[WSF-Discuss] Fw: [money_banks_crisis] Paris Declaration Jan. 2009 by NGOs, social movements and trade unions

[kolya abramsky]

--- On Wed, 14/1/09, friday <friday at riseup.net> wrote:

> From: friday <friday at riseup.net>
> Subject: [money_banks_crisis] Paris Declaration Jan. 2009 by NGOs, social movements and trade unions
> To: money_banks_crisis at lists.riseup.net
> Date: Wednesday, 14 January, 2009, 7:45 PM
> sorry, I am not sure - I guess this was not on the list yet?
> Was anybody from this list at the meeting?
> 
> ------
> 
> The Paris Declaration
> We won't pay for your crises ? it is time for change!
> 
> More than 150 representatives of trade unions, farmers'
> movements, global justice groups, environmental groups,
> development groups, migrants' groups, faith-based
> groups, women's groups, the have-not movements, student
> and youth groups, and anti-poverty groups from all over
> Europe gathered on the 10th and 11th of January 2009 in
> Paris to analyse collectively the current crises, to develop
> joint strategies and to discuss joint demands and
> alternatives in response to these crises.
> 
> As the financial and the economic crises intensify,
> millions of women and men are losing their jobs, houses and
> livelihoods. Tens of millions more are forecast to join the
> 1.4 billion people already living in extreme poverty. The
> crises worsen the social, ecological, cultural and political
> situation of the majority of people on our planet.
> 
> Despite the evident and foreseeable failure of the current
> economic model, world leaders are responding by trying to
> preserve the system that is responsible for the crises.
> Governments have been quick to bail out bankers, corporate
> share holders and their financial backers with hundreds of
> billions in public money. To solve the problem, they put
> into place bankers and heads of corporations: the same
> actors that created the crises. The workers, the jobless,
> the poor ? all those affected have received no help in their
> daily struggle to make ends meet, and to cap it all, they
> are now supposed to pay the bill.
> 
> Governments' proposals to deal with the unfolding
> economic crisis do not address the other dimensions of the
> crisis we face today ? global justice, food, climate and
> energy ? and with it the need to transform the economic
> system towards one that allows us to satisfy the basic needs
> of all people, to implement all human
> rights and to restore and preserve the ecological basis of
> life on our planet.
> It is time for change!
> 
> We can build a system that works for people and the
> environment, a system to serve the needs of the many, a
> system based on the principles of public benefit, global
> equity, justice, environmental sustainability and democratic
> control.
> 
> As a first step, immediate measures must be implemented to
> address the social impacts on people, whilst supporting the
> ecological conversion of the economy.
> 
> We call upon all social movements in Europe to engage in a
> process of change. To start with, we call upon movements
> 
> - to engage in the mass mobilisation for the central
> demonstration in London on the 28th of March 2009 ahead of
> the G20 meeting, or to take to the streets in their own
> countries that same day to make their voices heard. 20
> governments cannot decide on the future of the global
> financial system and economy.
> 
> - to undertake a day of action in the week of the G20
> meeting, preferably on the 1st of April (Financial
> Fools' Day) all across the world, exposing unaccountable
> financial power and promoting democratic control of finance.
> 
> This meeting is a further step in a long?term process of
> building spaces for European networks to meet. Recognising
> and drawing on previous and future mobilisations of social
> movements and civil society organizations in Europe and all
> over the world, it builds on ongoing efforts developed at
> the European Social Forum and elsewhere, aimed at realising
> a democratic and socially and environmentally sustainable
> Europe. We commit to intensify cooperation and communication
> among our networks and organisations with the aim of
> building capacity for sustained mobilisation and the
> development of joint alternatives. We are committed to
> supporting and encouraging all people to have their voices
> heard in reshaping their societies.
> 
> We will meet again on the 18th and 19th of April 2009 in
> Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in order to develop the next
> steps of mobilisation and strategies towards change. We call
> upon all social movements and social organisations to join
> this process.