{"id":4091,"date":"2021-09-21T09:13:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-21T01:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panap.net\/?p=4091"},"modified":"2021-09-21T09:13:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T01:13:35","slug":"counter-summit-challenges-corporate-led-un-food-systems-summit","status":"publish","type":"panap_updates","link":"https:\/\/panap.net\/beta\/updates\/counter-summit-challenges-corporate-led-un-food-systems-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Counter-summit challenges corporate-led UN Food Systems Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, thousands of rural peoples, people\u2019s organizations, CSOs, and advocates kicked off The Global People\u2019s Summit (GPS) on Food Systems<\/strong><\/a> through various online and on-ground activities to challenge the corporate agenda of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UN FSS), happening on September 23 in New York.<\/p>\n

With the theme \u201cResist! End the global corporate food empire!,\u201d<\/em><\/strong> the three-day counter-summit is the culmination of activities held since early this year to expose and oppose the control of big corporations over food and agriculture the corporate capture of the UN, as exemplified by the key roles given to Bill Gates and other capitalist-controlled institutions in shaping the UN FSS agenda and outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UN FSS, which has been under fire by civil society and people\u2019s organizations for its blatant subservience to corporate interests, has tried to repackage itself superficially as a \u2018People\u2019s Summit.\u2019 A true and legitimate People\u2019s Summit should put the hungry and marginalized — landless farmers, agricultural workers, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, rural women, youth, rural people living in occupied areas, and sanctioned peoples — at the helm of agenda-setting in the radical transformation of our food systems,\u201d said Razan Zuayter, global co-chairperson of the People\u2019s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Sarojeni Rengam, PAN Asia Pacific executive director, the Global People\u2019s Summit on Food Systems directly challenges the \u201cglobal corporate food empire\u201d that exploits and oppresses small food producers who feed the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese corporations are out to further consolidate their control of land, seeds, agricultural inputs and markets by embedding themselves even deeper into policy-making processes of the UN and its member states, as what we are witnessing now with the UN FSS. In the guise of helping \u2018transform\u2019 food systems, they\u2019re actually peddling discredited market-based \u2018solutions\u2019 and techno-fixes that are responsible for much of the widespread hunger and environmental destruction we are experiencing,\u201d said Rengam.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Zuayter followed, \u201cFood systems can be transformed through the respect of food sovereignty via the will of landless peasants, small farmers, and fishers. The Global People\u2019s Summit is a space to listen to their aspirations. We cannot succeed in our efforts without ending the use of food as a weapon in the context of war, militarization, sanctions and occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GPS Opening on September 21 features testimonies on how rural peoples from the Global South–in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and West Asia-North Africa–envision and work for just, equitable, healthy, and sustainable food systems. There will be a moderated panel discussion regarding the critique on the UN FSS and its outcomes. Personalities will give solidarity messages and \u201cpeasant heroes\u201d will be given tribute as well.<\/p>\n

The next day, September 22, global side events will tackle the transformation of food systems through people-led agroecology, putting local food first, and asserting people\u2019s food sovereignty. These will revisit the basic principles of food sovereignty and how it challenges the corporate agenda of the UNFSS. There will also be simultaneous national conferences, workshops, summits, and community mobilizations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, and Cambodia.<\/p>\n

On September 23, the day of the UN FSS, organizers of the GPS will spearhead a global action on-ground and online protest. Rallies will take place at the UN headquarters in New York, led by the International Women\u2019s Alliance, International Migrants Alliance, and the International League of People\u2019s Struggle, as well as in front of UN\u2019s country office in Jakarta, Indonesia, organized by Front Perjuangan Rakyat-FPR Indonesia (People\u2019s Struggle Front of Indonesia). Fisherfolk group PAMALAKAYA in the Philippines will also mobilize in front of the country\u2019s Department of Environment and Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

A social media rally will also take place the whole day using the hashtags #Hungry4Change and #OurFoodSystems.<\/p>\n

The GPS will also be holding its two-hour Closing Plenary simultaneous with the UN FSS and rally in New York at 9 a.m. EDT. Dubbed as the \u201cSpeak Out for Just, Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Food Systems,\u201d it will put forward the People\u2019s Action Plans<\/strong> based on sectoral, thematic and regional workshops held since early this year. A draft People\u2019s Declaration<\/strong> for the radical transformation of the current food regimes towards just, equitable, healthy, and sustainable food systems will also be presented.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the real People\u2019s Summit. We have shown that the people are hungry for real change, and are willing to do whatever it takes to fight for and reclaim their land, their rights, and the future of food systems,\u201d Zuayter concluded.<\/p>\n

The GPS is co-organized by 22 regional and international organizations:<\/p>\n

People\u2019s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS)
\nPAN Asia Pacific (PANAP)
\nAsian Peasant Coalition (APC)
\nArab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN)
\nArab People for Food Sovereignty (ANFS)
\nEastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF)
\nIndigenous Peoples\u2019 Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL)
\nCoalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI)
\nAsian Rural Women\u2019s Coalition (ARWC)
\nGlobal Forest Coalition (GFC)
\nPeople Over Profit (POP)
\nAsia Pacific Research Network (APRN)
\nIBON International
\nAsia Pacific Forum on Women, Law, and Development (APWLD)
\nStop Golden Rice Network (SGRN)
\nPAN North America (PANNA)
\nA Growing Culture
\nYouth for Food Sovereignty (YFS)
\nLocal Futures
\nInternational League of People\u2019s Struggles (ILPS)
\nInternational Women\u2019s Alliance
\nInternational Migrants Alliance<\/p>\n

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