30 years ago, on the 15-16 May 1993, peasant and land workers organisations from different continents met in Mons, Belgium, to strategize and find a way to coordinate common actions at international level, in response to governments pushing for the de-regulation of international agricultural markets.
Today, La Via Campesina is the largest peasant movement in the world, playing an important role in supporting peasant emancipatory struggles at all levels and in recognising peasants rights in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. LVC bring a voice of hope to all societies for building fair and just food systems, and from there fair and just societies.
Globalise struggle, globalise hope!
On 15t May, we will celebrate the rich history of the movement and share a moment of hope for the role that peasant solutions can play in tackling some of the world's most pressing issues, complete with interventions from farmers and activists around the globe, as well as music, photos and videos of our peasant struggle.
The celebration will be organised in three sections: in the first part, we will hear from the people who were present and involved in the founding, in the second we will hear from former LVC general coordinators, and in the third from current ICC representatives of LVC to look at the context of LVC today.
If you want to be part of it, join us via zoom!
Agenda
La Via Campesina: 30 years of sharing struggles to show hope
14h00 - Mistica: Live music and collective reading of the Mons Declaration.
14h20 - Welcoming word. Co-hosting: Boerenforum, FUGEA, MAP.
14h25 - Screening of a fragment of the video L’esperance Paysanne
14h45 - Testimonies from 30 years ago from the people involved, with Paul Nicholson ,Pancha Rodríguez , Edgardo Garcia ,Nico Verhagen , and Annette Desmarais .
15h15 - Screening of the ceremonial moment filmed at the Town Hall of Mons in the morning of 15 May 2023
15h30 LVC building up the largest peasant movement in the wold, the voice of the former general coordinators of LVC in the last 30 years. With Rafael Alegria ,Henry Saragih and Elisabeth Mpofu , former LVC General Coordinators.
16h00 - Live music
16h15 - LVC today, with Hortense Doleres Kinkodila ,Anuka Desilva , both members of the International Coordinating committee of LVC, and Morgan Ody , General Coordinator of LVC
16h45 Closing mistica
