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

28 Sep '18

UN Human Rights Council passes a resolution adopting the peasant rights declaration in Geneva PRESS RELEASE (GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 28, 2018) Seventeen years of long and arduous negotiations later, peasants and other people working in rural areas are only a step away from having a UN Declaration that could defend and protect their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity, local markets and a lot more. On Friday, 28 September, in a commendable show of solidarity and political will, member nations of United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution concluding the UN Declaration for the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. The resolution was passed with 33 votes in favour, 11 abstentions and 3 against. [1] The declaration now goes before the upcoming 3rd Committee session at UN General Assembly in New York in October. From there, in November 2018, this Declaration will be up for voting and adoption by all Member States of the United Nations. Once adopted, the UN Declaration will become a powerful tool for peasants and other people working in rural areas to seek justice and favourable national policies around food, agriculture, seeds and land keeping in mind the interests of millions of rural food producers comprising all genders and youth. After several rounds of international consultation process, La Via Campesina - a global movement of peasants, indigenous people, pastoralists and migrant workers adopted in 2008 a Declaration of Rights of Peasants - Women and Men[1] [1]. With the support of civil society groups like CETIM and FIAN International, La Via Campesina presented this proposal to the Human Rights Council in 2008. "This has been a long tough path but as peasants, as people who have seen the worst of poverty and neglect, we are tough too and we never give up", says Elizabeth Mpofu, the General Coordinator of La Via Campesina To be clear, today, peasants and others working in rural areas have insufficient recourse in the face of the discrimination they suffer and the other challenges they confront when seeking an adequate standard of living when subjected to forced displacement and marginalization. However, with this win in Geneva, peasants a step closer to getting their rights recognised and protected. According to Elizabeth, "This includes the right to life and adequate standards of living, the right to land, to seeds, to information, justice and equality between women and men" For her, it is a turning point for peasant struggles around the world. "Today, we are just a step away from acceptance by all member nations of the United Nations." She added. THIS UN DECLARATION CAN PROVIDE A GLOBAL FRAMEWORK FOR NATIONAL LEGISLATION AND POLICIES TO: * better protect the rights of peasants - women and men - and improve livelihoods in rural areas * reinforce food sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the conservation of biodiversity * take actions to implement comprehensive agrarian reform and a better protection against land-grabbing * realise the right of peasants to conserve, use, exchange and sell their seeds * ensure remunerative prices for peasant production and rights for agricultural workers * recognise the rights of peasant women and bring about social justice for people of all origin, nationality, race, colour, descent. Sex, language, culture, marital status, property, disability, age, political or other opinion, religion, birth or economic, social or other status without discrimination "While all of the member states said they are committed to human rights for all, the no votes and also abstentions are abysmal," says Ramona Duminicioiu from Via Campesina Europe. "The nos and abstentions mean that these countries are not up to the protection of human rights of peasants and rural populations. They are against a bigger picture: eradication of poverty, food sovereignty, and the effort to reduce inequalities," lamented Ramona. "Our campaign for food sovereignty and people's agrarian reform in Indonesia has received an important and much-needed boost," says Henry Saragih, the Chairperson of Serikat Petani Indonesia. Indonesia has just passed a Presidential Decree in support of agrarian reform that favours peasants. "Once the resolution is adopted at the UN General Assembly in New York, we will take the message of the Declaration to our people back home, and elaborate its significance and how it could strengthen our struggles against privatisation, criminalisation and more. The more we educate and inform our people back home, the stronger our movements become. It will enable us to demand better policies and laws that will take into account the rural realities of the developing world" added Henry. "At this point, despite producing the bulk of the food we eat - peasants are subjected to extreme forms of violence. Those who resist are either murdered or arrested. This criminalisation of peasant struggles has to stop and this Declaration is a step forward in that direction", says Diego from Movimiento Nacional Campesino Indígena (MNCI) Argentina CLOC-Vía Campesina The adoption of such a Declaration and the recognition of rights contained in the proposed legal instrument can contribute to better protect the rights of peasants and improve livelihoods in rural areas in the long term and at the global level. It will fill existing normative gaps in protection and should also be forward-looking to deal with emerging gaps and thus end discriminatory practices by giving them more visibility and coherence. CONTACTS: _English:_ Henry Saragih: +62 811 655 668, Email: hspetani(a)gmail.com Elizabeth Mpofu: +263 77 244 3716 Email: eliz.mpofu(a)gmail.com Ramona Duminicioiu: +40 746 337 022, Email: ramona(a)ecoruralis.ro _Spanish:_ Diego Monton: +54 9 261 561 5062, Email: diegomonton(a)gmail.com _French:_ Ndiakhate Fall: +221 77 550 89 07, Email: fallriso(a)yahoo.fr NOTE: [2] Resolution A/HRC/39/L.16 on the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas In favour: Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, Chile, China, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela Abstention: Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain [1] [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/03/Declaration-… [3] * Latest Draft of the UN Declaration can be found here [4] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-ado… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/un-human-rights-council-passes-a-resolution-ado… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2011/03/Declaration-… [4] https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/WGPleasants/Session5/A-H…

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

13 Sep '18

_The new edition of the Nyéléni Newsletter is now online!_ The so-called migration crisis has taken a highly tragic turn. Many escape due to the violence of the wars of occupation, others do so because of the disasters of the climate crisis and many more because of the inequities of this voracious and savage capitalist system. For our part, the Collective on Migrations of La Vía Campesina proposes to understand migration as an act of resistance by the dispossessed. When human beings leave their families, their communities and their lands, they are challenging the system that has condemned them to disappear as peasants, as indigenous people, as women, as people of color, as youth, as another culture, as a community and as a people. By understanding migration in this way, we recognize in the struggle of La Via Campesina the key role of migrants and their potential as actors of change. Click here to download the English edition [1] or read it directly in the website at www.nyeleni.org [2]! For any further information, please contact info(a)nyeleni.org PLEASE CIRCULATE IT TO YOUR CONTACTS! Links: ------ [1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=127 [2] http://www.nyeleni.org/

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

07 Sep '18

THE IMF-WORLD BANK ANNUAL MEETING IS SLATED TO TAKE PLACE IN BALI, INDONESIA FROM 8-14 OCTOBER 2018. LA VIA CAMPESINA CALLS UPON ITS MEMBERS AND ALLIES TO MOBILIZE IN LARGE NUMBERS. ------------------------- 05 SEPTEMBER, HARARE: La Via Campesina calls upon its members, allied social movements and civil society organizations in the world to gather and move to jointly build actions against the policies of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which is going to organize their "Annual Meetings IMF-WB 2018", in Bali-Indonesia on 8-14 October 2018. These institutions were created in 1944, with a proclaimed goal to reduce poverty. However, they have mainly served the interests of their main contributors and imposed neo-liberal agenda comprising market fundamentalism, privatization and deregulation around the world. The loans they provide are given under strict conditions to open-up the markets and dismantle all kinds of national policies. In doing so, they have acted as global economic colonizers. Instead of alleviating poverty, as they promised in their programs, they marginalize and evict farmers from their farm land. Moreover, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are undemocratic institutions and utterly discredited, where 'one-dollar-one-vote-decision-making' marginalizes Southern countries. The IMF and its safeguard policy rests on liberalization, privatization and deregulation which results in the degradation of State sovereignty, such that the State cannot play its role in implementing economic justice and welfare for its people. Vital sectors that control the lives of many people are left to the private sector, so that the mechanism or timing of debt repayments can run smoothly. As a result, the welfare of peasants is neglected and becomes the main cause of poverty. This impact can be clearly seen in an instance, when the signing of the Letter of Intent (LoI) between the Government of Indonesia and the IMF in 1997, led to the weakening of the BULOG (National Public Stock Holding), due to which Indonesia started to import food in large scale, especially rice. This policy then is coherent with Agreement on Agriculture of WTO, which is also about market liberalization and public stock holding. Therefore IMF and WTO as well as Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are all inter-connected with each other in terms of advancing neo-liberalism. IMF continues to promote market liberalization and privatization through other international forums in developing countries, even though there are no countries now that can claim to be unaffected by by the IMF .That's why people mobilized in large numbers against the IMF during the G20 meeting in Argentina July 2018, soon after Government of Argentina received new debt from IMF. As is widely know,Greece is also a 'victim' of IMF now. World Bank(WB), as a world development funding institution, implements various models of mega infrastructural projects, purportedly carried out to increase economic growth. These have led to rampant land grabbing, criminalization against peasants who resist and eviction of peasant's houses in various parts of the world such as Indonesia, India, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Thailand, Philippine and Brazil. In period of 2001 to 2010, due to large-scale investments driven by WB in the agricultural sector, mainly in African and Asian countries, around 203 million hectares of land was forcefully grabbed. In particular, the WB infiltrates the agrarian and agricultural sectors by providing an agrarian reform model that is considered to support the agricultural sector economy through a project called the Program to Accelerate Agrarian Reform (One Map Project). This is nothing but market-based agrarian reform, which neither emphasizes the redistribution of land in a fair way, nor assures the control of the land by peasants or peasant family. Instead, it only emphasizes the issue of land monetization, which takes the control of Land from individuals and in turn facilitate capital infiltration. It is evident in the implementation of One Map Project in Indonesia and in all developing countries from 2000 till now, where the program has only focused on the distribution of land certificates without resolving ongoing agrarian conflicts and without giving equal size to land control. Those are only to create land market or land bank for big plantation, infrastructure, factory, dam, irrigation etc. World Bank also pushed Southern countries who were systematically 'trapped in debt' to privatize public sectors services, such as health, education, water management, forest and plantation, paving a way for corporations to make huge profit. At the same time, climate change brought about extreme climatic events resulting in terrible natural disasters including heavy flooding and severe drought, which aggravated the food crisis. Forced eviction, criminalization of people who resist, agrarian conflicts, hunger and poverty are terrible consequences of privatization, both directly and indirectly. Not stopping at this oppression through infrastructure development, the World Bank expanded its activities into the realm of climate change mitigation. One such example is the Forest Investment Program (FIP) under REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation). The program is a collection of funds within the World Bank to provide funds for developing countries that have forests. Recorded until 2010, funds collected amounted to $577 million. At first glance the program appears to strike the right boxes but in reality has a negative impact on the community, especially for peasant and indigenous people. The program legalizes forceful grabbing of peasant's land under the guise of land conservation and enter into legal partnerships with Corporations thus handing out to them the task of forest conservation. Indonesia itself in 2016 received funding from the FIP program amounting to 17.5 million USD. This multi-faceted oppression of World Bank and IMF must be called out. We invite all social movements and civil society organizations to mobilize on the streets to resist this this neoliberal regime and help in building an alternative world; A WORLD BEYOND THE BANKS. Let us make ourselves heard in Bali between 8-14 October 2018. With this appeal, as La Via Campesina we hope to move together and move forward to demonstrate the power of organized people to defend our Food Sovereignty and promote social justice. ------------------------- _END WORLD BANK!_ _END IMF!_ _FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE NOW!_ ------------------------- Also Read: Global Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements - Call to Mobilise! [1] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/global-day-of-action-against-wto-and-free-trade…

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

06 Sep '18

La Via Campesina | e-newsletter | July- August 2018 Donate [1] This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide. To subscribe click here [2] GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS – CALL TO MOBILISE! _WTO and a host of __multilateral__ and bilateral Free Trade Agreements have created criminal levels of inequality: La Via Campesina_ Global bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are directly and indirectly promoting a host of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements have created a criminal level of inequality in this world, wherein according to reports, 82% of the world's wealth is now controlled by merely 1% of the people. Global Hunger is again on the rise, with peoples' food sovereignty under severe threat. Read more ... [3] FEATURED ARTICLES FROM JUNE 2018 MANAGUA DECLARATION: FROM THE MEETING OF THE BROADENED INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIVE ON ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE JUSTICE _"Workers and peasants of the land and water for Climate Justice"_ La Via Campesina, in representation of millions of peasant families, farm workers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, allies from social movements and academics, have met in Managua, Nicaragua, Central America from 24-27 August 2018, to deepen a strategy for environmental and climate justice. Read more ... [4] Peasant struggles against Neo-Liberalism to realize a 'WORLD BEYOND THE BANKS' La Via Campesina calls upon its members, allied social movements and civil society organizations in the world to gather and move to jointly build actions against the policies of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB), which is going to organize their "Annual Meetings IMF-WB 2018", in Bali-Indonesia on 8-14 October 2018. Read more ... [5] It is time to declare the food sovereignty of the citizens of Switzerland As the result of an impressive campaign led by the agricultural union Uniterre and members of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty, on September 23rd, 2018, Swiss citizens will be able to vote for the inclusion of food sovereignty in the Swiss constitution. Read more ... [6] LA VIA CAMPESINA CALLS FOR THE RELEASE OF THE DETAINEES OF HIRAK RIF AND ALL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS ACTIVISTS IN MOROCCO _Declaration_ Following the Popular march of Rabat of the 15th July, 2017, La Via Campesina supports the Vital Forces in Morocco and calls for the release of the detainees of Hirak RIF and all social movements activists, for the opening of an investigation on the torture and ill-treatment they suffered, and for accomplishing their demands. Read more ... [7] A week of hunger strike: The Federal Supreme Court is responsible for life of Brazilian militants Protesters alert the judges of the Supreme Court that their decisions may result in the salvation or death not only of the strikers, but of thousands of Brazilians. Read more ... [8] SPI extends solidarity to those affected by North Lombok Earthquake, Indonesia Last Sunday (July 29), the land of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) was rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.4 magnitude, causing severe damage and casualties. Several farmers, who are also members of the Indonesian Farmers' Union (SPI) in North Lombok are among the people affected. Read more ... [9] RCEP negotiation must stop, demands Assembly of the Poor, Thailand The administration of the military dictatorial government under the junta National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) creates immense hardship to the grassroots people. Read more ... [10] A HANDFUL OF COUNTRIES LEGITIMISING CLAIMS MADE BY AGRO-INDUSTRY, DIMINISHING THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE TO SEEDS _Convention on Biological Diversity - twenty-second meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical, and Technical Advice (SBSTTA) - Montréal, Canada, July 2nd-7th, 2018 _ Press Release from La Via Campesina Read more ... [11] RCEP will be disastrous for Indian dairy farmers and agriculture: La Via Campesia South Asia during Bangkok negotiations Kannaiyan Subramaniam, the General Secretary of South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM), a member of La Via Campesina South Asia, intervened during the 23rd RCEP negotiations held in BANGKOK on 23 July 2018. Here is the full text of his speech: Read more .... [12] "WE WANT ALL CHILDREN TO BE HAPPY AND FREE": LANDLESS KIDS' MANIFESTO Restating children's willingness to struggle and build the project for a People's Agrarian Reform, 1,200 children coming from several different camps and settlements across Brazil released the Landless Kids' Manifesto during their National Meeting held in Brasília, Brazil, which will take place until July 26th. Read more ... [13] To include food sovereignty in the Swiss constitution would be to recognise the real challenges and priorities for citizens: ECVC On 23 September, Swiss citizens will be able to vote to include an article on food sovereignty in the constitution. This crucial decision comes at a very particular moment when Europe, subjected violently to heat waves, drought, forest fires and lack of water, is recognising the intense consequences of climate change and the great fragility of industrial agricultural systems. Read more ... [14] MOBILISE FOR A UN DECLARATION, NOW IS THE TIME TO GLOBALISE OUR STRUGGLE! _Declaration on the Rights of Peasants awaiting final voting and adoption_ After ten long years of negotiations in Geneva, a 'United Nations Declaration on Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas' is now at the point of being finalised. Read more ... [15] Palestine: UAWC denounces the continuous attacks on Palestinian fisherfolks by naval forces of the Israeli Occupation Union of Agricultural Work Committees and Palestinian Peasants Movement denounced the continuous attacks of Israeli Occupation Naval forces against the Palestinian fishermen while fishing within the allowed fishing zone. Read more ... [16] NICARAGUAN WOMEN'S COOPERATIVE BUILDING SELF-SUFFICIENCY AND FOOD SOVEREIGNTY Over 30 La Via Campesina delegates and allies attending the face-to-face meeting of the international working collective on climate and environmental justice visited women's cooperative, Gloria Quintanilla in Santa Julia, Municipality El Crucero. Read more ... [17] ECVC analysis of the proposed regulation for the CAP 2021-2027 reform and the Strategic Plans For ECVC, the European Commission's CAP proposal, which is based on simplification and subsidiarity through the Strategic Plans and the new delivery model, entails a serious fragmentation of the policy. Read more ... [18] Kenya Should Ignore IMF Reform Package and Stop Repaying Debts The Kenyan Peasants League (KPL) a member of the La Via Campesina Southern and Eastern Africa (LVC SEAf) is concerned about the reform package being pushed down the throat of Kenyan government by the International Monetary Fund ... Read more ... [19] Gene Drive is a threat to people, country and even world's food sovereignty: La Via Campesina in Montreal Full text of the intervention made by Geneviève Lalumière of UNION PAYSANNE at the meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) ... Read more ... [20] The European Parliament demands that EU Members States vote in favour of the peasants' rights declaration On 3rd July, the EP adopted an important resolution on the rights violations, including land-grabbing, that indigenous peoples across the world suffer. Read more ... [21] South India Floods: Paddy farmers, plantations, poultry and dairy sector suffer severe losses Kerala, a Southern State in India, suffered devastating losses after torrential rains that lashed the state in three rounds, wreaked havoc all across. Over 320 people lost their lives ... Read more ... [22] La Via Campesina announces solidarity with hunger strikers and denounces institutional violence in Brazil Six members of La Via Campesina Brazil began an indefinite hunger strike on July 31 in front of the headquarters of the Supreme Federal Court (STF) of Brasilia to demand Lula's freedom and respect for democracy, ... Read more ... [23] Decision of the European Court of Justice on new GMOs: a historic victory for peasants and citizens of the EU Brussels, July 25th 2018 - The European Court of Justice has issued its decision on the legal status of new GMOs. Read more ... [24] Peasant Women in Korea denounce Smart Farm Policy, submit a charter of eight demands to President Moon Members of Korean Women Peasant Association mobilised in large numbers in Seoul to draw attention to rural agrarian crisis and a reform in the current agricultural policy. Read more ... [25] Peasants' Rights: South Asia Peasants, allies call upon States to support the UN Declaration The All Nepal Peasant Federation (ANPFa), member of La Via Campesina and among the largest peasant organisations in the Nepal, hosted a South Asian Consultation on the proposed UN Declaration to protect the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Read more ... [26] FEATURED VIDEOS [27] Understanding the issues at stake around the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants. Watch video [27] [28] Why is the proposed _UN Declaration for Rights of Peasants and Other People working in Rural Areas _important? In this video Henry Saragih of La Via Campesina explains the history and the importance of this proposed declaration and why is it important for members and allies to mobilise in support of it. Watch Video [29] YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE AUTONOMY OF OUR MOVEMENT ------------------------- As a supporter who has contributed financial resources to La Via Campesina, and as an activist who joins us on the streets and in the fields, your support is always welcome and put to good use. You can renew your contribution to La Via Campesina by clicking here [1]. [30] [31] Twitter [31] [32] Facebook [32] [33] Vimeo [33] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [2] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [2] Links: ------ [1] https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/viacampesina [2] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/global-day-of-action-against-wto-and-free-trade… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/managua-declaration-the-meeting-of-the-broadene… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-struggles-against-neo-liberalism-to-rea… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/it-is-time-to-declare-the-food-sovereignty-of-t… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-calls-for-the-release-of-the-d… [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/a-week-of-hunger-strike-the-federal-supreme-cou… [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/spi-extends-solidarity-to-those-affected-by-nor… [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-negotiation-must-stop-demands-assembly-of-… [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/a-handful-of-countries-legitimising-claims-made… [12] https://viacampesina.org/en/rcep-will-be-disastrous-for-indian-dairy-farmer… [13] https://viacampesina.org/en/we-want-all-children-to-be-happy-and-free-landl… [14] https://viacampesina.org/en/to-include-food-sovereignty-in-the-swiss-consti… [15] https://viacampesina.org/en/mobilise-for-a-un-declaration-now-is-the-time-t… [16] https://viacampesina.org/en/palestine-uawc-denounces-the-continuous-attacks… [17] https://viacampesina.org/en/nicaraguan-womens-cooperative-building-self-suf… [18] https://viacampesina.org/en/ecvc-analysis-of-the-proposed-regulation-for-th… [19] https://viacampesina.org/en/kenya-should-ignore-imf-reform-package-and-stop… [20] https://viacampesina.org/en/gene-drive-is-a-threat-to-people-country-and-ev… [21] https://viacampesina.org/en/the-european-parliament-demands-that-eu-members… [22] https://viacampesina.org/en/south-india-floods-paddy-farmers-plantations-po… [23] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-announces-solidarity-with-hung… [24] https://viacampesina.org/en/decision-of-the-european-court-of-justice-on-ne… [25] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasant-women-in-korea-denounce-smart-farm-poli… [26] https://viacampesina.org/en/peasants-rights-south-asia-peasants-allies-call… [27] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-d4zHxVREUQ [28] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/videos/1947578725312689/?t=1 [29] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/videos/1947578725312689/ [30] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/ [31] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina [32] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [33] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina

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

05 Sep '18

WTO AND A HOST OF MULTI-LATERAL AND BILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS HAVE CREATED CRIMINAL LEVELS OF INEQUALITY: LA VIA CAMPESINA ------------------------- 03 SEPTEMBER, HARARE:Global bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) that are directly and indirectly promoting a host of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements have created a criminal level of inequality in this world, wherein according to reports, 82% of the world's wealth is now controlled by merely 1% [1] of the people. Global Hunger is again on the rise [2], with peoples' food sovereignty under severe threat. This comes on the back of a seven-decade long persistent push for neo-liberal policies, which called for 'free market trade' regimes around the world. Privatisation and de-regulation that came about as the consequences of such a push has evidently made the rich richer, while poverty and world hunger continue to remain at staggeringly high levels. It is an unpardonable offense that brings into question the purpose of existence of these institutions and the Free Trade Agreements they promote. All that these agreements have ensured is the freedom for Multinational Corporations to dump cheap food into economically weaker countries, after having received heavy subsidies from their rich governments. Such dumping and a push for an industrial agricultural system has ended up treating food grains as a commodity for trade, as a commodity to be speculated upon - with peasants and family farmers unable to meet even the cost of cultivation. It has destroyed rural peasant communities, fishers and our peasant markets. Increased privatisation of services have increased the cost of living, while income levels of peasant households have plunged. The resulting debt has pushed millions of peasants households into deep debt. This industrial system of agriculture promoted by the criminal trio of WTO, World Bank and IMF, has led to consolidation and control of the global food chain into the hands of a few agribusiness corporations, while creating devastating impact for the planet, its people and all the living species. ———EDUCATE, AGITATE, ORGANISE!———– It was to highlight this extreme violation of the rural side, that on 10 September 2003, Lee Kyung Hae - a rice farmer from South Korea and a leader of our peasant movement - took his own life outside the Ministerial meeting of WTO in Cancun, Mexico. While sacrificing his life to expose the crimes of WTO and Free Trade Agreements, Lee was holding a placard that read "WTO Kills Farmers". Since that day, we have come to mark 10 September as the Global Day of Action Against WTO and Free Trade Agreements, mobilising our peasant members against the assault of global capital and free market regimes. We have denounced WTO at all the ministerial meetings held ever since through direct actions. This year too, we will continue the resistance. Several multi-lateral and bilateral agreements such as RCEP, CPTPP, EU-Mercosur, CETA and more are being frantically negotiated by countries and global bodies behind closed doors, with no respect to democracy and national sovereignty. In the run up to September 10, we call upon all our members, allies, supporters in the cities and the country sides and all friends to organise marches, public meetings and rural actions that will continue to denounce the existence of WTO, World Bank, IMF as well as expose the details of these agreements that threaten to take away people's food sovereignty and allow expansion of markets for multinational agribusinesses. Let us all, in our own decentralised and diverse ways of struggle, echo the call Lee Kyung Hae gave us -_"WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS KILLS PEASANTS"._ La Via Campesina will also soon be announcing a massive mobilisation effort against criminal trio of World Bank, IMF and WTO. We urge every member to stay together and show the power of people's resistance. _Onward, now!_ WTO KILLS PEASANTS! TAKE AGRICULTURE OUT OF ALL FREE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS! WE WANT FOOD SOVEREIGNTY, NOT FREE TRADE! ------------------------- VISIBILISE OUR STRUGGLES Please send the details of your planned actions to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org or share it on Whatsapp and Telegram with Nyoni/Abhilash - < +263 772 441 909 or +91 9717250202> You can also tag the official pages of La Via Campesina on Facebook and Twitter Facebook: www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [3] Twitter: https://twitter.com/via_campesina Hashtags: EN > #WTOKILLS #FOODSOVEREIGNTY ES> #OMCMata #SoberaniaAlimentariaYa FR> #OMCtue #SouverainetéAlimentaire TO DOWNLOAD POSTERS, FACEBOOK AND TWITTER BANNERS OR CREATE A CUSTOMISED POSTER CLICK HERE [4] ------------------------- Links: ------ [1] https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/22/wef-18-oxfam-says-worlds-richest-1-percent-… [2] http://www.who.int/news-room/detail/15-09-2017-world-hunger-again-on-the-ri… [3] http://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/E4ytb6azGxZr63w

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[Info EN] Mobilise for a UN Declaration, Now is the time to Globalise Our Struggle!
by La Via Campesina 16 Aug '18

16 Aug '18

MOBILISE FOR A UN DECLARATION, NOW IS THE TIME TO GLOBALISE OUR STRUGGLE! DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF PEASANTS AWAITING FINAL VOTING AND ADOPTION After ten long years of negotiations in Geneva, a 'United Nations Declaration on Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural Areas' is now at the point of being finalised. The draft text of the declaration, was discussed during the Fifth Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIWG) session between the 9th and the 13th of April 2018 at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). According to the Chair-Rapporteur of the session, "States commit the highest relevance and political will for the prompt adoption of the draft United Nations declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas". The Chair also stated that, "On the basis of the work carried on in the fifth session and informal and bilateral consultations, a final version of the draft declaration [will] be prepared by the Chair-Rapporteur and [will] be submitted to the Human Rights Council for its adoption". Later this year at the September session of UN HRC, countries will vote to adopt the text. Thereafter, the text will be tabled for final voting and adoption at the UN General Assembly. TIME TO MOBILISE! Today over 1.2 billion peasants and their families, representing a third of the global population, face increasing violation of their rights - in the form of evictions from their lands and territories, unfavourable production and market policies, poor working conditions, ongoing criminalisation and killings, among others. This is a highly disturbing situation. Peasants and other people working in rural areas are key to achieving food security and food sovereignty, realising the right to food, fighting climate change, conserving biodiversity and revitalising rural areas. This declaration will set a new standard for human rights. It promotes food sovereignty and supports the development and implementation of socio-economic policies that improve our food and agriculture system. It will also pave the way for the creation of public policies in favour of peasants and rural workers in countries where such policies do not exist. The UN Declaration will become a credible reference to improve existing policies further and give millions of rural peasant communities and workers an international voice. It is therefore important to pressurise our governments to vote in favour of the final text of the declaration at the next session of the UN Human Rights Council in September 2018 and during the UN General Assemblyin New York. In this context, La Via Campesina - a global movement of peasants, indigenous people, landless people, agricultural workers, women, and young people - is calling upon all our members and allies to mobilise and reach out to the respective governments, demand and convince them to vote in favour of this initiative that upholds humanity. We encourage everyone to create decentralised strategies to take the message of the Declaration to rural communities. VISIBILISE OUR ACTIONS! Send us the details of your mobilisations to LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG and also spread the message wider on social media platforms. This is our chance to make ourselves heard, loud and clear! * DOWNLOAD POSTERS AND BANNERS FROM THIS LINK [1] * HASHTAG FOR TWITTER AND FACEBOOK #PeasantsRightsNow #LaViaCampesina SEND PHOTOS/VIDEOS OF YOUR MOBILISATION TO Email: lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org | Telegram/Whatsapp: Nyoni/Andres - +263 772 441 909 and +32 489 55 22 97 ------------------------- GLOBALISE THE STRUGGLE! GLOBALISE HOPE! PEASANTS RIGHTS NOW! Links: ------ [1] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/DeaXN6g8eDL4ncn

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