Showing posts from Category: Statements

PCFS slams the Aung San Suu Kyi-led Burma government for pushing this law and its impracticable amendments – a far cry from its promise of protecting the land rights of farmers. In fact, the VFV law was made stricter. Four years since NLD broke the country’s military junta, the government has opted to abide with the trends on land policies perpetuated by international and development finance institutions that undermine food sovereignty and deny the land rights of farmers and Indigenous Peoples. No plan to amend the law or even the constitution will be able to resolve landlessness in Burma if the development framework is to “draw more investment.”

Our voices here today could only resound the calls that the Indigenous Peoples of Cordillera have been demanding the government to heed for a long time. Policymakers must now begin to recognize the rights of one of the most vulnerable segments of the society, to protect and promote their access to and control over lands and resources, and to advance their right to genuine pro-people development.

MASIPAG remains at the forefront of developing a farmer-led, pro-poor, pro-people and open source crop science research, especially rice. In doing so, MASIPAG is currently a stalwart of alternative and people-centered agricultural research.

As we close our commemoration for the Day of the Landless 2019, we call our members, networks, and fellow food sovereignty advocates to condemn the crackdown against the farmers in Cambodia and express our solidarity to the affected communities. Let our support strengthen global rural peoples’ struggle for land and life.

March 29 is the DAY OF THE LANDLESS. It marks the founding anniversary of the Asian Peasant Coalition and the launching of the No Land, No Life! campaign. One hundred twenty-seven organizations composed of 20 global and regional groups and networks and 109 national and local organizations from 25 countries in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe are issuing the following statement to commemorate this important date in the struggle of rural communities around the world for land and resources.

Women play an indispensable role as leaders and trailblazers in our collective struggle for land and life. The rural women, particularly, have continued to resist gender discrimination along with the exploitation of feudal landlords and corporations toward achieving our universal right to safe, nutritious, affordable, and culturally-appropriate food. Breaking the boundaries of patriarchal standards is part and parcel of our fight for food sovereignty, for freedom from all kinds of oppression is one of its key principles.