UPDATE to the Call to Action: Deal a decisive blow to Neoliberalism End the WTO and the Stop the new wave of Free Trade Agreements The time is now for Economic Justice!
Action Plan/ Roadmap to Bali from Gerak Lawan and the Social Movements for an Alternative Asia The Indonesian People's Movement Against Neocolonialism-Imperialism (Gerak Lawan) is leading the way on the road to the 9th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Bali, Indonesia. However, we are not just leading a campaign to stop the expansion of the WTO but also to begin a long standing battle to end with the WTO and the wave of FTA that are exploding all over the world. The Bali Ministerial serves as an emblematic moment in this struggle because of what the WTO has and continues to stand for – the model of endless growth and the prioritization of profit and transnational corporations over people and planet. This is the moment where we need to strengthen and coordinate more closely all the fights and campaigns against FTAs, BITs and the base for all of them: the WTO. This is the opportunity to strengthen the link between all different kind of movements in relation to food, water, employment, climate, migration, women, health, finance and many others because the free trade agenda of the WTO and the FTAs are impacting all of them. Joining Gerak Lawan in this struggle is the newly formed coordination of social movements in Asia, the Social Movements for an Alternative Asia (SMAA). Together with Gerak Lawan, SMAA aims to send out the message that the time is now for Economic Justice. It is time for a systemic change and for alternatives to be supported and pushed forward. It is not only possible but necessary to have a world without the WTO, FTAs and TNCs. After a coordination meeting in Indonesia between members of Gerak Lawan and SMAA, this joint action plan and roadmap to Bali was formulated. We invite all social movements and organizations who support this vision to come join us. Members of the Social Movements for an Alternative Asia and Gerak Lawan have signed on to the Gerak Lawan Call to Action: Deal a Decisive Blow to Neoliberalism, End the WTO and Stop the new wave of Free Trade Agreements, The time is now for Economic Justice! (http://www.igj.or.id/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=705&Itemid=175) If you would like to sign on as a supporter and receive updates on the actions and planning, please send an email to geraklawan@yahoo.com or visit www.smaa.asia for updates. The following are our political goals, objectives and action plan on the Road to Bali and beyond:
OUR POLITICAL GOALS FOR BALI AND BEYOND As we had stated in the Call to Action, this struggle goes beyond the Bali Ministerial. This struggle is about achieving system change and economic justice in the long term for Asia.
We need System Change As the Gerak Lawan Call to Action states: “The capitalist principle of endless growth has pushed our planet to its limits and the people have been paying the price with their lives.” The neoliberal institution of the WTO and the FTA’s will never be fair nor just and will always seek to protect the interests of the TNCs and the 1 percent. The only way forward is to change the system and the first step is to deal a decisive blow against neoliberalism by mobilizing against the WTO and fighting against the onslaught of FTAs and BITs.
We want alternatives; We want Economic Justice The time is now for Economic Justice! We need to be pushing for alternatives to the current dominant free trade system. It is possible to have a world without the WTO and FTAs and have an economic system that is based on complementarity not competition and with the peoples interests at heart not those of the TNCs.
We will strengthen our Solidarity and our Linkages We need to strengthen our solidarity and support for each others’ movements and organizations. We need to build and strengthen our linkages across sectors and movements, across issues (WTO, FTA, TNC, Climate, and others) and across borders – local, national, regional and international. It is by coming together that we are able to realize the strength of our collective power. Together, we will be able to bring about change.
We need to build People Power This means we need to change the balance of forces that now is dominated by big Corporations that control and buy governments. We need to build a strong multisectoral movement in Asia and the world that is capable to defeat the power of capital and to bring into reality our alternatives. People Power is not a one-day mobilization, nor a one-year campaign. People Power is the capacity of social movements to capture power and build a new society that is bases on the redistribution of wealth and harmony with nature.
OUR OBJECTIVES IN BALI 1) Expose neoliberal crimes and Indict the neoliberal system for its crimes against the people and nature 2) Expose the corporate agenda and corporate control on the governments, trade agenda, WTO and FTAs. We need to dismantle corporate power and end the impunity of TNCs. 3) Demand our governments to revoke all FTAs and Investment Treaties and demand that our governments not sign on to any other FTAs or BITs. 4) Formulate an alternative model of international and regional trade based on Economic Justice 5) Present and popularize our alternatives and challenge the mainstream message that the world needs the WTO and Free Trade.
OUR MAIN ACTIVITIES Public Awareness Campaign Our biggest challenge is to raise the awareness of the public not only on the negative impacts of the World Trade Organization and Free Trade Agreements now flooding our countries, but also on the alternatives to Free Trade. We need to concretely show and strengthen the links between the mobilizations against FTAs, BITs, TNCs, climate change and the WTO. We will highlight the many alternatives around the world from peasants, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, women, youth, migrants, workers and all other sectors. It is possible to have a world without the WTO and FTAs and TNCs and it is possible to have a world that has at its heart the well-being of the people and not of the corporations. We will organize teach-ins, workshops and shadow puppet shows and other popular activities. We will also publish popular materials. Through traditional and nontraditional media, the goal is to communicate the message of system change, economic justice and hope of change and a better world.
Youth Caravan from Jakarta to Bali via cities in Java Led by the Youth Food Movement whose main message is a call for Food Sovereignty, the youth caravan will go from Jakarta to Bali with stops at a number of cities in the island of Java, Indonesia. The Caravan aims to raise awareness, reach out to the youth and mobilize them for Bali and beyond. The stops will be at universities and communities. The Youth Food Movement uses social media as its tool of communication and has a music campaign to help deliver its message. It will hold a concert this June as its first major activity in its popular campaign. Youth from around the globe are invited to join the Caravan.
Peoples Tribunal Against Free Trade The people have suffered far too long from the impacts of neoliberal policies imposed on them by the neoliberal institutions, our governments and the transnational corporations that control them. It is time to expose and unmask the villains and indict them for their crimes against the people and nature. We will issue an open call for testimonies and a team of human rights lawyers and legal experts will put them together and present the cases to a panel of eminent judges in a Peoples Tribunal in Bali during the week of action in December 2013.
Economic Justice Assembly
The mainstream message has always been that there is no alternative and that we have no choice but to accept the bitter pill of neoliberalism. The multiple global crises stands testament to the fact that the prescriptions of neoliberalism have failed and caused the suffering of people across the globe. If there is one thing we have learned from this is that there is no truth to the mainstream belief that there is no alternative to neoliberalism and capitalism and that in fact, another system is not only possible, it is necessary if the people and planet are to have a future. There are hundreds of alternatives from local to national to regional to international, all with the interests of the people and nature at its heart, that upholds rights of people and nature and that is not based on a model of endless growth. We will issue an open call for social movements, organizations and communities to present their alternatives, which we will present and enrich through our ideas and discussions at the Economic Justice Assembly in Bali during the week of action in December 2013.
Mobilizations
There will be a week of action in Bali during the 9 th Ministerial of the WTO (The draft schedule is below). We call for actions around the world on December 3, the Global Day of Action against neoliberalism and for Economic Justice to show that the call for System Change and the demand for alternatives is a call of social movements and peoples the world over.
BALI WEEK OF ACTION December 1 Sunday
December 2 Monday
Arrival of the Youth Food Movement Caravan in Bali Opening of the Week of Action Space for Selforganized activities/ Workshops
Space for selforganized activities/ workshops
December 3 December 4 December 5 Tuesday Wednesday Thursday 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization Big mobilization Possible Possible smaller - Proposed Global smaller thematic day of action thematic mobilizations mobilizations Peoples Tribunal (whole day) No workshops on this day
December 6 Friday Mobilization on closing day
Economic Justice Assembly (whole day)
Evenings: possible time for inside-outside report-backs and strategy discussions
Members of Gerak Lawan: (Gerakan Rakyat Lawan Neokolonialisme-Imperialisme) Indonesia for Global Justice (IGJ) - Bina Desa - Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI) - Solidaritas Perempuan (SP) Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API) - Indonesian Human Right Committee for Social Justice (IHCS) - Komisi untuk Orang Hilang dan Korban Kekerasan (KONTRAS) - Climate Society Forum (CSF) - Koalisi Anti Utang (KAU) Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (KIARA) - Institut Hijau Indonesia (IHI) - Lingkar Madani untuk Indonesia (LIMA) - Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM) - Aliansi Jurnalis Independen (AJI Jakarta) - Front Perjuangan Pemuda Indonesia (FPPI) - Lingkar Studi-Aksi untuk Demokrasi Indonesia (LS-ADI) - Serikat Nelayan Indonesia (SNI) - Kesatuan Nelayan Tradisional Indonesia (KNTI) - Serikat Buruh Indonesia (SBI) Asosiasi Pendamping Perempuan Usaha Kecil (ASPPUK) - Perhimpunan Bantuan Hukum dan Hak Asasi Manusia Indonesia (PBHI) - Universitas Al-Azhar Indonesia (Dosen Hubungan Internasional) - Asosiasi
Ekonomi-Politik Indonesia (AEPI) - Koalisi Rakyat untuk Hak Atas Air (KRuHA) - Aliansi Pemuda Pekerja Indonesia (APPI) - Migrant Care Convenors of Social Movements for an Alternative Asia: (www.smaa.asia) Alliance of Progressive Labor, Philippines, All Nepal's Peasants' Federation, Assembly of the Poor, Thailand, ATTAC Japan, Bangladesh Krishok Federation, Bangladesh Kishani Sabha, Bhartiya Kisan Union, India, Coalition Against Trafficking of Women (CATW-AP), Focus on the Global South, FTA Watch Thailand, Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU), Indonesia for Global Justice, Indonesian Political Economy Association (AEPI), Koalisi Anti Utang (KAU), Indonesia, Jubilee South-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Karnataka, India, Kerela Coconut Farmers Association, Kerela, India, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), La Via Campesina, Migrant Forum in Asia, MONLAR, Sri Lanka, Northern Peasants Federation, Thailand, NOUMINREN, Japan, Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI), South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM), World March of WomenPhilippines