While women took part in the establishment and building of La Via Campesina in different territories and international spaces, a collective struggle was necessary to get space and exposure, as well as to push feminism as a struggle that cannot be separated from the peasant struggle and the struggles of the peoples of the world.
Throughout the history of La Via Campesina, there has been immense progress in the political participation of women. We have built and conquered several spaces with wisdom and daring. Nothing has been gifted to us. Gender parity in the political coordination of the movement is perhaps a particularity in an agrarian movement, but it is not the only demand we have.
As the situation of millions of migrants and their families worsens globally, La Via Campesina calls on States to ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrants and their Families. The peasant movement rejects the proposed EU agreement on migration and reiterates its unwavering support to the struggle for rights and dignity of migrants.
As people who embody these diversities, we do not ask to be tolerated; this is not about pity or charity. This is about knowing that a socially diverse movement for agroecology and food sovereignty is a stronger movement and that the liberation of everyone is intertwined with the liberation of our societies. Diversity is at the heart of Food Sovereignty, in all territories!
Explore the transformative agenda set by the 5th International Assembly of La Vía Campesina’s Youth Articulation in Bogotá. From advocating for Palestinian solidarity to addressing global agricultural crises, the assembly delves into pressing issues like generational continuity, climate justice, and technology challenges.
During its 8th International Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, from 1 to 8 December 2023, La Via Campesina issued several solidarity statements to express its support for peasants and indigenous communities worldwide. The peasant movement advocates for the struggles for food sovereignty, climate justice and the rights of peasants.
We, the peasants, rural workers, landless, indigenous peoples, pastoralists, artisanal fisherfolk, forest dwellers, rural women, youth and diversities and other peoples who work in the countryside around the world and united within La Via Campesina, declare that “Faced with global crises, we build food sovereignty to ensure a future for humanity!” towards a just and decent food system for all, recognizing peoples’ needs, respecting nature, putting people before profit and resisting corporate capture.
On the 6th of December, hundreds of LVC representatives gathered in Bogotá, to debate the movement’s strategic priorities for the next four years. The articulation of this action plan emerged directly from the deliberative discussions and critical analyses of regional realities that have been the focus of the first few days of the 8th International Conference.
The 8th LVC International Conference is a space for critical reflection on the structural forces creating global crises, and the power of this moment to build connections between grassroots movements that are developing alternative worlds in the present. It presents an opportunity to deepen understanding of the contradictions and grassroots strategies of resistance.
La Via Campesina, recognizing the importance of engaging and facilitating parents participation, especially women, in the debates and decision-making spaces of the movement, is providing a childcare service during this 8th International Conference. A group of 15 children aged between 2 to 12 years old are being cared for while their parents participate in the conference proceedings.
