Asian Peoples’ Movement Against ADB

Bali Declaration

Asian Peoples' Movement Against ADB

Koalisi Anti Utang (KAU), Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI), Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (Walhi), Solidaritas Perempuan, Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (Jatam), Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (Kiara), Aliansi Petani Indonesia (API), WALHI Bali, LIMAS Bali, PBHI Bali, Frontier, Koalisi Rakyat untuk Hak atas Air (KruHA), La Via Campesina, Friends of the Earth, Jubilee South – Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development (JS-APMDD), Seafish, Land Research and Action Network (LRAN), Focus on the Global South, Gerakan Rakyat Lawan Neokolonialisme-Imperialisme (GERAK LAWAN)

Denpasar, 05 May 2009

We, representative of peasants, workers, fisherman, women, human rights defenders, environmentalists, students, civil society movements who join the Asian People’s movement against ADB, gathered in Bali concurrently with the Annual Governors' Meeting of ADB which took place on 2-5 may 2009, assure that ADB will not be the answer to the current crises.

For more than 40 years, we have been witnessing and learning that ADB intervention has created food, energy, financial and social crises. We have been witnessing ADB’s full support to private sector as well as full direction to Indonesian government to follow a system that has been proven failed-free market policies. Therefore, ADB debt projects has only increase the number of the poor people in Asia.

 

We, the people of Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippine, Thailand, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Pakistan gather in the Asian Peoples' Summit against ADB in Renon, Bali, Indonesia, to discuss the current crises by the consequences of debt trap and ADB projects in our countries. All of the testimonies in our meeting has consolidated our voices and demand for:

Firstly, debt cancellation to ADB’s projects that are not only illegal, but also deepen debt trap. It has absorbed 20-30% state budget to pay instalment and interest that. As the consequences, our countries must cut social spending, food sovereignty, environment protection that lately create systemic impoverishment to majority of people.

Secondly, we oppose all ADB effort to privatise food, seeds, water, land, energy, marine and coastal, and social spending in Asia. Such effort will close peoples' access and control to their sources of lives and burdening people with higher living cost.

Thirdly, we condemn ADB support to private sector which has strengthen corporation monopoly to energy, fishery, agriculture and natural resource. It only increase deindustrialization, plundering state-owned enterprises and peoples' rights.

Fourthly, we oppose ADB project that has deliberately support project which has damaged environment, created social injustice, and human rights violation. Those activities will harm the peoples' sovereignty; impoverish peasants, fisher folks and especially women.

Therefore, we pledge to cooperate with communities who had become victim of ADB project in Asia to determine fair and sustainable alternative funds and alternative economy. We have proven that the sovereignty of peasants, fisher folks, indigenous people to manage their sources of living are the key to answer the crisis in Asia. We
believe that strengthening social modalities and peoples' control to natural resources are the answer to overcome the current crises.

Therefore, we propose our alternatives such as follows:
1.     An economic paradigm which not only targeting economic growth but also targeting fair and equal distribution.  Economic development must guarantee distribution of welfare to majority of the people.
–       Transforming market economic system to solidarity economic which
will be implemented in distribution of welfare
–       Opposing model of poverty eradication and residual approach model like Direct Cash Aids,  National Program for Self-help Community. We support peoples' empowerment and transform it into “local institutional financial system” which not valued by money.

2.      Mining Practitioners and designer in policy making in most countries never see the research object as derivative problem of complex social-ecological process. There should be essential changes, which put the context of ecological and social crisis that come with the policy making. The mobilisation of primary energy resource and its consumption should reach economic and theoritical domain. Macro economic and its change should not be the based or become exogenic element in supply model, but treated as the object which to be affected by the energy production and consumption.

3.      Peoples' food sovereignty as it was redressed by La Via campasina in 1996 is a truly solution to overcome the food crisis. Food production in local and agroecology model based on family farming together with the development of local finance and a cooperative (people economic enterprises)  will foster local economy, in particularly in rural area.  Food sovereignty includes people’s rights to produce, distribute, and food
consumption. Food sovereignty is not against trade. However, trade must be based on solidarity of producer and consumer.

We, people of Asia hereby declaring that we are able to conduct those alternatives. In fact, so far, those alternatives have been applied in our daily struggle and organization. Government, public, international community and financial institution must learn from people’s movement on how to create bottom-up alternatives which are sustainable both for the humankind and the planet Earth.

We call the people, particularly Asian people, as well as the people of the world, to build solidarity and strengthen economic sovereignty to contest all economic colonialization as promoted by financial institutions like ADB.*****

—
Mohammed Ikhwan
Ketua / Departemen Luar Negeri
Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI)
Tel. +62 21 7991890 Fax. +62 21 7993426
http://www.spi.or.id
Mobile. +6281932099596