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Twenty years have passed since
the WCARRD was organized by FAO in July 1979 in Rome.� At WCARRD, 145 governments agreed to pursue a set of
principles and programme of action, known as the Peasants� Charter, to enable
the poor to have the right of access and control of productive resources,
particularly land, towards the achievement of rural development.
ANGOC,
which traces its origins to ensuring the realization of the WCARRD in the Asian
region, organized this Conference on WCARRD 20/20 on 6-7 October, 1999 aimed at
reviewing the state of agrarian reform and rural development in Asia and
assessing the relevance of the Peasants� Charter to Asian communities.
We,
the ANGOC network participating at the WCARRD 20/20 express our deep
disappointment that over the past 20 years, little has been achieved in terms of
the programme of action, especially on agrarian reform. The Asian agrarian
situation remains predominantly rural, with agriculture continuing to provide
the main source of employment. Poverty and food insecurity, especially in the
rural areas is widespread, with increasing landlessness among the rural poor,
depriving them of their livelihood base.
We in
ANGOC nevertheless believe that the WCARRD contains the elements of a programme
that remains as relevant today as it did 20 years ago, even while recognizing
significant shifts in the socio-political and economic environment that have
negatively affected the context of AR/RD- the decline of the role of the state,
the rise of the market, and expanding trade liberalization and economic
globalization.
Furthermore, we stress
the importance that must be given today to issues which were not adequately
covered in the WCARRD, issues on: sustainability, the ethics of genetically
modified organisms, the increased role of women in decision making on food
production, the imperative of people�s empowerment, the participation of the
indigenous people and recognition of their rights, an the review of trade
agreement as they impact on food security.
We
also decry the decline of political will by governments to carry out the
agrarian reform and rural development agenda, in spite of the continuing urgency
and clamor for its implementation. Civil society organizations and NGOs have
taken the lead in continuing to focus on AR/RD as a priority in national and
international development agenda; otherwise, justice and equity issues would not
be addressed.
Civil
society initiatives towards ensuring fuller and more equitable access to land,
water and other natural resources are found at local or national level
throughout the countries of the Asian region. At the same time, civil society
organization realize the tenurial reforms must go hand in hand with the
provision of services for beneficiary development, such as sustainable
agriculture, that can allow the poor maximize their production and incomes.
Furthermore, participation and local governance must be incorporated into the
programmes for the poor, with a clear recognition that unless the power of
vested interests is also addressed, gains from AR/RD will be meaningless.
These
are the major challenges that we in civil society confront, with government and
private sector, as the new millenium approaches.
We in
the ANGOC network and other participants strongly affirm our commitment to the
WCARRD principles and programme of action. And likewise to other World Food
Summit declarations which has emerged in the 1990s, including the World Food
Summit, as these relate to the right of the poor to access to land and water
resources, a truly people-centered development. Our ANGOC 200-Village Project is
one concrete expression of our commitment to pursue that goal and vision.
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