World Food Day 2015

Discussion Meeting on World Food Day of Bhumihin Samity

G20 protesters: What they want

Campaign groups planning protests ahead of the G20 summit explain why they are demonstrating and what they are demanding from world leaders.

PUT PEOPLE FIRST

ActionAid: “The G20 leaders meeting in London have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a new, fairer system that puts people first. One place to start is by reforming tax havens.

“We urge the G20 to lift the veil of secrecy that makes it easy for companies to avoid tax. This would allow developing countries to claim the money that they are owed, so they can use it to build hospitals, dig wells and employ teachers.”

TUC: “We need a fresh start from Barack Obama, Gordon Brown and the other world leaders coming to London for the G20 summit.

“They need to admit the mistakes of the past, but more importantly build a different future that fights recession by making the world a fairer and a greener place.”

Save the Children: “The G20 summit must do more than bail out the banking system; it needs to be as concerned with protecting the poorest from the harmful consequences of an economic and financial crisis that was not of their making.

“First, a global economic stimulus package must offer something very tangible to the world’s poo

PUT PEOPLE FIRST: DEMANDS Democratic governance of the global economy Decent jobs and public services for all An end to global poverty and inequality Establishment of a green economy Recession rallies G20 protesters

rest countries, especially additional resources to manage the effects of economic crisis. Second, proposed reforms to global economic governance must include a bigger voice for the world’s poorest countries. Third, there needs to be new focus on helping the very poorest communities.”

Stop Climate Chaos Coalition: “World leaders must seize the opportunity to tackle climate change and the economic downturn together.

“Only by investing in green jobs and thriving low carbon economies will a sustainable way of life be secured for generations to come.”

Plan: “While people are feeling the pinch here in the UK, it’s the poorest of the poor in the developing world who face the worst hardships, and even death.

“Children and young people make up half the population in the developing world and yet their voices are rarely heard. We believe it is vital that the world leaders at this year’s G20 conference in London listen to what young people have to say.”

Salvation Army: “The church service and the march through London are a perfect opportunity to ask members of the G20 to consider the wellbeing of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“The Salvation Army is an international movement, part of the universal Christian church, committed to meet human need and work for social justice without discrimination. It is a privilege to join with the voices of many others to call for action on poverty and climate change.”

WWF: “We believe that the response to the economic crisis from the G20 leaders needs to take us forward, to a new kind of economic system, and that a return to ‘business as usual’ is simply not an option.

“Measures to reform the global economy to achieve economic security will only succeed if they have environmental sustainability and equity at their heart.”

 

YES WE CAN

CND: “We want to send a clear message to the G20 leaders about war and peace. They won’t be able to deal with the economic crisis properly without dealing with the fundamental causes of instability between nations – for instance distrust between the US and Russia over Nato expansion and the missile defence system preventing cooperation in other areas.

“We specifically want to welcome [President] Obama and say that the agenda of peace not war, of working towards a nuclear-free world and of creating jobs not bombs is an agenda popular with the majority of the world.”

Stop the War Coalition: “This is our first chance to demand a change from Bush’s war policies.

“Our message will be ‘Yes We Can’… end the siege of Gaza and free Palestine, get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, make jobs not bombs, abolish nukes and stop arming Israel.”

British Muslim Initiative: “While the world looks with horror at the hundreds of billions of pounds being thrown at shoddy financial establishments to bail them out and to cover for huge executive bonuses, very little mention is made of the hundreds of billions that continue to be pumped into the global war machine that claims thousands of lives every day.

“Unless occupation in all its forms is seen as a repugnant manifestation of human greed and desire to over-power… and unless we see to it that poverty, disease, illiteracy and social injustice are properly and responsibly addressed, we will never be able to resolve the crisis that engulfs the world through the failure of its major financial policies and institutions.”

 

CLIMATE CAMP

“We are targeting the most serious near-term attempt by world leaders to put economic ideology ahead of physical reality, the use of complex carbon markets to try and solve climate change.

“Moreover, this year will see a new global agreement to limit emissions which, without major controversy, will be an EU-style markets-based disaster. If anyone thinks that a tweaked Kyoto-style market-based agreement will avoid catastrophic climate change, they need to think again.

“Setting society on a new course will require a global-scale social movement to fundamentally change dominant economic ideas and implement solutions that both work and are socially just. 1 April will be another important step on that road.”

 

G20 MELTDOWN

“We call for the G20 ministers to own up to their mistakes and admit that their global dominance – the dominance of finance capitalism – is the problem, not the solution to the current economic, ecological and political meltdown.

G20 MELTDOWN: DEMANDS Oust bankers from power Get rid of corrupt politicians Guarantee of job, home, future for everyone Become patriots of the planet, not countries Stop climate chaos Make capitalism history

“While two million are now out of work in Britain alone, the G20 ministers still resist nationalising the banks, instead continuing to pour trillions into the black hole of bankers’ bad gambling debts.

“Those ministers should now make way for government by the people, for the people, of the people, across the planet.

“Let’s be patriots for the only country we have got: Planet Earth. Only then can we adequately respond to the message of the climate scientists about the clear and present danger to our biosphere, investing in life for our grandchildren, not in death and oil wars.”

Source: The BBC News

Existential Crisis at the G20 Summit

The global financial crisis has created an existential problem for American capitalism. The theory that deregulation, free markets, and policies that serve the interests of big banks and multinational corporations are best for all of us has never looked so weak. Protesters at the G-20 summit in London are driving home this point.

As the activist group G20 Meltdown puts it: “While two million are now out of work in Britain alone, the G20 ministers still resist nationalizing the banks, instead continuing to pour trillions into the black hole of bankers’ bad gambling debts.” Various groups, from Save the Children to the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition are pushing to expose the global trade club as the insider group for the wealthy that it is. And they are insisting on democratic policy changes that put needs of people–especially the poor and vulnerable– ahead of the needs of hedge fund managers and corporations.

Talking openly about class is not as taboo in the rest of the world as it is here in the United States. Americans have been living for decades with what European Marxists like to call “class transference”: the idea that the interests of multimillionaire bankers and businessmen are exactly the same as the interests of line workers and school teachers. After all, we all plan to be millionaires one day, right? This mentality allows us to accept the idea that a CEO who presides over the collapse of a major corporation should be “punished” by being pushed out with a $35 million golden parachute, but family-supporting wages and benefits are “fat” that needs to be trimmed so companies can become more competitive and profitable.

Favoring Wall Street at the expense of Main Street is nowhere more obvious than in our government’s very different treatment of the banks and GM. Why is it that we see the need to spend tax money to protect bondholders from losing money on risky bets, but massive job loss from the collapse of the auto industry is an acceptable price to pay for GM’s poor management?

Why is AIG “too big to fail,” but the entire American auto industry is not?

Don’t get me wrong. There is no greater example of American hubris than the story of GM. It reads like Shakespearian tragedy–the rise and fall of this giant company that once bragged, “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.” That our country was still building giant showrooms for Hummers and consumers were blithely trading in 10-mile-per-gallon SUVs for newer models even as war raged in Iraq is incredible. At some point we were going to start paying for this monumental shortsightedness. It turns out that point is now.

But there is a lot that government can do to decide who will suffer the most from the excesses and hubris of unsustainable business practices. Businesses can be counted on to look out for their own interests: to seek higher profits and to push and lobby federal and international government for the best possible deal. But it is government’s job to look out for the taxpayers, homeowners, line workers, and school children who are going to bear the brunt of the financial crisis. The more we recognize that our interests as human beings are not the same as the interests of the big companies that want to maximize their profits, the more effective we can be as citizens pushing our government to change its ways.

The Obama Administration needs to be held to account.

As mutual fund manager John Hussman puts it: “Make no mistake – we are selling off our future and the future of our children to prevent the bondholders of U.S. financial corporations from taking losses. We are using public funds to protect the bondholders of some of the most mismanaged companies in the history of capitalism, instead of allowing them to take losses that should have been their own. All our policy makers have done to date has been to squander public funds to protect the full interests of corporate bondholders. Even Bear Stearns’ bondholders can expect to get 100% of their money back, thanks to the generosity of Bernanke, Geithner and other bureaucrats eager to hand out the money of ordinary Americans.”

Meanwhile, by threatening GM with bankruptcy, the Obama Administration is toying with massive job loss throughout the industrial Midwest. With hundreds of billions already pledged to save the banks, there is neither political nor economic capital left for a massive bailout of the bloated auto industry. Still, human needs–and protecting the homes, health care, retirement funds, and childrens’ future of the auto industry’s workforce–must come ahead of a toxic asset plan that protects investors against feeling the downside of their risky bets.

Source: The Progressive, By Ruth Conniff, April 2, 2009

G-20 protesters break into London bank: Clash with cops; 8 arrested

G-20 protesters clashed with riot police in downtown London yesterday, breaking into the heavily guarded Royal Bank of Scotland and smashing its windows. Earlier, they tried to storm the Bank of England and pelted police with eggs and fruit.

At least 4,000 anarchists, anti-capitalists, environmentalists and others jammed into London’s financial district for what they called “Financial Fool’s Day.” The protests were called ahead of Thursday’s summit of world leaders, who hope to take concrete steps to resolve the global financial crisis that has lashed nations and workers worldwide.

Some protesters spray-painted the side of the RBS building with the phrases “class war” and “thieves.” Others pushed against columns of riot police who swatted them away with batons.

Demonstrators shouted “Abolish Money!” and clogged streets in the area known as “The City” even as Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President Barack Obama held a news conference elsewhere in the British capital.

At least eight people were arrested but there were no serious injuries reported.

Royal Bank of Scotland is at the center of protesters’ anger because it had to be bailed out by the British government after a series of disastrous deals brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. The bank is now majority-owned by the British taxpayer.

Helicopters hovered above the protests and some buildings were boarded up. Many banks had extra security and hundreds of police officers lined the streets.

Demonstrators hoisted effigies of the “four horsemen of the apocalypse,” representing war, climate chaos, financial crimes and homelessness.

“The greed that is driving people is tearing us apart,” said Steve Lamont, 45, flanked by his family and protesters who were banging on bells, playing drums and blowing whistles.

One police officer lost his helmet and demonstrators tossed it around like a trophy and chanted slogans.

Fearing they would be targeted by protesters, some bankers swapped their pinstripe suits for casual wear and others stayed home. Bolder financial workers leaned out their office windows yesterday, taunting demonstrators and waving 10 pound notes at them.

Especially in Britain, bankers have been lambasted as being greedy and blamed for the recession that is making jobless ranks soar.

Protesters waved banners reading “Banks are evil,” “Eat the bankers,” and “0% interest in others.”

One protester dressed as the Easter bunny managed to hop through the police cordon but was stopped before he could reach the Bank of England. Another black-clad demonstrator waved a fake light saber at officers.

Musician and political activist Billy Bragg said the time was now to make a difference.

“It’s better than sitting down shouting at the television at these bankers,” he said. “We cannot go back to the way things were before to the million-dollar bonus culture.”

Source: The Daily Star, 02 April 2009

Civil Society For Aid That Works For Poor

Joyce Mulama

GLASGOW, Jun 21 (IPS) – With a high level meeting on aid effectiveness set to take place later this year in Accra, Ghana, participants at the eighth CIVICUS Assembly here in the Scottish capital want donors to stop dictating how aid should be used, and instead let it be driven by the needs of the people it is intended for.

The four-day mammoth meeting, winding to a close on Saturday, has brought together over 1,000 people from civil society organisations, governments and inter-governmental organisations around the world to discuss citizens’ participation in processes meant to improve their lives. The theme this year is ‘People, Participation and Power’.

Donors are under scrutiny for adopting a top-down approach when discussing aid that excludes the needs of the very people who require it. This has raised questions of whether funds are indeed reaching the people who urgently need them.