/docs/voting_sheets/L.30.pdf [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/information-note-un-declaration-on-rights-of-pe… [4] http://undocs.org/A/C.3/73/L.30 [5] http://www.viacampesina.org/

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Press Release: Peasants’ Rights Declaration presented before the UN General Assembly
by La Via Campesina 26 Oct '18

26 Oct '18

NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26, 2018 - The "UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas" was presented in the UN headquarters to the Third Committee of the General Assembly on 25th October. This comes on the back of a nearly two decade long process of consultations and negotiations led by millions of peasants from La Vía Campesina, along with pastoralists, artisanal fisher folk, agricultural workers and indigenous peoples' organizations, with the support of CETIM and FIAN International. The Declaration, if accepted can ensure that the rights of rural populations are better recognized and protected by the international community. As it stands, peasants suffer from hunger and poverty at a disproportionate level**. It is estimated that out of 821 million people suffering hunger in the world (2018 UN figure), 80% live in rural areas. These people are particularly vulnerable and discriminated, they suffer forced expulsions and lack access to essential resources: land, seeds, loans, education, justice and basic services. They have unequal access and control over land, genetic resources and other natural resources; suffer from restricted access to markets and means of production to ensure a decent livelihood and are constantly imposed agricultural policies skewed in favour of elite farmers and of industrial agriculture. Yet, on average, small food producers contribute 70% of the world's food, with this figure rising to more than 80% in so-called developing countries. Small scale food producers also play a decisive role in the fight against climate change and biodiversity conservation. > "There is no free and healthy citizen without free peasants: our freedoms and rights are prerequisites of the right to food, social justice and democracy for all mankind. This Declaration will provide a universal Human Rights frame to all the efforts and initiatives we peasants, all around the globe, take to feed our communities in locally adapted and sustainable ways, displaying great resilience, inventiveness and perseverance. For us, it is a vital source of legitimacy as it recognizes, in a single and coherent manner our existence, our specificities, our values but also our role to achieve food sovereignty, foster rural development, and sustain human life on Earth. We call for the widest support to the Declaration as it both gathers and globalizes the basic protections vital to our continuation and our development in such as changing world. VINCENT DELOBEL, AN ORGANIC GOAT HERDER FROM BELGIUM AND ALSO A MEMBER OF LA VIA CAMPESINA A vast majority of the citizens support the Declaration. The European Economic and Social Committee has shown its support [1], and the European Parliament voted a resolution [2] asking EU states to back the project. On 2nd October in France, the National Advisory Committee on Human Rights urged the French government, in an advisory opinion, to back the text. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has also expressed its support to the Declaration and so has the former rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter as well as his successor, Hilal Elver. This past 28 September at Palais des Nations, home of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, 33 member states voted in favour [3] and 3 voted against (Australia, Hungary and the United Kingdom) the adoption of the Declaration, while 11 of them abstained. For the sake of consistency with the Paris Agreements on climate, the commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (in particular Goal 2 to eradicate hunger) , the UN Decade of family farming and the commitments announced by the European diplomacy to build a fairer and more sustainable world, our governments should have the courage to take the right decision and to vote clearly and unanimously in favor of the Declaration. Let's recall that even if declarations are not binding, the existence of such an instrument is a clear and symbolic recognition of the fundamental role of small scale food producers worldwide who work hard to make a living and feed people, and hearten rural communities. The world needs this Declaration to foster sustainable food systems all over the planet and to make the world safer. ------------------------- CONTACT: 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 ------------------------- NOTES TO THE EDITORS: * The "UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas" will be presented at the UN General Assembly. Following a last intergovernmental working group in April 2018 and a broadly affirmative vote in the Human Rights Council on September 28th, the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Bolivian Mission in Geneva, M. Ruddy Jose Flores Monterrey, presented the resolution in favour of this new instrument aimed to bring together, specify and expose the rights of peasants and other agricultural workers, women and men. ** Final study of the UN Human Rights Advisory Council, 2012 For more information www.viacampesina.org [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/press-release-peasants-rights-declaration-prese… Links: ------ [1] https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/documents/resolution/declaration-rights-peasa… [2] https://www.eurovia.org/the-european-parliament-demands-that-eu-members-sta… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-ado… [4] http://www.viacampesina.org

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16 October: La Via Campesina relaunches “Global Campaign for Seeds, a heritage of Peoples in the Service of Humanity”
by La Via Campesina 16 Oct '18

16 Oct '18

PRESS RELEASE LA VIA CAMPESINA RELAUNCHES THE "GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR SEEDS, A HERITAGE OF PEOPLES IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY", ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR THE FOOD SOVEREIGNTY OF PEOPLES AND AGAINST MULTINATIONALS (HARARE, OCTOBER 16, 2018) Peasants' seeds are a heritage of peoples in the service of humanity. They are the basis of global food production and they enable peasants to produce and consumers and citizens to find healthy and diversified food. They allow us to resist, maintain our ancestral cultures and defend our peasant identity. However, these seeds of life are threatened by the seed policies of rich countries, free trade agreements and agribusiness. Under the pretext of "improving" seed productivity, agribusiness has created a neo-liberal seed system that has homogenized, impoverished and monopolized seeds, causing the loss of three-quarters of seed diversity and annihilating a diversity that it took people - thanks to the work of peasants - 10000 years to generate. Three companies, Monsanto-Bayer, Syngenta-ChemChina and Dupont-Dow, control more than 50% of the world's commercial seeds - increasingly genetically modified seeds to resist herbicides and produce insecticides. Under the impetus of the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF, and through free trade agreements and laws protecting seed and breeders' rights, such as UPOV standards, this seed system only allows the circulation of its own seeds, criminalizing the saving, exchange, donation and sale of local farmer seeds. The situation is such that farmers have lost a lot of their local seeds, are put in prison for the defense and exchange of their seed heritage, and risk raids and seizure of their seeds. Biodiversity is destroyed by the use of chemical fertilizers, hybrid seeds and genetically modified organisms developed by multinational companies. Citizens have difficulty accessing healthy, diversified and healthy food. La Via Campesina and its allies are fighting to change the situation. All over the world, La Via Campesina and its member organizations are stepping up their efforts in training, education, mutual support and seed exchange. We fight for national laws and international treaties to guarantee the rights of farmers to save, use, exchange, sell and protect their seeds against biopiracy and genetic contamination, we write books on the history of seeds, carry out studies and mapping. We also found agro-ecology schools and organize peasant' seed exchange fairs. We exercise our right of self-determination to select the seed varieties we want to plant and reject economically, ecologically and culturally dangerous varieties. These are rights affirmed by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and by the United Nations Declaration on Peasants' Rights which has just been adopted by the Human Rights Council in Geneva. It is also the only way to ensure healthy food for citizens, the preservation of biodiversity and the achievement of food sovereignty. It is in this spirit that we launched in 2001 in Rome the International Campaign of PEASANT SEEDS, A HERITAGE OF PEOPLES IN THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY, with the objective of promoting the recovery of traditional systems for the conservation, maintenance and exchange of local seeds and the inalienable collective rights of peasants over their seeds. On this October 16, 2018, on the occasion of the World Day of Action for Food Sovereignty of Peoples and Against Multinationals, we are relaunching this campaign and the "ADOPT A SEED" ACTION. We call on every peasant, peasant family or community to engage in the adoption of a variety of plant or animal seeds, to become the guardian of this seed, ensuring its propagation, reproduction and distribution and to engage in the collective defense of their rights to use, exchange, sell and protect them. In this way, we will create a large network of peasant seeds to save those that have become rare and extend production towards the food sovereignty of peoples. By adopting a seed, peasant families preserve their identity and territory and affirm their peasant way of life. They claim the historical memory and ancestral culture of seed management, promoting an urban and rural ecological agriculture that reproduces the miracle of more seeds and food of better quality, taste and nutritional value. No government measure can limit the collective rights of farmers to use, exchange and sell their seeds. Free consent between farmers should be applied without restriction. LA VIA CAMPESINA WITHOUT SEEDS, THERE IS NO AGRICULTURE; WITHOUT AGRICULTURE, THERE IS NO FOOD; AND WITHOUT FOOD, THERE ARE NO PEOPLES. WE FEED OUR PEOPLES AND BUILD THE MOVEMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD! ------------------------- Contact : [FR/EN] Geneviève Lalumière (Québec) | genevieve.lalumiere(a)gmail.com | 00 1 514 577 9265 [FR/EN/ES] Antonio Onorati (Italy) | antonio.onorati48(a)gmail.com | 00 39 340 821 9456 [FR] Guy Kastler (France) | guy.kastler(a)wanadoo.fr | 00 33 6 03 94 57 21

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Press Release: World Bank – IMF Guilty of Promoting Land Grabs, Increasing Inequality
by La Via Campesina 08 Oct '18

08 Oct '18

-------- Original Message -------- SUBJECT: Press Release: World Bank - IMF Guilty of Promoting Land Grabs, Increasing Inequality DATE: 2018-10-08 06:57 FROM: Abhilash <abhilash(a)viacampesina.org> TO: viacampesina(a)viacampesina.org WORLD BANK – IMF GUILTY OF PROMOTING LAND GRABS, INCREASING INEQUALITY > "Annual meeting in Bali this week is just a sham to cover up their criminal negligence of people's interests," say peasants. > ------------------------- _LA VIA CAMPESINA PRESS RELEASE: _ 07 OCTOBER, BALI: At a meeting of La Via Campesina facilitated by Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) in Bali, peasant organisations from Asia, Africa, Americas and Europe have unanimously held World Bank and IMF responsible for facilitating large scale land grab, deforestation and ocean grabbing around the world, which has led to inequality, poverty and global hunger. Peasants pointed to several decades of neo-liberal push from World Bank and IMF for privatisation and de-regulation in developing countries, as among the major factors that has led to increased cost of living for peasant communities. Over the last 30-40 years the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more recently the WTO have forced countries to decrease investment in food production and to reduce support for peasant and small farmers.Under neo-liberal policies, state managed food reserves have been considered too expensive and governments have been forced to reduce and privatize them under structural adjustment regimes. Representatives from countries such as Timor Leste, Thailand, Kenya, Cambodia, Malaysia, France, Indonesia, South Korea, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka have cited several instances of large scale land grab in their countries, to facilitate massive infrastructural projects that are funded by the World Bank and IMF. DAVID CALLEB OTIENO FROM KENYAN PEASANTS LEAGUE said, "In Kenya recently, IMF pushed for the enactment of Finance ACT 2018 that has increased tax on fuels, mobile money transfer, and repealed the interest rate law. The intention is to benefit Kenyan creditors to continue earning from Kenya's servicing of the debts at the expense of the well being of Kenyan people. There is a freeze on welfare spending in Kenya. Kenyan Debt to GDP ratio now stands at almost 70% of the GDP. Caught in this debt trap, almost everything is being privatised - transport, water, telecommunication. Peasants have lost their autonomy over seeds and our agricultural policies are pushed towards incentivising cultivation of cash crops. All these policies are being pushed at the behest of IMF and World Bank." MS JEONGYEOL KIM FROM KOREAN WOMEN PEASANTS' ASSOCIATION added, "South Korea has signed trade agreements with 52 countries and these agreements guide how agricultural policies are framed in the country. There has been a consistent drive to turn away from peasant agriculture and adopt an export-oriented agribusiness model. This has led to increase in rural debt and a complete destruction of peasant livelihoods. Peasant women face the worst of this industrial model, that is heavy on use of chemical inputs. This shift in the way we do agriculture came about largely due to conditions put forth by IMF and World Bank while giving loans." BARAMEE CHAIRAYAT FROM ASSEMBLY OF THE POOR, THAILAND said "The National Development Plan in Thailand always had the blessing of World Bank and it meant that agricultural land and public forests were being diverted to make way for massive highways, large agribusiness plantations and sugar cane factories. Over a period of four decades much of rural Thailand has become landless. They have enacted laws that alienated indigenous peoples from their forest." CLAUDE GIROD FROM CONFEDERATION PAYSANNE, FRANCE, the massive drive for industrialisation and agribusiness in African continent, coming as a result of conditional loans extended by World Bank and IMF have led to inescapable debt traps resulting in conflicts, wars and mass migration." "World Bank and IMF have, in the name of Structural Adjustment Programme, pushed for financialisation and privatisation of natural resources in Indonesia. When people resist these land grabs - taking place whether in the name of REDD+ or any other such programs - peasants are attacked, jailed and criminalised. We have the most recent case of Ahmad Azhari, who was kept in prison for nearly 9 months for defending the rights of peasants. All these institutions are here to help corporations expand their businesses rather than lifting people out of poverty", SAID ZAINAL ARIFIN FUAD, NATIONAL PEASANT LEADER FROM SERIKAT PETANI INDONESIA (SPI) "There is also a danger of co-option and appropriation. If you take the case of agrarian reform there have been several instances where World Bank and IMF also tries to speak the language of the peasant struggle by supporting agrarian reform, but those are in fact market-linked or market assisted forms of agrarian reform, which is not what peasant communities want", ADDED ZAINAL The peasant organisations have pledged to expose the incriminating role of World Bank and IMF in increasing inequality, land dispossession and poverty, even as the annual meeting of these bodies are under way this week in Bali, starting from 08 October. La Via Campesina denounces the impunity with which these destructive policies are pushed forth by World Bank and IMF. We will continue our campaign for realising food sovereignty and freeing agriculture from trade negotiations. ------------------------- CONTACT INFORMATION: Zainal Arifin Fuad, SPI, Indonesia -- +62812 8932 1398 -- zainal(a)spi.or.id Jeongyeol Kim, KWPA, Korea -- +82 10 4811 7996 -- kimj77689(a)gmail.com https://viacampesina.org/en/world-bank-imf-guilty-of-promoting-land-grabs-i…

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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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