Cross-border Work

Time for a New “New Deal” on Human Rights

Salena Tramel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:57:35 +0000

Sixty years after the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we at Grassroots International recognize that more often than not the reality has failed the vision put forth in that document. Our commitment to defending land, water, and food as the most basic of human rights is reflected throughout the 30-article treaty. Globally, people in all corners of the world currently experience a quadruple crisis that includes food, finance, energy, and the environment. From Latin America to the Middle East, our partners and allies are facing serious threats to their lives and livelihoods. Policies and actions of governments and corporations represent the grave violations of the core principles of the treat

Opponents challenge U.S./Mexico border wall 19 years after Berlin Wall falls

Maria Aguiar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:08:42 +0000

For several years Grassroots International has had a collegial relationship with Carlos Marentes of the Sin Fronteras Border Agricultural Workers Project in El Paso, Texas. Carlos is also a leader of the Via Campesina - North American Region and chair of the Via Campesina's international commission on Migrations and Rural Workers. The Via Campesina understands that most migration is a consequence of the corporate-led global trade model that has exacerbated rural impoverishment in many already poor countries.

The 19th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Carol Schachet — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:04:21 +0000

On November 9, 1989, the German people knocked down the Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall had been erected on August 13, 1961 dividing the people of Berlin into two sectors. One sector was controlled by the US and its allies, and the other was controlled by the Soviet Union. German people were not free to cross from one sector to another. Families and friends were separated by the wall for 28 years. During this period of time, about 5,000 escape attempts were made to reunite with relatives, friends or to seek better economic opportunities. Nearly 300 people died attempting to cross the wall.

The Via Campesina to Hold 5th International Conference

Carol Schachet — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:39:56 +0000

Subheadline

Gathering Scheduled for Maputo, Mozambique 16-23 October

Partner

Via Campesina

Outside Link

Via Campesina holds its Vth International Conference

Livelihood Rights: The Right to Exist

Saulo Araujo — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:47:12 +0000

Members of Grassroots International's partner La Via Campesina -- an international network of peasants, indigenous peoples, fishers, pastoralists, women, and youth -- gathered in late June in Jakarta, Indonesia to defend their right to exist, and called for a UN Convention on the Rights of Peasants. (Below, see their final declaration)

Under intense threat from the expansion of agro-fuels in South America and Indonesia, militarization in Colombia and South Korea, and increasing food prices, rural families are voicing a predicament that affects all communities.

Video from Nyeleni Forum for Food Sovereignty on You Tube

Jake Miller — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:29:32 +0000

The Nyeleni communications team just sent us a link to a very inspirational video, a trailer for a documentary on the global food sovereignty movement and Nyeleni 2007, the Forum for Food Sovereigty.

The video is subtitled in Spanish, but for those who don't speak Spanish, many of the interviews were conducted in English.

Fasten Your Seatbelt for the Next Green Revolution

Daniel Moss — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 05:00:00 +0000

Are you ready? Or are you still tallying up the costs to the commons from the first Green Revolution? I invite you to listen in on a fascinating debate between farmer advocates and the money behind the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

A Commons-Defining Bill

Daniel Moss — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:00:00 +0000

What single bill – albeit with a great many tentacles – currently sits before Congress and will define the future of so much of the commons – our land use, soil and water quality, the future of our rural communities?

Look no further than the tip of your fork: the Farm Bill.

Michael Pollan, in the New York Times magazine, April 22, 2007, described it this way: “This resolutely unglamorous and head-hurtingly complicated piece of legislation…sets the rules for the American food system – indeed to a considerable extent, for the world’s food system.”

Another World is Possible; Another US is Necessary – the United States Social Forum

Nikhil Aziz — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:30:06 +0000

“Our Youth is not the Future, Our Youth is the Present” – Julian Moya, Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), Albuquerque, New Mexico

“We cannot choose the historical conditions we find ourselves in, but we can choose how we respond to them” – Ajamu Baraka, Director, U.S. Human Rights Network, Atlanta, Georgia

These two quotes, among many other hopeful messages I heard at the U.S. Social Forum (USSF) from June 27 to July 1, 2007 in Atlanta epitomized for me the USSF – what it stands for and envisions in terms of a different kind of United States. Both represent the truth embedded in the official slogan of the USSF – Another World is Possible; Another US is Necessary.

Re-militarization and the U.S. Military Presence in South America

Saulo Araujo — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:19:00 +0000

This morning, in the National Congress of Paraguay, members of the Observatory Mission in Paraguay organized by the Campaign for the Demilitarization of Americas (CADA) are participating in the Roundtable: "Remilitarization and the U.S. Military Presence in the Region". Since the signature of the Bi-national Agreement that gives immunity to U.S. troops in Paraguay, the country is under international watch of social movements and regional governments.