Call for Civil Society’s Participation
In the 2nd ASEAN Peoples’ Forum / 5th ASEAN Civil Society Conference
18-20 October 2009
Cha-am, Phetchaburi Province, Thailand
http://aseanpeoplesforum.net
Asian People's Solidarity for Climate Justice
The Gr8 Climate Sale
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The issue of climate change has come to the forefront and people both in the North and the South have been feeling the devastating effects of global warming. However, the links between the neo-liberal system and the model of over consumption to the climate crisis are not clearly stated.
Women: On With the March, Toward the Elections and Beyond!:
(Militarism, Sexism, WTO, Arroyo, RETREAT)
Today, March 8, the International Day of Women, we march, together with
our sisters across the globe, to celebrate the lessons, the triumphs as
well as the challenges of our many-faceted struggles.
We are workers marching for full employment with dignity and equal
opportunity, amidst a backdrop of a hollowed-out domestic economy, of
unwieldy migrationand contractualization, precarious and informal work,
and chronic unemployment.
We are rural women, marching for food sovereignty, sustainable
livelihoods and meaningful asset reform, in a country characterized by
increasing hunger, where profit continues to define the production and
distribution of food; and wealth, inputs and productive assets remain
concentrated in the hands of a few families and corporations.
We are survivors of gender -based violence, marching to end violence
withinour own homes and society at large, as we confront domestic
struggles, as well as more intense militarization, and displacement due
to conflict and war.
We are daughters, sisters, mothers, marching to assert our rights over
our bodies and claim our entitlement to public and reproductive
services, in the face of greater impositions from the church, religious
fundamentalisms and even the state, which choose to decide for us, and
even worse, decide to deny us the right to choose.
And at this juncture, foremost, we are citizens, marching to create
meaningful spaces for public intervention, marching to shape our
institutions and political system, during this period of elections and
beyond 2010.
We recognize that many of the issues we carry require decisive,
strategic, gender-responsive governance. We recall how many of these
concerns have been pushed to the sidelines, as vested family interests,
transactional politics, corruption and greed took center stage under
the Arroyo administration.
Where political survival and personal gain serve as the main driving
force of supposedly public decision-making and action, we are bombarded
with scandals rather than solutions.
As we remember Hello Garci, the Fertilizer Fund Scam, and the
PhilHealth Cards fiasco, we observe how many of the key actors in these
abominations have turned themselves into key players in this year’s
elections. As we recall Mrs. Arroyo’s disregard for the
Anti-Prostitution and Reproductive Health bills, we also note how many
of our candidates would readily place political points, over women and
the people’s welfare, as the defining guideline of their policy
pronouncements. As we reel from the economic crisis and development
aggression, we remember how the current administration championed the
neoliberal framework, with nothing to show for but increased precarity
and poverty, and nothing more to offer other than overseas work,
outsourcing jobs and pantawid gutom programs. As we recall howthe
Arroyos coddled political warlords such as the Ampatuans, we also
remember how she spoiled convicts like Daniel Smith and consistently
upheld US interests, even over our own sovereignty. As we reject the
Visiting Forces Agreement, we also denounce extra-judicial killings and
other forms of torture that have escalated under the Arroyo government.
As we contend with lack of information, abuse of power and impunity,
which became the norm in this regime, we note the glaring lack of
meaningful discussion within the current electoral discourse. As we
recount these multiple assaults and forms of violence that comprise the
‘GMA legacy’, we find very little indication that this will be
significantly resolved and reversed.
We are disappointed that much of the discussion remains centered on
personalities rather than issues, hinged on the search for a single
messiah, who will redeem us from a dysfunctional political system and a
warped democracy. We are displeased with electoral contests that remain
largely confined to a few political clans, where even some main
contenders for top national positions and key local posts, come from
the same family. We are dismayed that none of the presidentiables
explicitly talked about a concrete women’s agenda. There is no agenda
for women workers, for rural women, for women survivors of violence or
for any other woman who says no to militarism, to the exploitation of
women in armed conflict, to globalization and unfair trade. We
therefore challenge them to come out with a concrete, convincing and
long-term women’s agenda. Filipinas deserve political leaders that
uphold their rights and lives, rather than sell their bodies and
dignity, silence their voices or neglect their needs.
Rather than be disheartened, these only prompt us to amplify our
collective action and intervention. We recognize the need to infuse our
voices into the current debates. But we refuse to resign ourselves to
the idea that there is no point in struggling for thoroughgoing change
or confine ourselves solely with in these limited arenas of engagement.
We shall reclaim power, revitalize our movements and strengthen our resolve.
We will keep on marching until spaces for peoples intervention are
created, until transformative institutions and a more people-centered
political system are in place. We will keep on marching until
patriarchy and militarism are dismantled. We will march until states
have put in place full employment that allow for mothers, sisters and
daughters to have real economic choices. We will march until rural
women have truly claimed land and support services. We will march until
WTO shrinks and eventually sinks. We will march until equitable,
sustainable living and production patterns are established in
accordance with the principles of climate justice.
We will march until we have built a society based on peace, justice, equality, freedom and solidarity.
Marso 8/ 2010
Amnesty International • APL-Women • Bagong Kamalayan • Batis-AWARE •
Buklod – Olongapo • Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino – Kababaihan •
CATW-AP • Center for Overseas Workers • Focus on the Global South •
FORGE • Free Burma Coalition • Hilom-Kabataan • Kanlungan • KAISA-KA •
LRC-KSK/FOE-Phils. • MAKALAYA • Partido Lakas ng Masa • Partido ng
Manggagawa • PKKK • Piglas Kababaihan • SARILAYA • Transform Asia •
TWMAE • UP Sigma Alpha Nu – Manila & Diliman • WomanHealth •
Women’s Legal Bureau • Women in Development Foundation • Welga ng
Kababaihan • Women’s Crisis Center • Youth and Students for the
Advancement of Gender Equality (YSAGE) • World March of Women –
Pilipinas
Water justice, like water, travels in networks: notes on reclaiming public water
An
international seminar of the Reclaiming Public Water Network brought
together participants from more than 30 countries, who shared knowledge
and experiences about how to improve water provision through the
democratization of water management.
The initiative People’s Agenda for Alternative Regionalisms, involves regional alliances such as Hemispheric Social Alliance (Latin America), Southern African People’s Solidarity Network- SAPSN (Southern Africa), Solidarity for Asian People’s Advocacy – SAPA (South East Asia), People’s SAARC (South Asia) as well as organisations and networks in Europe, including Transnational Institute (TNI), that struggle for “Another Europe”. These networks and the organisations part of them, share a strong commitment on the need to RECLAIM the regions, RECREATE the processes of regional integration and ADVANCE people-centered regional alternatives.
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