Gyeongju , South Korea -- The Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) joined the CSO Parallel Consultation in conjunction with the 30th FAO-Asia Pacific Regional Conference held in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea on September 27-October 1, 2010. It brought together representatives of farmers, fisherfolk ,indigenous peoples, rural women, rural youth, cooperatives, NGOs and other civil society organizations, and discussed the priority issues that are affecting the food security of the region.
The CSO Consultation aims to provide the official FAO Asia-Pacific Regional Conference (APRC) process critical inputs from the various CSO perspectives and positions on the priority issues they have identified in the February 2010, Manila FAO-CSO Consultation, anchored on the experiences from the ground, especially by the basic rural sectors.
The event also aims to raise public opinion on the issues affecting food security and sovereignty and the need for urgent and immediate actions from FAO and the Member States, especially in the context of the new framework for global governance in food and agriculture aimed at addressing the weaknesses in the global fight against hunger and malnutrition, which is the goal of the reform of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
During the Opening session on September 27, Danilo Ramos, KMP and APC secretary general talked on “Hunger for Justice and the Struggle of Peasants for Land and Reform” as a Keynote Address -- The State of Food and Hunger in Asia and the Pacific: A CSO Perspective by Sub-Region representing Southeast Asia. –see http://csomtgfaoaprckorea.blogspot.com/
At the CFS Side Event of FAO-APRC on September 28, Ramos also presented his statement as a farmer. He said, " if we want to address the root causes of the unprecedented hunger in the world today, we need a global strategic framework that respects the freedom and sovereignty of the people, not free markets; we need respect for bio-diversity and science for the people, not corporate monopoly and control; we need justice, not charity." #