THE ASIA-EUROPE PEOPLE'S FORUM

        Interregional network of social movements and civil society organizations across Asia and Europe

Final Declaration

We, over 500 women and men, representing people's organisations and citizens from Asia and Europe joined together between the 13^th and 15^th October 2008 in Beijing at the 7th Asia Europe People's Forum to work 'For Social and Ecological Justice.' We focussed on developing strategies and recommendations to our elected representatives, and to ourselves, as active citizens, for 'Peace and Security,' 'Social and Economic Rights, and Environmental Justice' and 'Participatory Democracy and Human Rights.'

We are here to understand how the world can be remade in another image and how current crises can lead to opportunities with the renewal and regeneration of demands for social justice.                                
                               Charles Santiago, Malaysia

We met at a moment of major historical importance that has brought into sharp focus the drastic inequalities, injustice and poverty experienced by people across Asia and Europe. What is currently being presented as a 'financial crisis' is in reality the latest in a series of interlinked crises - food, energy, climate, human security and environmental degradation - that are already devastating the lives, and compounding the poverty and exclusion faced on a daily basis by billions of women, men and children.

There is a strong consensus across Asia and Europe that the dominant approach over the last decades - based around deregulation of markets, increasing power of multinational corporations, unaccountable multilateral institutions and trade liberalisation - has failed in its aims to meet the needs and rights of all citizens. We need to go beyond an analysis and response that focuses solely on short term measures benefiting a few financial institutions.

Our governments and the citizens of Asia and Europe have a unique and historic opportunity to transform our social, economic and political futures so that all can live in peace, security and dignity. We all need to take responsibilities to work together to create and implement the radical and creative solutions needed for people centred recovery, change and a harmonious world - we will not have this opportunity again.

We therefore call upon the ASEM to implement people centered responses to the current financial crisis, in an effective and responsible manner. Urgent need must be given to poor, excluded and marginalised people and governments must work with citizens to develop and implement policies that will lead to a just, equal and sustainable world, and more accountable and democratic institutions - based on respect for gender equality, our environment and fundamental human rights.

This is a people's forum - state leaders at ASEM should listen to our messages. We need a new type of regulation - markets don't solve problems and we need social and economic justice.                                          Heidi Hautala, Finland

The 7^th Asia Europe People's Forum urges the ASEM and its member governments to take action to recognise the following issues, priorities and recommendations:

1. Peace and Security

-          Develop long term solutions to promote peace, human security and sustainable development that prioritise non-violent means of conflict resolution, people-to-people interactions, use of international conventions and regional co-operation. 

-          Recognise and address security threats both multilaterally and multi-dimensionally through the United Nations, and adhere to principles of international law.

-          Establish an inter-regional conflict resolution mechanism to develop common visions on foreign policy and security, based on respect for national sovereignty and human rights.

-          Fully implement UNSC Resolution 1325 that recognises women are both disproportionately affected by conflict and key actors in promoting peace, reconstruction and reconciliation.

-          Abolish the anti-terrorist laws that have been developed as a response to the 'war on terror' and that are being used on a daily basis to impose restrictions on citizens, and to criminalise peaceful organisations and minorities. Ensure any additional security measures - whether national, regional or international - are subject to democratic scrutiny by citizens, parliaments and respect internationally agreed legislation. 

-          In tackling religious extremism give special emphasis to the role of education and inter- and intra-convictional/faith dialogues at all levels. Ensure full freedom of expression and information to enable rational debate and understanding.

-          Enact national legislation to guarantee full and public disclosure of government defence, arms exports and security budgets.

-          Cut military expenditure that is being funded at the expense of health and education programmes.

-          Democratise the security sector and its policies, programmes and decision making.

-          Implement existing national constitutions that safeguard human security, peace and dialogue.

-          Take concrete steps to strengthen the International Criminal Court.

-          Use the Non-Proliferation Treaty as the basis of regional co-operation and take steps to denuclearise Europe and Asia while striving for a nuclear free world. Strengthen global mobilisation towards a participatory review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2010.

-          Take primary responsibility to control the trade and proliferation of arms. Develop and agree transparent and binding mechanisms, overseen by the UN, to control arms imports and exports.

-          Support civil society in their role and capacity to participate in arms control.

-          Sign and ratify the Cluster Munitions Convention in Oslo in December 2008.

-          Introduce legislation to make the European Code of Conduct on Arms Exports legally binding (with respect to European Union member states) and take steps to negotiate a Code of Conduct (with respect to states in Asia).

-          Include the reduction of armed violence as one of the Millennium Development Goals.

-          Support and protect survivors of the use and effects of weapons of mass destruction. Hold companies responsible for the production of weapons of mass destruction and toxic chemicals to account so that victims are compensated.

-          Undertake legislation to remove US bases from their soil.

-          Ensure the phased withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan within an agreed timetable.

2. Social and Economic Rights, and Environmental Justice

-          Use the opportunity of the current financial and political crisis to put in place an alternative financial architecture and infrastructure that will promote and enable a more equitable, carbon neutral and just global economic system, reclaiming national development policy rights and empowering working people. Financial institutions and financial decision-making must become truly accountable and transparent.

-          Implement social protection policies that have been shown to be affordable and essential in alleviating poverty. Acknowledge that social security for all without discrimination is a universal right (employment guarantee schemes, living pensions, disability benefit, carer support etc).

-          Responding to Climate Change - Develop decentralised, renewable energy sources to combat climate change and contribute to sustainable development. Implement legislation that will support all citizens in reducing their energy consumption.

-          Whilst fulfilling the Kyoto Protocol work together to ensure far reaching and binding agreements in Copenhagen in December 2009 including the firm and binding commitment by OECD countries to reduce emissions by at least 80% within an agreed time period.

-          Substantially cut global emissions based on common yet differentiated responsibilities and support and finance adaptation and mitigation initiatives across the world.

-          Stop financing projects that contribute to hunger, poverty, social and political injustice, and climate change.

-          Ensure that decisions about adaptation funding are inclusive of civil society and reflect the needs, solutions and rights of poor women and men. Transfer the control of Climate Investment Funds and other climate programs to the UN and to stop loan-financing of climate programs.

-          Trade - Renegotiate existing and end current negotiations on all unjust and unfair free trade agreements (bilateral and multilateral).

-          Debt - Cancel or stop payment of all illegitimate debt and end the use of loans and debt relief to impose conditionalities. Conduct a comprehensive and participatory debt review/audit to help establish who owes who.

-          Provide reparation for the ecological and historical debts owed to the South.

-          Debt cancellation is a major requisite for aid effectiveness and aid should not exacerbate the burden of debt. Return stolen assets kept in banks in the G8 and other Northern countries and take steps to prevent tax evasion by transnational corporations and capital flight from South to North.

-          Aid - Ensure that aid is free from imposed trade and procurement conditionalities. Abolish tied aid.

-          Respect and fulfil the right and obligation of all countries and peoples to reverse the harmful policies that have led to the debt, food, and climate crises, such as Structural Adjustment Programmes, unjust Trade Agreements, Investment Protection Treaties and Infrastructure Integration Initiatives. Recognise that people's organizations, social movements, trade unions, NGOs and other citizens' groups as independent development actors, contributing to democratic processes.

-          Food Security - Food safety, sovereignty and access should be at the centre of agricultural and trade policies in order to achieve food security for all and to address the current food crisis.

-          Governments should realize that there are increasing numbers of people living in hunger. Causes include the speculation on grains for agro fuel, grain futures and increased oil prices. Current privatisation, deregulation and liberalisation policies are marginalizing small food producers and grabbing land for the purpose of profit and speculation. The UN Comprehensive Framework for action on the food crisis was developed without consultation with civil society organisation and therefore lacks legitimacy.

-          Responses to the food crisis must take into account the greater impact on women and girls. In the longer term attention must be placed on supporting women small holder farmers and enabling their access and control to land.

-          Respect the right to food and healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods-protecting biodiversity. Food producers and fisherfolk should have access to and control over the means of production (e.g. land, seeds, water, appropriate technology). There must be full recognition of the rights and roles of women in food production.

-          To implement agrarian reform programmes, strengthening local food production and consumption, diversification, controls on agribusiness and decreasing dependence on international markets.

-          Implement a moratorium on agro-fuel production.

-          Take immediate action to curb speculation on food stocks and prices.

-          Ensure that research, science and technology are publicly accountable and address the pressing issues of food security, safety and sovereignty.

-          In the context of stabilizing national food efforts, it is essential that in taking action to secure their own food security, countries do not undermine the human right to food in other countries.

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