WORLD RURAL WOMEN’S DAY
OCTOBER 15

WE WANT OUR RIGHTS TO LAND NOW!

WE, women from 12 countries in Asia gathered and united ourselves in order to each share our experiences and unite in our struggle against intensifying exploitation and oppression, poverty and hunger as a result of landlessness and globalization.

We comprise the majority of the landless poor, 51% of the total female population in the region is employed in agriculture and we produce 60% of the food for the Asian region, yet our right to land continues to be denied.

As our right to land is continuously denied, so is our right to decent lives. As our rights are denied, so is our children's right to healthy lives and therefore of the lives of future generations.

We deplore the exploitation and oppression by the land-owning class and powerful elite of the peasantry in general and women in particular. Together with foreign transnational corporations, they took hold of our lands and deprived us of our primary means of livelihood.

We deplore the continued exploitation and oppression of women brought about by the neo-liberal policies under the banner of "free market" globalization dictated by international financial institutions controlled by capitalist countries such as the US. These institutions include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), Export Credit Agencies ( ECA ) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). They have placed the economies of our countries in their power, monopoly and control.

We particularly condemn and fight the policies of liberalization, deregulation and privatization of the WTO which worsened and intensified landlessness, poverty and hunger. These policies not only denied us of our right to land and jobs but also denied us equal access to resources, proper health care and education. Imperialist globalization also continues to endanger and threaten our food security and sovereignty as a result of its continued plunder of our agriculture and economies.

We deplore World Bank's market-assisted land reform policy. This type of land reform program, being implemented in many Third World countries, does not intend to implement land distribution - which is the soul and core of a genuine, sustainable and thoroughgoing land reform - but instead, it aims at maximizing and dynamizing the land markets. Under the auspices of the WB land reform policy, the importance of women having land rights is emphasized but these are mere lip-service.

We recognize the positive experience shared by our sister from VietNam on their newly-opened market economy but we express concern over the divestment of women on their access and control to the land.

We assail our governments for their being puppets to dictates and maneuverings of capitalist countries such as the US . These governments, together with multinational and transnational corporations, make use of trade institutions such as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) in their interest to extract super profits, cheap raw materials agricultural produce and cheap labor from Asian countries.

We condemn the violence and terrorism inflicted against peasant women and their families in their struggle for land and their rights, most of which are condoned and perpetuated by most governments in Asia . Intensified militarization or military operations resulted to human rights abuses, physical and economic dislocations, including all forms of harassment and political repression.

We strongly condemn the US "war on terror" which has resulted to innumerable deaths and injuries, incalculable damages against peoples of the world, particularly in Asia and among women and children. These US-led wars of aggression trample on our national sovereignty, patrimony and right to self-determination as a nation and as a people.

Because of these, women have become more vulnerable and are pushed into more exploitative situations and conditions. We have been continuously subjected to various and unique forms of violence.

But despite these, we congratulate our ranks for the strength in unity and struggle. We hail the woman who continues to fight the political, economic, social and cultural exploitation. Together, we will continue to reap the harvests of our unity and struggle.

In one voice, we unite to struggle:

1. for a genuine, sustainable and thoroughgoing land reform that involves the physical and actual distribution of lands to the peasants and peasant women in particular;
   
   
2. to expose the falsehood of the WB policies on land reform
   
   
3. against WTO, and IMF-WB sponsored and imposed liberalization, deregulation and privatization policies. We will struggle for the taking of WTO out of our agriculture;
   
   
4. against one-sided, unjust economic, political and military treaties in the region;
   
   
5. for an end to militarization and state-perpetuated violence and terrorism;
   
   
6. against all forms of violence and discrimination committed against women and children.

We vow to continue our commitments, to further unify and consolidate our ranks and collectively struggle:

Together, we declare our united stand and struggle for our right to land and life, this 30th day of June 2004 at the Bahay ng Alumni, University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES.