(Thiès, 25 April 2019) Under the auspices of the National Council of Consultation and Coordination of Rural People, and with the active participation of its College of Young People, the meeting of the Young People’s Articulation of La Via Campesina is taking place from 26 to 28 April 2019 in Thiès, Senegal.
We, the young people of the La Via Campesina, from the countryside and cities of all regions, will exchange our struggles, our realities, our ideas and our perspectives from each region.
Representing all regions of the world, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia, we are meeting against the backdrop of a global political context that is extremely difficult for young farmers, in which we see our present and our future threatened by multinational companies, agroindustry and imperialism, which are killing our planet, lead to large-scale migration, especially of young people, hoard our land for themselves and use up our natural resources, and seek to impose upon us an individualistic and technocratic model of organization that destroys our cultural heritage and our hopes and dreams.
It is in this worrying context that the struggles led by young people across the globe to reverse climate change and put an end to land grabbing, discrimination, killings, repression and political persecution are picking up pace. We declare our solidarity with those fighting for peace throughout the world.
We reaffirm our commitment to achieving food sovereignty and to the respect of the rights of peasants, the rights of young people for access to land and territories, as well as to our global struggle for agrarian reform and social justice.
