Statement on Gender, Economic and Climate Justice by Pacific Women Activists

We are local and young women activists in various countries of the Pacific,  gathered in Suva, Fiji on 6-9 September 2010 for the Regional Training and  Consultation on Gender, Economic and Climate Justice that was convened by the Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN) and the Pacific Network on Globalization (PANG). The Pacific region is confronted by the onslaughts of market forces through processes of trade, financial and services liberalization, and the implication of environmental changes on food security, water scarcity, sea level rise and intrusion. These are
causing major upheavals and chaos in our social relationships, communities and societies at large.


In this context, we need policies and programs that empower communities, families and individuals, rather then exposing us to market assault and the changes in climate that affect land, livelihoods, handicrafts, indigenous medicines, staple food, symbolic wealth and our caring social relationships
that include women’s informal networks of mutual support.

While we are in solidarity with the struggle of people’s movements and nongovernmental organizations, a political response based on a feminist interlinkages perspective on gender, economic, and climate justice, is yet another way by which we can contribute to the development of an alternative paradigm of sustainable development in the Pacific. Such a feminist approach utilizes concepts of social reproduction and women’s right over our bodies and sexualities as core principles in our political analyses and actions. By this we mean that care of individuals should not be bargained away by governments when they negotiate trade and environmental agreements like PACER PLUS, WTO, UNFCC, CBD, etc. In guaranteeing social reproduction, such as health, education, water, livelihoods, etc. the state must also protect and promote the right of women to control our bodies and our sexualities in all places -our homes, schools, communities, etc.This means putting in place a policy, legislative and program environment that:

(a) gives justice to women who are physically and sexually abused and denied
their sexual & reproductive health life & rights;

(b) provides equal access, control and ownership of resources of both land
and the sea;

(c) ensures women’s meaningful participation in decision making in politics
and citizen’s mobilizations;

(d) supports the empowerment and voices of Pacific women to confront aspects of our culture that are hampering our development and autonomy; and

(e) ends all forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, class,
gender identity, sexual orientation and abilities.


We will therefore adopt various strategies aimed at promoting a feminist inter-linkages analyses and activities aimed at: our organizations; constituents and allies; and regional platforms facilitated through
intergovernmental or social dialogues.


We also strongly commit to continue networking with each other as we continually strengthen and recreate a vibrant regional Pacific feminist women’s movement that engages in a politically interlinked way - locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.




Dated: 20 October 2010


This statement has been endorsed by:
Lice Cokanasiga, Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), Fiji;
Nerida-Ann Hubert, Nauru Youth Council, Nauru;
Josephine Kalsuak, SPC/RRRT, Vanuatu;
Rosa Koian, Bismarck Ramu Group, Papua New Guinea;
Eweata Maata, Kiribati;
Arieta Moceica, Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC); Fiji;
Reeti Onorio, School of Development Studies, USP, Kiribati;
Ender Rence, Solomon Islands Development Trust, Solomon Islands;
Lu'isa Samani, Women's and Children's Crisis Centre, Tonga;
Kairangi Samuela, Cook Islands Women's Counselling Centre: Punanga
Taturu, Cook Islands;
Filomena Tuivanualevu, Fiji Women's Rights Movement, Fiji;
Sainimere Veitata, Nesian350, Fiji.

Kia Ora Gaza

International Aid Convoy to Gaza

Day 34: 21 October 2010

Notes:

• Times: All times given are those of Egypt and Gaza. Their clock is 11 hours behind New Zealand time.

• Messages: The contents of this bulletin are real time texts from our Kiwi volunteers on their way to Gaza. Texts have been edited for readability.

• Writers: Roger Fowler and Chris van Ryn.

• Photos: Azra to Gaza blog.

http://kiaoragaza.wordpress.com/

Kia Ora Gaza was part of an international aid convoy that finally reached Gaza today after 34 days of travelling.

The convoy of 400 volunteers from 30 countries driving 150 vehicles was carrying medical supplies worth NZ$7 million and entered the region via the Egyptian-controlled Rafah Gate.
Rafah is the only land entrance to Gaza not under the control of Israel’s military
The team of six Kiwi volunteers joined the aid convoy led by Viva Palestina in heading to Gaza following the shooting of nine members of an aid flotilla by Israeli soldiers in May.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Aid-convoy-finally-reaches-Gaza/tabid/417/articleID/182594/Default.aspx

 

Save Rapanui Benefit Los Angeles

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lono Kollars, Kaleponi Advocates for Hawaiian Affairs
Phone: 951.534.3750
E-mail: lono.kollars@yahoo.com

SAVE RAPA NUI: EASTER ISLAND IN CRISIS
with Rapa Nui Film, Music, Art and Discussion to Support the Indigenous People in Crisis

When: Thursday, October 28, 2010, from 6:00PM - 11:00PM

Where: Barnsdall Art Park, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, LA, CA 90027

VIP Reception and Seating: $50 (at 6:00pm)
General Admission: $25

Info: Santi Hitorangi, United Nations Representative for Rapa Nui and Longtale International will be co-hosting a screening and panel discussion of the documentary “BEING RAPANUI,” a Rapa Nui perspective, with an exhibition and silent auction of Rapa Nui Petroglyphs rubbings as well as other art donated by La Luz de Jesus Gallery to help support the struggle of the Rapanui indigenous people to keep their ancestral homelands on Easter Island.

The event is sponsored by: KAHA, (Kaleponi Advocates of Hawaiian Affairs), Imipono Projects, VC (Visual Communications), Longtale International and La Luz de Jesus Gallery

Traditional Pacific Island haka and entertainment, live musicc and DJ Ninja Simone (Soul Sessions).

Los Angeles, CA—

Rapa Nui, also known as Isla de Pascua, but better known as Easter Island, is part of the Polynesian Triangle that stretches from Hawaii to the North, Rapa Nui to the East and New Zealand to the South. Easter Island has long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. How and why did its inhabitants carve and transport the massive statues (Moai) which surround the island? What remains of this culture today, and what lessons can we learn from their legacy?

Rapa Nui is one of the most remote places on the planet. Their closest neighbor, Pitcairn Island with fewer than a hundred inhabitants, is about 1,300 miles to the West. Continental Chile is about 2,200 miles to the East. It is a U.N. World Heritage site, famous for its monolithic Moai, stone statues created and moved by the islanders’ ancestors.

Until 1888, Rapa Nui was unclaimed by any foreign country. The island lacked rivers and trees, and a safe anchorage. Chile annexed the island under the impression that it had agricultural potential and strategic possibilities as a naval station. Formal annexation brought little change to the island until 1896 when Chile placed the island under the jurisdiction of the Department of Valparaiso. The island was turned into a vast sheep ranch under the direction of a Valparaiso businessman, Enrique Merlet, who confiscated buildings and all animals left to the Rapanui by the missionaries who had fled the island in the wake of Dutrou-Bornier's reign of terror. Islanders were forced to build a stone wall around the village of Hangaroa and, except for work, permission was needed to leave the area even to fetch water from the crater. Those who revolted against these perverse rules were exiled to the continent, few returned.

As of August 4th, 2010, the people of Rapa Nui have non-violently re-occupied the lands that had been unlawfully taken by Chile from their grandparents. The Chilean government has responded by sending in armed forces. As the Rapa Nui people strive to reclaim their island and independence, the islanders may be on the brink of extermination at the hands of Chilean forces.

A peaceful resolution would be the hope for restoration to the world and a new beginning for Te Pito O Te Henua “the Navel of the World,” what the early settlers called Rapa Nui.

The Indian Law Resource Center in Washington D.C. has agreed to represent the Rapa Nui families and the Rapa Nui Parliament.

Although many people think the island is deserted and the Moai are a mystery, the Rapa Nui are very much alive and has been a civilization of master engineers, artists and survivalists for nearly 2000 years.

For more information about Rapa Nui, contact Susan Hitorangi: (845) 596 5403,
Tepitoproductions@mac.com or go to SaveRapa Nui.org.

The Barnsdall Gallery Theater is owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs

All Power To The People (1996) Part 1

A film by Lee Lew Lee Opening with a montage of four hundred years of race conflict in America, this powerful documentary provides the historical context for the establishment of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in the mid-1960s. Organized by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton, the Party soon embodied every major element of the civil rights movement which preceded it and the Black, Brown and Red power movements which it helped pioneer. The Party struck fear in the hearts of the white capitalist power structure, which feared it as a terrorist group. During the Nixon years, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI, with the cooperation of the CIA, used all means at their disposal to infiltrate and derail the Black Power movement. Methods of state repression included assassination, frame-ups, dirty tricks and black propaganda. Witnesses include not only Party veterans and other Black Power pioneers and political prisoners such as Mumia Abu-Jamal, Dr. Muthulu Skakur and Dhoruba Bin Wahad, but also "establishment" figures like former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, CIA officer Philip Edward Agee, and retired FBI agents. Yet, the documentary is not a paean to the Panthers, for it criticizes the megalomania, corruption, and narcissism of some Party leaders, while it praises their courage and idealism. Whether or not one is sympathetic to the Black Panthers, the film is an important historic look at the political and racial turmoils of the 1960s and an up-close look at the leading players

Kolumbus Day in Amerikkka

Event Guide BPP History Month Oakland Public Libraries

See Also : http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/

AntiCapitalist Public Service Announcement