[asia-apec 1799] Food Rights Watch: Focus on Trade and Human Rights

[Anuradha Mittal]

Welcome to Food Rights Watch: Focus on Trade and Human Rights
Food Rights Watch provides information about economic and social human
rights issues in the belief that education leads to action.

Trade agreements such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), have been the institutional
drivers of economic globalization. These trade agreements have attracted
serious criticism from civil society groups who hold them responsible
for further weakening of human rights and labor standards, undermining
public health and national sovereignty, and accelerating environmental
destruction.

The current negotiations and controversy over the rules and governance
of global trade-as being played out in the WTO and the FTAA, among other
venues-threaten to set narrow limits to human aspirations in coming
decades. Negotiations are often shrouded in secrecy, carried out in a
non-transparent way, with little or no participation from those likely
to be negatively affected by their outcome.

Food Rights Watch with focus on trade and human rights, hopes that
education will lead to action. Please read on, forward to friends, send
story ideas, and most importantly- take action!!!

Food First - For Land and Liberty, Jobs and Justice

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U.S.

(1) Food Stamp Call to Action
(2) Welfare Reform: Five Years Later
(3) G.Washington Univ. TO CLOSE! During D.C. World Bank Protests

INTERNATIONAL

(4) Mobilization against starvation in India 
(5) The IMF strikes again. . .
(6) . . .and protests against privatization continue 
(7) Civil Society's Call to Action

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U.S.

(1) Food Stamp Call to Action

The House Agriculture Committee recently passed a version of the Farm 
Bill
that includes some useful reforms of the food stamp program to begin
addressing problems such as people leaving welfare and losing food 
stamps
and the difficult application process. HOWEVER, the U.S. Senate needs to 
go
much, much further in addressing these and other problems which prevent
people from getting the food assistance they need. More must be done,
including restoration of federal food stamp benefits to legal 
immigrants.


Your voice is needed to make sure this message gets through to the 
Senate
during negotiations on the Farm Bill's final details. The Washington 
Post
editorial Short Shrift for Food Stamps (linked below) expresses exactly
what anti-hunger advocates have been saying for the past month: that 
more
of the Farm Bill funding must go to food stamps and further reforms must 
be
included.
Here's what you can do:

Copy and paste the Post editorial (linked below) and send email, fax 
and/or
mail copies to both of your state's Senators (contact info below). 
Attach a
brief note that includes your name and address, why this issue is 
important
to you, and that you'd like a written response. Ask them to insist on a
restoration of benefits to legal immigrants and other needed food stamp
reforms. Urge them to communicate these needs to the Senate Agriculture
Committee Chair, Tom Harkin.

Your Senators' contact info, quickly, by zip code: 
http://www.congress.org

The editorial from the Washington Post, Short Shrift for Food Stamps:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/opinion/A22912-2001Aug16.html



For More Information on Food Stamp Issues, visit: 
http://www.wrahc.org 
http://www.secondharvest.org

_________________________________________________________________

(2) Welfare Reform: Five Years Later

By Martina Gillis, Director of Coalition for Ethical Welfare Reform

August 22, 2001 marked the five-year anniversary of welfare reform,
"ending welfare as we know it," as President Clinton then said. The new
policy has been touted a success by politicians and the media. Welfare
caseloads are at a historic low. Thousands of welfare receipts are now
working. But we can't forget the real face of welfare: women, mothers,
workers, survivors and most importantly, children. Women and their 
children
represent the vast majority of people on welfare.

To really understand the impact of welfare reform, we can't simply count
the numbers. We must look at the quality of life of people on welfare. 
Have
we reduced poverty at the same rate as our caseloads? Are food lines
shorter? Are our families better off after welfare reform? The answer is
"no, no and no".

Mothers on welfare often have to choose whether to pay for housing,
utilities, childcare or food. Since reform was enacted, emergency food
assistance programs across the country have seen a 76 percent increase 
in
requests. While caseloads have been cut by an average of 50 percent,
there's only been a two percent decrease in poverty. Keep in mind these
numbers are from the economic boom years.

The day-to-day face of reform is women are being forced into low-wage,
service-sector jobs with few benefits and less job security. And if 
things
are not easy for recipients in general, they are even more difficult for
women. Remember, women typically only make 75 cents for every white 
man's
dollar. African-American women make only 65 cents, and Latinas only 55
cents.

Women of color face greater discrimination. Studies show that women of
color are being diverted from the welfare rolls and sanctioned off 
welfare
at much higher rates than white women. Research also shows white 
recipients
receive more encouragement, more support and more direct assistance for
childcare, education and training than women of color. Thus, white women
are leaving the rolls at a rate higher due to employment.

For example, my own personal experience as a welfare recipient was
caseworkers would refer women of color to service-sector jobs paying
minimum wage while my white counterparts were referred to office jobs
paying $10 per hour. We must stop and ask ourselves why this bias exists
and what can be done about it.

Federal welfare legislation must be reauthorizated by October 1, 2002.
Congress has a real opportunity to eliminate poverty and increase the
standard of living for poor families. Congress must stop welfare time
limits for women working in low wage jobs; in education or training
programs; in caring for their young children or overcoming domestic
violence. Congress must also boldly address racism and sex 
discrimination
that is destroying the potential of an entire class. This capitalist
society must invest in human capital, if we are to survive.

[Editor's Note: This commentary was produced for TomPaine.com by Steven
Rosenfeld. A version of this commentary first appeared in the San 
Francisco
Bay Guardian. ]

For additional information, please visit:

Grass Roots Organizing for Welfare Leadership (GROWL):
http://ctwo.org/growl 

A study on families going off of welfare:
http://ctwo.org/growl/archive/012101wsws.html 

Welfare Information, an extremely comprehensive site: 
http://www.welfareinfo.org


________________________________________________________________________

(3) George Washington Univ. TO CLOSE! During D.C. World Bank Protests

Source- Jason Boeck, Sarasota Alliance for Safe Foods

George Washington University will close during the D.C. World Bank 
protests
at the end of Sept., so as to prevent its dorms from being used to host
protesters.  5000 students are being told to leave the campus for one 
week.
GW may offer some assistance to locate housing for students. (see:
http://www.gwu.edu/imf.html )

What happened to "freedom of assembly" and "free speech".

If we don't wake up soon and loudly oppose this kind of assault, what's
left of the Bill of Rights will soon be completely destroyed.

During the BioDevastation 2000 Conference in Boston, the FBI pressured 
the
Northeastern University Administration to withdraw from its agreement to
host this peaceful, academic assembly of dissenting scientists and 
social
critics of biotechnology. It took vigorous efforts by the Boston office 
of
the American Civil Liberties Union to block the NU officials attempt to
back out and force them to abide by its commitment to provide school
meeting rooms and auditoria for the conference.

And now this! 5000 students exiled from Campus! What about low income 
and
foreign students?  Are they expected to buy a plane ticket home, or 
should
they just live in a homeless shelter for one week?

Call officials at George Washington University and demand that they 
reverse
this outrageous decision.  Tell them that they must not succumb to the
hysteria and fear mongering being generated by the Washington DC police 
and
federal "security" officials. Tell them that GW University will be held 
in
disrepute if they follow through with this assault, and that it would
destroy any credibility the University may have as a center for study of
democracy, civil rights, and politics in a free society.

George Washington University
Office of the President
Phone: 202 994-6500
FAX: 202 994-0654

Mail: 2121 Eye Street NW Rice Hall 802
Washington DC 20052

http://www.gwu.edu

George Washington Media Guide
http://www.gwu.edu/~media/index.html

Office of Media Relations
http://www.gwu.edu/~media/contact.html

Call us at (202) 994-6460 and ask for a member of GW Public Affairs.

Director of Media Relations: 
Gretchen King 
(202) 994-6463
gking at gwu.edu

Assistant Director of Media Relations: 
Bob Ludwig 
(202) 994-3566
bludwig at gwu.edu

________________________________________________________________________

INTERNATIONAL

(4) Food is a Right, rules India's Supreme Court Summarized From an 
Article

By J. Venkatesan in The Hindu, Online edition of India's National 
Newspaper

NEW DELHI, AUG. 20.  The Indian Supreme Court today maintained that it 
was
the primary responsibility of the Central and State Governments to 
ensure
that the foodgrains overflowing in FCI facilities reached the many 
starving
people and not be wasted by being dumped in the sea or eaten by rats. 
The
Court made this observation based on reports of starvation deaths though
the Food Corporation of India facilities had stocks of over 50 million 
tons
of foodgrains.

At one point, the Bench observed that even if the foodgrains had to be
given free, it should be done as no person should be deprived of food
merely because he had no money. Attorney-General Soli J. Sorabjee termed
it a "horrendous state of affairs" adding there was something radically
wrong with the system and sought time from the court for formulation of 
a
mechanism to provide food to the destitute.

The discussion consisted mainly of identifying access to food as a human
right. The petitioner raised three basic questions: "Does the right to
life mean that people who are starving and who are too poor to buy
foodgrains ought to be given foodgrains free of cost by the state from 
the
surplus stock lying with the state particularly when it is reported that 
a
large part of it is lying unused and rotting?"

"Does not the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution include
the right to food? Does not the right to food, which has been upheld by 
the
apex court, imply that the state has a duty to provide food especially 
in
the situations of drought to people who are drought-affected and are not 
in
a position to purchase food?"

The court was informed about the ineffective implementation of the
food-for-work scheme. It was alleged that hardly 10 per cent of the 
total
number of those who approached for work under the scheme, were allowed 
to
work. Under the scheme, 50 per cent of wages were paid in foodgrains and
the remaining in cash. Mr. Justice Hegde said in Orissa, the FCI godowns
had more grain stocks than actually required by the State and yet people
were dying of starvation.

The court expressed unhappiness over the bureaucratic functioning of the
FCI and the inaction of both the Central and State Governments to come 
to
the rescue of the starving people.  The Bench, which had earlier ordered
notice to the Center and six States, said the court's anxiety was that 
the
poor, destitute and weaker sections of society should not suffer from
hunger and die from starvation. Mere schemes without implementation were 
of
no use and what was important was that food should reach the needy, the
Bench said. It adjourned the hearing till September 3 for passing 
interim
directions.

________________________________________________________________________

(5) IMF "Rescue" Won't Help Latin America - op-ed and news brief 

Op-ed by Mark Weisbrot,
Co-Director of Center for Economic and Policy Research

Fearing "contagion" of the type that spread financial panic from Asia to
Russia to Brazil a few years ago, the IMF has offered a $15 billion 
credit
to Brazil. In order to qualify, Brazil will have to cut another $2.5
billion from its budget, even as its economy is slowing and foreign
investment is drying up. Argentina is also being forced to cut spending,
despite being stuck in a recession for three years.

Now Argentina is being put through the ringer to save its over-valued 
peso.
Interest rates on government bonds have risen to 14 percent, and the
government has borrowed $40 billion in a deal arranged by the IMF. For
comparison, imagine our government borrowing $1.4 trillion (70 percent 
of
our entire federal budget) in order to keep our own, overvalued dollar 
from
falling.

Throughout Latin America, the expertise of the IMF's mad scientists --
always standing by with more loans and unpleasant elixirs to swallow -- 
is
falling into increasing disrepute. In fact, this is the great fear among
the US foreign policy establishment right now: that Latin Americans will
decide that Washington's cures are worse than any disease that they 
could
catch on their own, and will go their own way. Their nightmare: First, a
devaluation of the Argentine peso -- another failed showcase 
macro-economic
experiment. Then Argentina defaults on, or has to renegotiate, its 
foreign
debt.

Read the rest of Mark Weisbrot's editorial at:
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=3D11337

News Brief from IndyMedia.org: Roads Blocked, Workers Strike in Response 
To
Budget Tightening

The Argentine Government announced its new austerity budget at the end 
of
July, in order to be able to continue to pay its foreign debt. Public
workers and pensioners are to lose 13% of their salaries, in a plan
proposed by President Fernando De la Rua and approved by the Argentine
Senate on Monday. These measures came along with the tightening of the
budget for the provinces, the shutting down of public offices and more
severe control over tax collection. Thousands of demonstrators have
convened in Buenos Aires and throughout the country against these new 
"Zero
Deficit" laws. Thirty thousand students, public workers, the unemployed 
and
other people participated in the massive protest in front of the
presidential office in Plaza de Mayo (Buenos Aires) on August 8. Since
1991, Argentina's currency has been pegged to the US dollar, meaning 
that
they have had to keep US$25 billion on reserve in order to prevent their
currency from slipping. Currency devaluation would make it more 
difficult
for Argentina to pay off its US$128 billion debt. Argentina is seeking
billions of dollars of additional loans from the IMF to help it deal 
with
the crisis. The austerity measures are meant to cut this year's expected
US$1.5 billion national budget deficit.

Read more about Argentina's reactions to the IMF's plans: 
http://www.indymedia.org

________________________________________________________________________

(6) Workers demonstrate against Privatization in Burkina Faso

from UN Integrated Regional Information Network - August 17, 2001

More than 1,000 workers from 13 public companies took to the streets of
Ouagadougou on Thursday in response to a call from their unions for a
24-hour strike against the government's decision to privatise their
enterprises.

Chanting slogans such as "No to the auctioning of the national 
heritage!",
"Down with wildcat liberalisation!" and "Down with Bretton Woods
injunctions!", the strikers marched to the Ministry of Labour and Social
Security where they handed a message to Minister Alain Ludovic Tou. "In 
our
message we repeated our opposition to privatisation," said Issobie 
Soulama,
a member of the group of unions that called the strike. "We've seen the
consequences of the first privatisations, which brought about sorrow,
misery and death among workers."

Throughout the country, main and branch offices of strategic companies 
such
as the water and energy utilities were closed on Thursday as a result of
the strike. Residents of Bobo Dioulasso - Burkina Faso's second largest
city  told IRIN by telephone that there was a massive mobilisation of
workers there. However, water and electricity supplies were not 
interrupted
since the companies hired workers to ensure a "minimum service". There 
were
no immediate reports of violence or arrests after the Ouagadougou march.

The unions want parliament to revoke a bill on the privatisation of the
utilities, which it passed in July. However, in a declaration on 
Wednesday,
the government reiterated "its firm will" to pursue economic reforms,
including the privatization programme which it started in 1991. It said 
it
could not stop the reforms in midair.

The government considers its privatisation programme a success. Since 
1991,
it says, it has received some 12 billion CFA (US $16 million) from the 
sale
of state companies, and was able to save some 4,000 jobs. Workers, on 
the
other hand, say more than 4,000 workers lost their jobs in the first 
wave
of privatisations. In June a government audit of public companies showed
that 20 had financial deficits, the highest being the state
fuel-distribution utility, with seven billion CFA (US $9.3 million).

________________________________________________________________________


(7) Alternatives to Neoliberal Globalization: Towards a World Social
Alliance by the First International Encuentro of Social Movements

In August 2001, two hundred and seventy members of international civil
society's social networks, from thirty-nine countries across the globe,
convened to discuss the building of alternatives to neoliberal
globalization. The process furthered at this First International 
Encuentro
of Social Movements, and the proposal of a world social alliance that
emerged, are vital and dynamic assertions of the one "No!" (to
neoliberalism) and many "Yes-es!" (numerous expressions of liberatory
practice) that are being articulated powerfully by global civil society.

This process of convergence of the international social movements will
continue through ongoing discussion and at the Second Encuentro this
January at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  The 
following
are the main highlights from the First Encuentro's call to action:

We are calling on all social organizations, networks and movements in 
the
world:

1. - To mobilize ourselves and to support each other at various 
gatherings
of international action. (listed on the website- see below)

2. - To organize, in all the counties of the American continent, a 
popular
consulta during the year 2002 (possibly in October), so that the people 
can
decide on the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (ALCA), by 
plebiscite.

3.- To continue promoting the World Social Forum as a space for 
interchange
and coordination, and to hold the Second International Encuentro of 
Social
Movements during the next World Social Forum, which will take place in
Porto Alegre, Brazil once again, at the end of January, 2002.

4. - To participate in this emerging process of reflection and 
discussion
as part of the building of a new world social alliance. This proposed
alliance is to be understood not as a new international structure or
apparatus, but as a growing process of convergence of agendas, 
alternatives
and actions, diverse and multi-sector, horizontal and flexible, not as 
an
organizational formula, but as an expression of a need which has arisen
from below.

For more information, please visit: 
http://www.movimientos.org

###

Join the fight against hunger. For more information contact foodfirst at foodfirst.org.

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