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Press Release | WTO, MC12: La Via Campesina calls on States to exit the WTO and create a new framework based on food sovereignty
by La Via Campesina 15 Jun '22

15 Jun '22

LA VIA CAMPESINA CALLS ON STATES TO EXIT THE WTO AND TO CREATE A NEW FRAMEWORK BASED ON FOOD SOVEREIGNTY Press Release | 15 June 2022, Geneva | Also available in Spanish [1] and French [2] La Via Campesina, the global peasant movement representing the voices of more than 200 million small-scale peasants from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, has been mobilizing all week against the WTO [3]. The food crisis that is currently hitting the world is further proof that free trade - far from bringing about food security - is making people starve. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has once again failed to offer a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes. For more than eight years, rich countries have been blocking concrete proposals from African and Asian members of the G33 in this regard. JEONGYEOL KIM, from the Korean Women Peasant's Association and an ICC member of La Via Campesina, points out that: _"Free Trade Fuels Hunger. After 27 years under the rule of the WTO, this conclusion is clear. It is time to keep agriculture out of all Free Trade Agreements. The pandemic, and the shock and disruptions induced by war have made it clear that we need a local and national food governance system based on people, not agribusinesses. A system that is built on principles of solidarity and cooperation rather than competition, coercion, and geopolitical agendas."_ BURRY TUNKARA, from the Gambian Organization of Small-scale Farmers, Fishermen and Foresters and one of the main youth leaders of La Via Campesina, echoes the same sentiment in this testimony: _"The WTO only defends the rich and their commercial interests. It is a tool of neo-colonialism. It only serves the interests of multinationals to find new markets and cheaper labour. It's time to stop that!"_ The socio-economic agenda of the poorest and low-income countries is not a priority for the WTO. The proof: its inability to provide a safeguard mechanism against the "dumping" of rich countries and its approach to fisheries subsidies to the detriment of small-scale fisherfolk. There is no point in trying to reform an institution built to favour the business interests of a handful of multinational corporations. PERLA ÁLVAREZ from Paraguay, and member of the Latin American Coordination of La Via Campesina (CLOC) stated that a systemic change is urgent and necessary: _"The global food crisis is our moment of reckoning. There is no place for a 'business as usual' approach here. We are presenting short-term and long-term proposals that can radically shift the way in which trade affects farming communities around the world."_ TODAY, June 15, from Geneva, while the WTO Ministerial Conference has once again betrayed the expectations of the populations that have been most affected by the food crisis, WE, LA VIA CAMPESINA, SHARE OUR PROPOSALS; La Via Campesina calls on all national governments to rebuild public stocks and to support the creation of food reserves at the community level with local products from agroecological practices. LVC also called on all governments to put in place the anti-dumping legislation necessary to prevent exporters from destroying local markets. YUDHVIR SINGH of the Bhartiya Kisan Union, one of the unions that spearheaded the historic mobilization of Indian peasants in 2021, shared his country's experience with public food stocks: _"Peasants need strong public policies, such as minimum prices and public stock, to continue to make a decent living by producing food. The WTO's attacks against our model of market regulation are extremely dangerous. The G33 must continue to resist and build based on the aspirations and hopes of small-scale producers."_ La Via Campesina has called for an immediate suspension of all existing WTO rules that prevent countries from developing public food stocks and regulating market and prices. Governments should have the right to use self-selected internal criteria to protect and promote their food sovereignty. Each country should be able to develop its own agricultural and food policy and protect the interests of its peasants, without harming other countries. The use of agricultural products for agro-fuels should be prohibited. La Via Campesina has also called for a halt in speculation. _"Agrarian Reform is necessary to build food sovereignty," added ZAINAL ARIFIN FUAT of Serikat Petani Indonesia and member of LVC's International Coordination Committee. "Governments must put an end to grabbing water, seeds and land by transnational corporations and ensure small-scale producers fair rights over common resources."_ We, La Via Campesina, insist that within the framework of the pandemic and the global supply crisis, governments should prioritize local markets. MORGAN ODY, peasant in Brittany, France, and general coordinator of La Via Campesina, stated on behalf of the global peasant movement: _"The World Trade Organization is a failed project. Our global peasant movement calls on all States, especially those in the South, to leave the WTO immediately. We must create a new international framework for agriculture and trade based on food sovereignty. Only then can we defend the interests of small-scale food producers."_ ------------------------- For queries, write to PRESS(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG | PRESS KIT: HTTPS://LINKTR.EE/LAVIACAMPESINA ------------------------- NOTE: La Via Campesina counts 181 peasant organisations in over 80 countries as its members. The global peasant network and its allies led the negotiations in the UN for 17 years, resulting in the United Nations adopting a UN Declaration for Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) in 2018. Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/es/la-via-campesina-pide-a-los-estados-salir-de-la… [2] https://viacampesina.org/fr/la-via-campesina-appelle-les-etats-a-sortir-de-… [3] https://twitter.com/via_campesina/status/1532267751938883585?s=20&t=nEA…

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WTO Ministerial in June, Geneva | Call for Mobilisation
by La Via Campesina 07 Jun '22

07 Jun '22

Since the creation of the WTO in 1995, La Via Campesina has been denouncing the neoliberal and free trade policies that are destroying the peasantry and destabilising local food systems worldwide. From Seattle (1999) to Cancun (2003), from Hong Kong (2005) to Buenos Aires (2017), we have been fighting against the imposition of a free trade order in the service of big business and billionaires. On the 10th of September 2003, while protesting outside the WTO ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, peasant from KPL -South Korea Mr. Lee Kyung-Hae sacrificed his life by stabbing himself. That tragic incident exposed the destructive effects of WTO and its trade liberalisation efforts on the lives of millions of peasants globally. Our mobilisations have made it possible to block the free trade negotiations. After our big mobilization in Hongkong 2005, the Doha Development Agenda which started in 2001 has been in limbo and there are no new major WTO agreements ever been adopted, especially in agriculture. However, The WTO was established based on the Marrakesh agreement in 1994; it still forces countries to open their markets to multinational companies and prevents the implementation of ambitious public policies in favour of peasants' economy. Moreover, bilateral and regional free trade agreements have only multiplied. Neoliberal policies and the imposition of free trade have greatly weakened peasantry around the world. They push countries to give priority to export crops and to depend on imports to feed their populations. They increase the grabbing of resources by multinationals, to the detriment of peasants and local communities. They contribute to the exacerbation of climate crisis by fostering monoculture plantations, deforestations, overexploitation of soils and water and dwindling our biodiversity. Today, with the pandemic of COVID-19, with the extreme events linked to global warming and with the war in Ukraine and other places, it is clear that making people's food security dependent on international trade and TNCs is criminal. This must stop. The WTO must get out of agriculture. Food sovereignty must be the basis of agricultural and food policies in each country and at the international level. >From the 13-15 June 2022, the WTO ministerial Conference will take place in Geneva. The WTO is struggling to seek relevance again in a world battered by inequality, hunger, extreme poverty, wars and a once-in-a-century pandemic. ------------------------- La Via Campesina calls on civil society to mobilise to denounce this organisation and defend people's food sovereignty. We will be in Geneva during the week holding a series of public mobilisations that will bring the voices of the rural territories right to the doorstep of the Ministerial venue. LA VIA CAMPESINA IS ALSO CALLING UPON ALL OUR MEMBERS AND ALLIES TO ORGANISE PUBLIC MEETINGS, CONFERENCES, DEMONSTRATIONS, FAIR, ISSUE PUBLIC STATEMENTS AND PRESS RELEASES – BETWEEN THE 10TH AND THE 15TH OF JUNE – AND EXPOSE THE IMPACT OF FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS AND WTO POLICIES ON RURAL AND URBAN SMALL-SCALE FOOD PRODUCERS.Tag us on Facebook [1] , Twitter [2] or Instagram [3] OUR SLOGAN: Free Trade Fuels Hunger, WTO out of Agriculture! HASHTAGS: #FreeTradeFuelsHunger #EndWTO DOWNLOAD COMMUNICATION MATERIALS HERE [4] DOWNLOAD THE PRESS INVITE ------------------------- _ALSO READ WHAT ARE OUR KEY ARGUMENTS AND PROPOSALS [5]?_ ------------------------- We have reiterated in our International Day of Action against WTO and Free Trade Agreements [6] that for us- the global peasant movement of peasants, indigenous people, farm-workers, migrants, fishers and pastoralists - the only permanent solution that we have historically advocated for is that WTO and FTAs stay out of any agricultural discussions. Food cannot be subjected to the whims and fancies of a free market where only those who can afford it can eat it. ------------------------- _ALSO READ "PROSPERITY FOR A FEW, POVERTY FOR THE LOT", WTO AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS HAVE FAILED THE PEOPLE! [7]_ ------------------------- The UN Human Rights Council will also meet at the end of June in Geneva. This will be an opportunity for peasant movements from all over the world to affirm that the alternative must be based on peasants' rights and to demand procedures for the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other Rural Workers (UNDROP). FREE TRADE FUELS HUNGER! WTO OUT OF AGRICULTURE! Links: ------ [1] http://facebook.com/ViaCampesinaOfficial [2] http://twitter.com/via_campesina [3] http://instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/qcq5m3acWSkN7Ef [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/06/LVC-Slogan-A… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/freedom-from-hunger-poverty-debt-and-death-free… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/prosperity-for-a-few-poverty-for-the-lot-wto-an…

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La Via Campesina Political Declaration: 30 years of collective struggle, hope and solidarity
by La Via Campesina 15 Apr '22

15 Apr '22

LA VIA CAMPESINA POLITICAL DECLARATION: 30 YEARS OF COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE, HOPE AND SOLIDARITY 15 APRIL 2022 FOOD SOVEREIGNTY [1], KEY DOCUMENTS (FOOD SOVEREIGNTY) [2], WHAT ARE WE FIGHTING FOR? [3] This 17th April, the International Day of Action for Peasant Struggles, we commemorate the 26 years of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre of peasants in Brazil and resist the criminalization, oppression and repression of our struggles for life. On this day, we also commence a moment to celebrate 30 years of building collective struggles, hope and solidarity in service of humanity. We, La Via Campesina, the international peasant voice of the millions of peasants, women and men, youth, small and medium-size farmers, family farmers, landless, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from 182 local and national organisations in 81 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas refuse to disappear but continue grow in strength. Through persistence, perseverance and hope, we have harvested major victories: food sovereignty recognised and adopted by some countries, agroecology recognised and supported by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and Other People working in the Rural Areas (UNDROP) adopted by UN General Assembly. We continue to occupy important multilateral spaces of global food governance to influence debate and contribute in support of food sovereignty, agroecology and popular agrarian reform. We are alert to the current global context and the need to strengthen our struggle. The worsening geopolitical conflict as the liberal international order led by US collapses, the imperialist offensive against the masses and criminalisation of social movements. The corporate media are increasingly involved in the violation of democratic systems and human rights through censorship and surveillance. Big corporations recently joined forces to capture of global multilateral food governance and climate change spaces in the United Nations. The ongoing conflicts and wars in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe. The worsening climate crisis and health crisis due to COVID-19. All these have aggravated the suffering. Thus, we witness record high levels of poverty, hunger and inequalities globally and increased criminalisation for demanding social justice and dignity. Thus, millions of people are forced to abandon their territories and migrate to other countries, where some face more injustices. We reject this neoliberal model that runs counter to our collective vision of harmony with nature, unity and peace. We affirm our commitment to continue to build democratic societies against imperialism. Over the last 30 years, together with our allies, we have been collectively building hope and solidarity through food sovereignty putting humanity, Mother Earth and social justice at the centre. We stand firm in internationalist solidarity with all who struggle for life, rights and dignity. Last year, in 2021, we celebrated a quarter century of building of and pushing for food sovereignty and also initiated debate to critically reflect on our achievements, victories and propose actions for the future including participating in the Global Nyeleni Forum planned in 2023. WHAT DO WE NEED FROM GOVERNMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS TO CONTINUE FEEDING THE WORLD? * Implement a democratic and extensive agrarian reform which allows the peoples to have sovereignty over their natural resources and over their food on both the production and the distribution processes. * Recognize the work we are already doing and promote successful examples of our ability to feed people. While we produce and exchange the majority of the world's food, our markets are largely ignored in policy of governments and institutions. Trade is needed but a different kind, which does not exploit people, nature and benefits communities and not corporations. * Scale out and up Peasant Agroecology as a solution to climate crisis, loss of biodiversity and soil fertility. Due to unsustainable industrial agricultural practices, we see a unique opportunity for agroecology as many countries want to transition to "sustainable farming methods" and reduce use of toxic agro-inputs. * Implement UNDROP through creating a UN special procedure and mainstreaming the declaration in FAO, other Rome-based agencies in relation to food and agricultural policies, and also the UN Decade of Family Farming. This would allow referencing of UNDROP in policies to reshape and transform our societies. HOW DO WE ADVANCE OUR STRUGGLES FROM LA VIA CAMPESINA? * Roll out massive training and awareness, among members, on UNDROP so that they lead the wide promotion of essential components of public policies in their countries in favour food sovereignty, agroecology and the recognition and respect of rights of peasants. * Build and strengthen diversity and inclusiveness against violence and oppression. Embracing diversity is key to _"Building the Movement to change the world". _Today our movement the youth, women, cultural and gender diversities (LGBTQI) are the majority and in leadership. * Build Peasant and Popular Feminism to define and shape gender relations in our movement, and as a political tool against all forms of violence. * Strengthen the Migrant and Waged Agricultural Workers' Collective as a space to increase visibility to their issues. * Advance work against the impunity of transnational corporations (TNCs) and contribute to the binding treaty process to regulate TNCs * To understand the complex and fluid world and adapt our strategies, we are: - Building new alliances and strengthening the existing ones to learn and share experiences through collective analysis and formation, and defend a future based on food sovereignty. -Increasing and strengthening political and technical formation. We will promote popular peasant methods and technologies that engage women and youth in the defense of rural livelihoods. Again, we should master new ways of communication in service of humanity to reach many people defending their rights and in support of food sovereignty. #LVC30YEARS #17APRIL2022 _#NoFutureWithoutFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereigntyNOW_ EN-Final-April-17th-Declaration-14-04-2022-1 [4]DOWNLOAD [4] Facebook [5]Twitter [6]WhatsApp [7]Telegram [8]Email [9] Featured [10] LVC30Years [11] Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-t… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/food-sovereignty-and-t… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/what-are-we-fighting-for/ [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/04/EN-Final-Apr… [5] https://viacampesina.org/#facebook [6] https://viacampesina.org/#twitter [7] https://viacampesina.org/#whatsapp [8] https://viacampesina.org/#telegram [9] https://viacampesina.org/#email [10] https://viacampesina.org/en/tag/zoom-on-featured/ [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/tag/lvc30years/

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Call for Global Solidarity Actions | #17April2022 | International Day of Peasant Struggles
by La Via Campesina 01 Apr '22

01 Apr '22

THIRTY YEARS OF OUR COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE, PEACE, LIFE AND DIGNITY! CALL FOR GLOBAL SOLIDARITY ACTIONS | BAGNOLET | 01 APRIL 2022 [2] ------------------------- 17 April is the International Day of Peasant Struggles, commemorated by La Via Campesina every year to remember the Eldorado do Carajás massacre [3] in 1996 and to highlight the continued criminalization, oppression and repression of peasants, workers, and indigenous people communities worldwide. This year also marks a special milestone in the life of La Via Campesina. We are entering the fourth decade of our collective struggles for food sovereignty, popular agrarian reform and dignity. Peasant and indigenous peoples' organizations sowed the first seeds of the global movement at a gathering in Managua in 1992. La Via Campesina took its formal birth in 1993 at the first international conference in Mons, Belgium. The world is in a difficult place at the moment. The food crisis continues to deepen while hunger and social injustices worsen each day, further aggravated by a COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflicts, wars, and financial speculations. It highlights the absolute failure of the transnational capital and agribusiness system enabled by free trade agreements and industrialized monoculture soaked in toxic agro-inputs. This industrial system displaces peasants and degrades the environment and productive resources while supplying our countries with expensive, imported and unhealthy foods. Rising global food prices and costs of farm inputs push peasant communities everywhere deeper into hunger, poverty and debt. We, La Via Campesina - the peasants, indigenous peoples, rural populations, agricultural workers, and youth in urban and rural areas, propose and promote Food Sovereignty as a solution to build the national productive capacity. Food Sovereignty is a principle rooted in the peasant and family farm sector through supportive public policies, guaranteed prices, credits, and other support forms--including direct marketing between producers and consumers and genuine agrarian reform. _Peasant Agroecology and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in the Rural Areas (UNDROP) are tools to build better societies with justice. _Our local food production, self-determination with dignity, peace, feminism, and people's sovereignty are possible only with these tools. There is no future without food sovereignty! THIS 17 APRIL, AS WE ARE LAUNCHING OUR THIRTY-YEAR CELEBRATIONS, LET US MAKE THIS MOMENT TO REMIND AND TAKE PRIDE IN THE LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY THUS FAR. On this road to justice, we have also lost our people to repression and criminalization. It is essential to keep alive their memories, struggle for their freedom and highlight the victories inspired by our historical struggles. NOW IS THE TIME TO GIVE VISIBILITY TO THE TRIUMPHS, THE SACRIFICES, THE ALTERNATIVES, THE BIG AND SMALL TRANSFORMATIONS THAT WE AFFECTED AND HOW WE GREW TO BE PRESENT AND ORGANIZED IN 81 COUNTRIES. It is time to advance our #25YearsOfFoodSovereignty struggles and convince the people, governments and policymakers how this vision can solve the multiple crises and build better and healthier societies with justice, dignity, peace, and people's sovereignty. ------------------------- MOBILIZATION PLANS, STARTING FROM APRIL 2022: * MAIN SLOGAN:_ 30 years of collective struggle, hope and solidarity._ * MAIN HASHTAGS: * #LVC30YEARS #17APRIL2022 * _#NoFutureWithoutFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereigntyNOW_ * OFFICIAL POSTER: La Via Campesina has released an Official Poster for all our members and allies to mark our 30th anniversary. DOWNLOAD THE FILES HERE [4] * UNIFYING ACTION IN APRIL: Throughout April, we call upon all our members and allies to PLANT NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS TREES in your farm, neighbourhood, backyard or garden - as a symbol of our collective existence, persistence and resistance. > * Do share the details of the trees you plant and the images/video messages on social media with the hashtag #LVC30YEARS and tag La Via Campesina on Facebook (@ViaCampesinaOfficial), Twitter (@via_campesina) and Instagram (@la_via_campesina_official). * SEEDS FAIRS AND MORE: Starting 17 April and through the next 18 months, we encourage all our members and allies everywhere to hold events, food donations, workshops, seed fairs, film festivals, music festivals that promote Food Sovereignty, Solidarity and Peasant Feminism. > * You can email the schedule of these local events to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org, and we will plot it on a global map of events. Please mention the title of the event, location/date/time, event banner and contact details of the organizers. Alternatively, you can also add the information to this ONLINE FORM [1]. * PREMIERE OF FOOD SOVEREIGNTY ANIMATION FILM: La Via Campesina will also release a short animation film on Food Sovereignty on 17 April 2022, premiere on the official Facebook page [5] in English, Spanish and French. We encourage all our members to save the date, watch this film together, share it widely and spread the message of Food Sovereignty. * USE OUR TRAINING MODULES: La Via Campesina has already launched a series of training kits on UNDROP [6], Peasant Seeds [7] and Peasant Feminism [8]. There are also a SET OF POSTCARDS [9] that define the different elements of our struggle for Food Sovereignty. We encourage all our members and allies to use these materials and adapt, translate, and disseminate them among all movement members. * VIDEO LIBRARY: Visit La Via Campesina's VIDEO ARCHIVES ON VIMEO [10], curate your collections and screen local film festivals to spread the message of agroecology and food sovereignty. * REGIONAL ACTIONS AND AMPLIFICATION: La Via Campesina also encourages all our members and regional secretariats to use the national and regional social media pages, instant messaging groups, blogs and websites to highlight the history of struggles in each region. * BLANK VERSION OF POSTERS: We are also RELEASING BLANK VERSIONS OF POPULAR POSTERS FROM THE PAST [11] that members and allies could re-use if they wish to during these celebrations. ------------------------- _30 YEARS OF COLLECTIVE STRUGGLE, HOPE AND SOLIDARITY – VIVA LA VIA CAMPESINA! _ #LVC30Years #17April2022 _#NoFutureWithoutFoodSovereignty #FoodSovereigntyNOW_ ------------------------- _ _ Links: ------ [1] https://forms.gle/Ae5jnLxK6fpaR1sbA [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/thirty-years-of-our-collective-struggle-for-jus… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/massacre-at-eldorado-do-carajas-24-years-ago-a-… [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/xKo729tfezAdYKd [5] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/ [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/training-modules-un-declaration-on-rights-of-pe… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/tag/lvc-seed-modules/ [8] https://viacampesina.org/en/graphic-book-the-path-of-peasant-and-popular-fe… [9] https://viacampesina.org/en/the-1996-rome-food-sovereignty-declaration-in-p… [10] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina [11] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/sfz9HzR7fNdNmFr

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Small-scale fishers: Struggles and Mobilizations | Nyeleni Newsletter
by La Via Campesina 21 Mar '22

21 Mar '22

The United Nations has declared 2022 as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022) to highlight the importance of artisanal fishing and aquaculture. Over the past ten years, and even more so since the pandemic, blue economy initiatives have been blooming. The 2021 UN Food Systems Summit advanced the notion of "Blue Foods", which first and foremost means aquaculture. In 2021, the FAO Committee on Fisheries took unprecedented steps to advance aquaculture, giving birth to the "Shanghai Declaration [1]" drafted by WorldFish, industry players, and other stakeholders. IYAFA is now also showcasing artisanal fishing. Some prefer the term small-scale fishing, but regardless of the term used, it is always about the way of life that provides food and income for over a hundred million people globally. However, fisher people's territories and resources are increasingly being grabbed: the entire blue economy agenda spanning from displacing people in the name of conservation (Marine Protected Areas -MPAs), to massive-scale investments for fish farming, to expanding ports to facilitate more global trade, and to unprecedented sound blasting and drilling for oil and gas, are examples of contemporary development that have and continue to dispossess fishing communities. We hope IYAFA will become the year for fisher people all over the world to scale up resistance and mobilise masses in demands for restitution and regeneration of nature. Download the EN newsletter [2] Links: ------ [1] https://aquaculture2020.org/declaration/ [2] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=174

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Colombia Peace Agreement Monitor | Newsletter #5
by La Via Campesina 17 Dec '21

17 Dec '21

*|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|* This newsletter is the result of La Via Campesina's collective effort to make visible and accompany the implementation of the Peace Accords in Colombia. To subscribe click here [1] SNAIL PACE OF PEACE: "AT THIS RATE, IT WILL TAKE 26 YEARS TO REALISE THE COLOMBIAN PEACE ACCORD" Three years ago, Ivan Duque came to the presidency as a candidate for a party promising to "tear to shreds" the Peace Agreement. The sentences of the Constitutional Court, the pressure from the international community and the citizen mobilization prevented the president and the government party from dismantling the Accord, yet Duque's mandate delayed the implementation process and led the country in a serious security crisis. read the full press release [2] of La Vía Campesina. HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION IN COLOMBIA CONTINUES TO RISE Political violence in Colombia is a persistent phenomenon despite the Peace Agreement. The assassination of community leaders, ex-combatants and their relatives continues to increase, as well as the various forms of human rights violations suffered by peasant, indigenous communities, and afro-descendants during the territorial reconfiguration of the armed conflict. READ MORE... [3] COLOMBIA: MILLIONS FORCED TO MIGRATE DUE TO CONFLICTS, AND THREATS FROM MINING FIRMS Considerable forms of violence have been suffered by rural communities in the context of the armed conflict, one of the most serious being the forced displacement by stripping peasant communities, indigenous people, and Afro-descendants of a fundamental element of their identity and their existence: the land. This phenomenon, causing 8 million victims during the whole armed conflict, has not stopped with the signing of the Peace Agreement, on the contrary, it continues to rise. READ MORE... [4] COLOMBIA PEACE AGREEMENT: GENDER JUSTICE MARRED BY LACK OF POLITICAL WILL In Colombia, there are over 6 million rural women, many of whom have had limited access to land due to conflict and structural policies that have historically concentrated the property of land in the hands of men. The signing of the Peace Agreement raised hopes to make this situation change, yet nothing is being accomplished. READ MORE... [5] COLOMBIA: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NATIONAL STRIKE What initially was a call to protest the regressive Tributary Reform presented by the Duque government, has turned into a social explosion triggered by the upsurge in violence, the assassination of community leaders, the government's failings regarding the Peace Agreement, increased poverty, precarious working conditions, and measures adopted by the government to deal with the crisis generated by the pandemic. READ MORE... [6] COLOMBIA: DESPITE ATTEMPTS TO CURB IT, THE PROCESS OF FINDING THE TRUTH MOVES FORWARD The truth is an indispensable element in peace and reconciliation processes. Its importance remains in the need for the creation of a collective memory, the fight against oblivion and the guaranteeing of the rights of victims and society to know what happened in the context of the armed conflict. The process of obtaining truth, justice and reparation in Colombia is progressing little by little, despite attempts by the far right to curb it. READ MORE... [7] [8] Omar Moreno, life and peasant struggle [9] HYMN OF THE INDIGENOUS GUARD 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 [10]. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] To unsubscribe from the distribution list click here [1] For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG WEBSITE: www.viacampesina.org [16] TV: www.tv.viacampesina.org [17] To subscribe to this newsletter - Click Here [1] Links: ------ [1] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/snail-pace-of-peace-at-this-rate-it-will-take-2… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/human-rights-violation-in-colombia-continues-to… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-millions-forced-to-migrate-due-to-conf… [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-peace-agreement-gender-justice-marred-… [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/socia-l-organizations-denounce-limitations-on-p… [7] https://viacampesina.org/en/colombia-despite-attempts-to-curb-it-the-proces… [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhOgyaHgiJc [9] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwR6VgQ1mOE [10] https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/viacampesina [11] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/ [12] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL [13] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina [14] https://www.instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official/ [15] https://viacampesina.org/ [16] http://www.viacampesina.org [17] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org

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Training Modules: UN Declaration on Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP)
by La Via Campesina 17 Dec '21

17 Dec '21

On the third anniversary of the formal adoption of the UN Declaration on Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP), La Via Campesina and FIAN International are launching the first booklet in a five-part training kit of popular education materials. ------------------------- STRENGTHENING THE IMPLEMENTATION, ASSERTION AND ADVANCEMENT OF PEASANT RIGHTS This 17 December, we celebrate the third anniversary of the international recognition of the human rights of peasants and other people in rural areas. In 2018, on this day, the UN General Assembly had adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) [1]. The backdrop to this anniversary is undoubtedly bleak. Big businesses continue to violate, with impunity, the rights of peasants and other rural people. Any form of resistance or advocacy to protect these rights is met with blatant criminalizationcriminalization of the social movements leading it. This past year, agribusiness corporations also persisted with their false solutions and Big Tech Reforms in agriculture, despite the worsening COVID-19 pandemic and climate crises. Working hand in glove with the UN Secretary-General, the World Economic Forum, and mega-philanthropies, Transnational Corporations continued to champion an agribusiness free-market narrative at several global policy spaces. The latest in this series is the UN Food System Summit (UNFSS), held in September 2021 and marred by opaqueness and exclusionary processes [2]. UNFSS outcomes are attempting to shape international narratives and policies on responding to the multiple crises facing humanity and Mother Earth. Recently, COP26 saw the announcement of many public-private partnerships pledging to fast-track agriculture innovation, financed by the same agribusiness corporations that promoted the Green Revolution, and now masquerading many of their practices under the garb of 'climate-smart agriculture. And these are not disparate events but an inter-connected attempt, to preserve the dominance of translational agribusiness firms. In many ways, what big corporates have been brewing in Davos [3] over the years as the "template" of a digitalized, high tech future food system [4] became a reality at the UNFSS. All these recent events and actions indicate that we will continue to witness even more concentration of resources, productive chains and infrastructure among a few corporations. Democratic governance spaces will shrink further [5], and violate the rights of peasants and workers will worsen. But what gives hope is also the emergence of organized resistance from affected communities. There is a growing recognition among people that these violations are being carried out with impunity and often in connivance with the local authorities and officials. We cannot discount the relevance and significance of the UN Declaration (UNDROP) in this context. It is a fantastic tool to shield us from profit-driven corporate agenda and roll back the tide of neoliberalism. These training modules offer a practical tool to initiate transformation and take our power back from transnational agribusinesses. The UNDROP Introductory Booklet is the first in a five-part toolkit of popular education materials. [6]It is crucial to reconnect the UNDROP to the small-scale food producers worldwide - the same people who inspired its content, who worked on its development and whose Rights to dignified lives and livelihoods continues to be violated. This training toolkit will help us to effectively use the UNDROP in our struggles to assert and advance our collective and individual rights. The purpose of this toolkit is to create broader awareness, promote deeper understanding and enhance capacities (through training) of rural people's movements. We should use this booklet as a foundational tool to ensure that the UNDROP will be respected, implemented and promoted at all levels, from local to international, from community customs to policymaking mechanisms. This popular education toolkit is context-based and will empower peasants to improve their livelihoods in rural areas. It will reinforce food sovereignty and agroecology, strengthen the fight against climate change. It recognizes peasants' rights to conserve, use, exchange and sell their seeds. It defends people's right to protect blatant attempts to grab land, rivers and oceans. In short, using this toolkit will bring UNDROP to life, turning it into an effective tool for our struggles. It is crucial that working-class people, rights holders, peasants, and people living or working in rural areas incorporate the UNDROP in their daily struggles and understand how their rights are violated. To achieve this, the Basic Booklet and the forthcoming four Thematic Booklets have focused on specific articles adopted in UNDROP and how affected people can apply it in legal and advocacy spaces. All peasants must understand their rights for the implementation to be effective, so these booklets are part of a crucial popular education campaign. For La Via Campesina, the adoption of this Declaration by the UN in December 2018 was only a battle half won. It is now crucial to see this Declaration fully implemented in letter and spirit in every country, everywhere. UNDROP can help us overcome structural discrimination and violence and promote our rural ways of life to respond to the current political, economic, social and ecological crises._ _Let's mobilize ourselves with this toolkit to implement our UNDROP! Globalise the Struggle, Globalise Hope! DOWNLOAD NOW Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/finally-un-general-assembly-adopts-peasant-righ… [2] https://viacampesina.org/en/position-paper-a-summit-under-siege-corporate-c… [3] https://www3.weforum.org/docs/IP/2016/NVA/NVAGuidetoCountryLevelAction.pdf [4] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/the-time-to-reinstate-food-systems-i… [5] https://www.tni.org/es/node/22742 [6] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/12/LVC-EN-Bookl…

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Training modules on Peasant Seeds from La Via Campesina:
by La Via Campesina 10 Dec '21

10 Dec '21

LA VIA CAMPESINA LAUNCHES TRAINING MODULES ON PEASANT SEEDS ------------------------- La Via Campesina joyfully announces the launching of a series of training modules called "LA VIA CAMPESINA: CONSTRUCTION OF SHARED KNOWLEDGE ON PEASANT SEEDS". These are 5 pedagogical documents that seek to deepen the study of the global struggle for peasant seeds, their situation and context and connection with other struggles for Food Sovereignty. The modules have been built within the Agroecology, Seeds and Biodiversity Collective of La Via Campesina. It will strengthen the GLOBAL CAMPAIGN – _"SEEDS: PEOPLES' HERITAGE AT THE SERVICE OF HUMANITY"_. Each of these modules explores lived realities, reflections, victories and struggles and have been systematically collected and synthesised for the activists of the movement, its organizations, institutions, and anyone interested in training on such issues. THE FIRST MODULE IN THIS FIVE-PART MONTHLY SERIES, "FOOD SOVEREIGNTY BORN OF PEASANT SEEDS" IS NOW ONLINE and is available in ENGLISH [1], SPANISH [2] AND FRENCH [3]. The subsequent editions will also be available on the website of La Via Campesina. [4] We encourage activists, organizations to use this tool and a crucial resource in your training programs and to spread this knowledge in communities. The module comes embedded with a "Virtua Shigra" that points to additional and useful resources on the topic. May it be of much benefit and revolution! If you have comments or queries, please write to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org ------------------------- Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/en/la-via-campesina-launches-training-modules-on-p… [2] https://viacampesina.org/es/la-via-campesina-lanza-modulos-de-formacion-sob… [3] https://viacampesina.org/fr/la-via-campesina-lance-des-modules-de-formation… [4] https://viacampesina.org/en/tag/lvc-seed-modules/

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Latest Edition | Nyéléni Newsletter: Message of pastoralist communities, a voice from the land
by La Via Campesina 10 Dec '21

10 Dec '21

NYELENI : INTRODUCING THE MESSAGE OF PASTORALIST COMMUNITIES, A VOICE FROM THE LAND THE NEW EDITION OF THE NYÉLÉNI NEWSLETTER IS ONLINE! ------------------------- The latest edition of the Nyéléni newsletter throws light on the lives and lived realities of pastoralist communities around the world. More than half of the Earth's surface is made up of grasslands and rangelands. For thousands of years pastoralist communities have domesticated animals and managed ecosystems in a sustainable way, producing a diversity of cultures and food systems that are adapted and resilient. Associated biodiversity has always co-existed with pastoralism. Pastoralism is based on the extensive use of territory, sometimes grasslands but also forests or cropland after harvests, marginal lands and other spaces that very often are not suitable for agriculture. Pastoralism is practised by between 200 and 500 million people worldwide in highly variable environments in nearly every country of the world from the drylands of sub-Saharan Africa to the Arctic Circle. But today pastoralism is threatened as never before by the forced industrialization of livestock farming. DOWNLOAD THE NEWSLETTER FOR MORE: ENGLISH [1] SPANISH [2] FRENCH [3] Illustration by Fernando Garcia Dory/European Shepard Network / WAMIP ------------------------- Links: ------ [1] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=171 [2] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=172 [3] http://www.nyeleni.org/ccount/click.php?id=173

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Illustrated Book: “The Path of Peasant and Popular Feminism in La Via Campesina”
by La Via Campesina 02 Dec '21

02 Dec '21

On 25th November 2021, La Via Campesina's global campaign to eliminate gender-based violence published an illustrated book that traces _THE PATH OF PEASANT & POPULAR FEMINISM _in the movement. During the month of November, members of LVC in all continents, amplified our global solidarity actions that called for an end to violence against women and girls. The launch of this book coincided with these actions, and echoes all our demands and our collective critique and condemnation of a capitalist and patriarchal system that perpetuates these violations. As La Via Campesina, we demand justice and dignity for those affected by the violence and condemn the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators. It is time to say "_enough!_" to gender-based violence experienced by women, girls and non-binary genders. The book is a vital political-pedagogical tool in our struggle, aiding our training processes at the grassroots, regions and continents. Organized by the Women's Articulation of La Via Campesina and beautifully illustrated by the _FemGarabat Feminist Collective_ of the Basque Country, this book synthesis the historical struggle of peasant and indigenous women around the world. The artists who worked on the book also expressed their support and respect for these struggles when they said, _"As a feminist graphic collective, we use illustrations as a tool for transmitting ideas that we believe in and value. Through our work we had the opportunity to learn about women's struggles from all over the world and, in that sense, working with La Vía Campesina has been a very enriching experience. It has been a pleasure to visually illustrate these diverse struggles, those in which Femgarabat firmly believes"_ Twenty-eight pages of stunning graphic work reveal the role of women in the global fight for Food Sovereignty and their centrality in promoting Peasant and Popular Feminism in their territories and organizations. It also offers several testimonies of peasant leaders from across continents in implementing the 'Global Campaign to End Violence Against Women' promoted by LVC since 2008. ------------------------- GET YOUR COPY TODAY AND SHARE IT WIDELY WITHIN YOUR ORGANIZATION, REGION AND AMONG FRIENDS AND ALLIES. THE PUBLICATION IS AVAILABLE IN ES [1], FR [2] AND EN [3]. YOU CAN ALSO MAKE A VERSION IN YOUR LOCAL LANGUAGE HERE [4]. ------------------------- NOTE: This illustrated book draws its inspiration from a handbook [5] that La Via Campesina had launched early this year. Links: ------ [1] https://viacampesina.org/es/nueva-publicacion-grafica-el-caminar-del-femini… [2] https://viacampesina.org/fr/nouvelle-publication-litineraire-du-feminisme-p… [3] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/VIA-CAMPESIN… [4] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/jmyLf2Rbwci23w2 [5] https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/11/Peasant-and-…

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