“It’s despicable that the toll of peasant killings in the Philippines has reached to a point that the country is now fast becoming the most perilous place for farmers in the world. The culture of impunity and murderous violence against small farmers and farmworkers must be put to a stop,” said Roy Anunciacion, PCFS global coordinator.
In the 16 days leading up to the World Food Day, PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) and 40 of its partner organisations from 20 countries have highlighted the need for agroecology and the role of the youth in its promotion through the 16 Days of Global Action on Agroecology 2018.
“How can the World Bank, which clearly have profits and interests at stake in formulating these laws, be given power to craft and advise on land rights legislations? We won’t be used further. We, the rural women, want an equal stake in our right to food, land and food sovereignty and not an equal opportunity to be exploited and oppressed,” Mallari concluded.
Int’l mission decries state neglect, rights violations in Cambodia land dispute with Chinese company
The groups, which organized the “International Fact-Finding Mission to Defend Land and Life against Hengfu’s Operations in Cambodia,” are asking the intervention of UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Hilal Elver and Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) director general Jose Graziano de Silva on the land grabbing of more than 13,000hectares by Chinese concessionaire Hengfu Group Sugar Co., Ltd. The mission’s executive summary was submitted to them on Oct. 13, 2018 during the first day of the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) Annual Forum of the United Nations Committee on World Food Security, which will hold its 45th plenary session in Rome, Italy on Oct. 15-19, 2018.
“This is deplorable! Despite all the rhetoric of inclusivity and investing in human capital, the Widodo government and the IMF-WB have continued to attack our conference. Why is Widodo so adamant to stifle dissent? This government so afraid of its farmers and fishers airing their grievances on the massive land and resource grabbing to the world,” said Roy Anunciacion, PCFS global secretariat.
We demand the Indonesian authorities and the IMF-WB to respect the people’s right – to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and meaningful participation in the development process. We expect the local security forces to remain true to their commitment to respect our assertion to hold the Peoples’ Global Conference at Radio Republik Indonesia, in Denpasar, Bali on October 8 – 14.