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‘Developing Nonviolent Leadership’: Final webinar on the series on ‘Building Capacities for Justice and Peace’ – July 04, 2020

Jai Jagat 2020Conference reportsSeptember 13, 2020

The final webinar’s theme, to conclude a series of 8 sessions over the last one month, is nonviolent leadership. There is clearly a disconnect between the young people and the kind of leadership, particularly the political leadership we see today which seems to be so rooted in the culture of violence. Is it then even possible to talk of nonviolent leadership? Afterall there are no examples that we see of nonviolent leadership, whether it is in communities, in social movements, in schools and our universities. How then can we resist violence in our everyday life on a daily basis. Cultivating leadership that is committed to nonviolence forms the main topic of the webinar. This is dealt within four thematic areas sequentially after framing of the context in the first session; leadership in social movements, community leadership and educational leadership. The 5th and last session focused on nonviolent leadership in the future. Session one: Framing the Context The current model of leadership is modeled on singular leadership with its concurrent rise in authoritarian elected figures in recent times across the world as pointed out by both Shashi Tharoor and Tony, Hence the focus of the session was to look at the new ways of nonviolent resistance movements on a social and community level leadership. An important observation that emerged was how we have been moving from singular leadership to collaborative leadership which is very different from populist leadership (Maya., Bernard, Shahi). The root of this new kind of political culture can be seen since the 2008 financial crisis. We see more involvement of young people who are engaging in nonviolent movements. Session 2: Leadership in Social Movements Seven different leaders participated in this session that highlighted different forms of nonviolent and non-singular leadership. This can be misjudged as leaderless movement but as Kejal pointed out, it was more of being ‘leaderful’ where every member feels the responsibility and involvement in the movement. She along with other participants spoke about how they are increasingly taking up collective leadership-collective decision makers that are jointly taking decisions. A project highlighted how different group take different sessions so no particular hierarchy. So, the social movement organizing is changing from 20-30 years ago. Gradual modernization continues, as per tony, and he spoke as did a few others about the importance of grassroot organizing but how the challenges have really changed and how engagement at the grassroots was much more difficult.now. Session 3 – Community leadership The session with representatives from different countries discussed their ways of developing nonviolent leadership at the community level. To summarize, what came out was how the community leadership building is really about stressing community autonomy in ways that have not been there before. Here we saw how leaderships are emerging in very diverse ways and sometimes do not conform to our ideas of what community looks like. They're challenging in very unique way the status-quo or those groups that are resisting the community leadership coming up. Session 4 - On Educational leadership  The session, facilitated by the eminent educationist and Gandhian, the Canada based Reva Joshee. The participants were mostly educationists and activists who spoke on several important points. One of the participants, Fatima, speaking from a very interesting vantage point of a progressive Muslim perspective looked at how the Muslim communities need to embrace much greater diversities and attacked the views propagated in the mainstream with even scholarship on the subject tends to “adopt an anti-Islamic lens which makes them view it as reductionist and literalist text through selective pieces of Islam misinterpreted through decontextualization”. Her presentation, thus, focused on nonviolence in Islam.as she went on to draw attention to how Gandhi had spoken of Imam Hussein as an inspiration for his satyagraha.  This was followed by presentations on 'emancipatory pedagogy’ and 'critical pedagogy'. These emphasized on the need for a more local based epistemology. The session highlighted 'Love' as something extremely vital to get people to deeply think and participate in their own education and empowerment and how important school is as part of the community. Another educationist spoke of a study hall in Lucknow, India which has been working for many years to bring women's issue into education and does a lot of activism in villages. The study school is also a place where very marginalized women are also studied. They also get students to be aware of how girls should be confident and should be able to define education in a way which empowers them rather than becoming another cog in the whole machinery of a capitalist system-based education. Urvashi closed the session with the importance of bringing about a culture of non-hierarchical contextualized education. The session highlighted the role of teachers as role models of nonviolence and how empathy and love play an important role in the relationship between the teachers and students. Session 5 – Developing Nonviolent Leaders in the Future Jill Carr-Harris, international coordinator and co-architect of the Jai Jagat campaign facilitated this session where eminent thinkers presented their views on views on nonviolent leadership and how it can be developed in the future. She raised three questions for the sessions with the first one concerning the trust issues that the young people have with the leaders today; the best ways in their opinions to assist young people today to embrace 'sewa', working closely with people, with farmers etc. into our leadership model; and finally, on the concept of ‘inclusiveness’. Several points and insights that emerged from the answers from eminent thinkers and nonviolent activists. There was clearly a shift towards a more collaborative, participative, consensual and leaderless approach to nonviolent leadership. It was interesting to note how the young people are increasingly getting involved in nonviolent protest movements like the ‘velvet revolution’ in Armenia and in the two very different movements that showcased this collective and collaborative leadership in the ‘Black lives matter’ movement and the ‘Indigenous civil resistance’ movement in Latin America.  All the panelists agreed on the need for horizontal relations and the need to teach from below-to above leaders with the intention of breaking the power asymmetry in the hierarchical relations and be in a kind of equalization relation and horizontal relation. Examples of movements like ‘the walk-out movement and the ‘Cycle Yatra’ were examples of radically rejecting the current global structure. The need to break down self- created boundaries and lead towards a horizontal model of leadership was emphasized in the session and generating a culture of trust and move towards a gift culture away from the money culture and to build intergenerational dialogues to ensure greater inclusiveness were some other learnings from this final session. Mohsin Wali  Development researcher and Peace Activist   Jai Jagat Communication Team  

The Wardha Peace Conference – 30 Jan

Jai JagatConference reportsFebruary 1, 2020

The padyatra ended its four months of the Indian leg of the yearlong peace march today with the third and last day of the peace conference held in Sewagram, Ashram, Wardha, Gandhi's home during his last 12 years. The marchers will be staying in the Ashram for two days before leaving for Delhi in preparation for the rest of the march in foreign soils. The beautiful Sewagram ashram was the venue for the last topic on nonviolent governance. The panel was moderated by Milund Kothari, UN rappateur for housing rights, and included Meenakshi Natarajan, former MP, and working on Panchayati Raj, Reva Joshee, educationist from Canada; Rana ji, former MLA, Jharkhand; and Father Nicholos Barda, activist working in Odisha. All of them are Gandhians in their respective fields and spoke of India in Gandhi's framework of Swaraj, defined as a self sufficient, self dependent country. The conclusion emphasized the values of compassion, service and accountability as necessary values for a nonviolent governance. People's participation in decision making was deemed of paramount importance asking with a constructive dialogue on policy where all are equal stakeholders to facilitate a nonviolent model of governance. Meenakshi spoke of how the need is to create village based governance instead of the current state based model. The morning started with eminent Gandhians, including the present and former director of the Sewagram ashram who interacted with the padyatrees and gave them their blessings. The padyatrees got to meet a group of marchers from Europe, twin marchers who began their 45 countries long march also on the 2nd of October, 2019. They shared the experiences of their march, called the Second World March, and the positives and negatives of their observations, noting that the things in general have gotten worse for people since their first march in 2009. The Sewagram director felicitated the padyatrees in the evening which was followed by an interreligious prayer to end the day.

The Wardha Peace Conference – 28-30

Jai JagatConference reportsJanuary 29, 2020

The peace conference, 28-30 Jan, began on the 129th Day of the Jai Jagat yatra. The three day conference marks the end of the four months of the Indian leg of the yearlong Jai Jagat global peace march. It is organized around the theme of integrating nonviolence in governance, economy, and education song with a discussion on Gandhi being the way forward. The event is being hosted by the Mahatma Gandhi International University, Wardha, and saw about 250 people register for the event. The conference began in the presence of honorary guests, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel Ji, Culture minister, Prof Rajnish Shukla and Prof Chandrakant Ragit, Sushri Radha Bhatt, Shri Bal Vijay Ji, Shri Rajgopal & Jill Carr-Harris. The round table conference opened with the topic on education for peace. Moderated by S.C. Behar, the distinguished participants including the Reva Joshee, the famous educationist, presented their viewpoint around the value system that informs peace education and the radical changes required to encourage it. It became clear that piece education is a continuous practice and needs to contextualized with justice. Later in the day, Anuradha Sharma spoke on Kasturba Gandhi where she highlighted her dual role as Gandhi's wife and freedom fighter. The event was interspersed with the Jai Jagat songs and sharing of experiences of the four months of the yatra by Jai Jagat padyatrees. A book, 'Gandhi ji ki Ahimsa Drishti' (Gandhi's vision of non-violence) by Ajit and Manoj. The much awaited Art for Peace exhibition, connected by Vikram, was also launched. In the evening, the Jai Jagat team spoke with Karin Reyan (Director - Carter Center USA) and Jason Parker (Media Expert) in a video conference to share the experiences from the march so far. Women's time as peace builders and make stakeholders in the process of developing was emphasized. The event ended with a cultural performace by Tritha Sinha with an amazing rendition of classical songs in a fusion style. She was accompanied by famous hand pan musician from Europe.

Youth Development Conference – Harda

Jai JagatDeveloping Capacities for Justice and Peace, Global Peace March, Training reportDecember 28, 2019

Building up on the Timarini Youth Training, a Youth Development Conference was held in Harda, Madhya Pradesh. The event was organized around a dialogue on Peace, justice, love and inclusion was held in Harda. The conference saw a huge participation by the youth with nearly 400 young people in attendance. Apart from the dialogues, panel discussions with a group of representatives from the youth, visit to the Gandhi kuti, a hut where Gandhiji had stayed, school and college visits and a meeting with the collector were the main events of the two days. The event was organized by Synergy Sansthan, a local NGO which works toward building a collective of good citizens amongst the rural youth with a vision to create a healthy, educated, free from exploitation and an equal and just, harmonious, and peaceful society. Other supporting organization were SHEDO, Tinka, and ‘Voice of Youth’. The event began with cultural programs. A traditional folk dance of Madhya Pradesh was performed by young girls and boys. Yuvalay, a youth engagement organisation performed a street play, they tried to portray problems like Eve teasing, Education, Poverty, Land rights etc. through their play. A young girl who introduced Jai Jagat said, “We as youth can learn justice and peace not by reading about it in books but by seeing it in our adults, our parents, our teachers and people around us. A panel discussion was also a part of this event where a group of young people raised questions that were answered by the panel. The panel consisted of Mudit Srivastava, a core walkers and other activists including Shilpa, who worked with youth engagement programs at Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Radhika from Synergy organization, Ex MLA Mr. Dangne, Mr. Shyam and Mudit Shrivatsava one of the core marcher from Jai Jagat Yatra. The questions revolved around the importance of working with youth, and bringing justice and peace. Conversation of this panel started with the question of importance of dialogues on peace and nonviolence to the youth and teenagers. Four important questions raised were: 1. How to deal with discrimination that is so prevalent in the society at every stage?erently when a questioner wished to know the difference in education standards in government and public schools. An important point raised was why do the children of government employees do not go to government school but study in private ones instead. The question raised the issue of inequal standards in education. 2. How to deal with discrimination that is so prevalent in the society at every stage? 3. The third question raised the issue of inter-generational gap and exclusion concerning decisions about the young people. One young person said that parents never included children even when the conversation was about the children. He asked, ‘how can they involve us into their conversation? 4. The last question was based on the divide between arts and science. This is a problem of mindset for it is generally believed that engineering or medical are the only two options for a safe future and for these one must pursue science after high school when the decision to opt for subjects is taken. In fact the decision is based on one’s scores in high school which creates a lot of unnecessary stress and a tutorials based society where children work hard to be able to get science in class XI. This, of course, is not the child’s decision but a social issue as a child’s present is sacrificed for the sake of an economical and perceived socially mobile future. As a result, Arts is neglected and potential talents are discouraged while other section that might have been interested in humanities and social sciences are also discouraged because of these prejudices. Jill Carr Harris drew the attention of the young audience towards the prevailing violence all around them and particularly symptomatic in the virtual technologies of the internet age. She said, "When we use our mobile, we are at once connected globally; we need to be mindful of the nature of content we watch, do and share on internet; most of the content on the internet be it war games, or news, is full of violence. She encouraged them to take up projects based on Jai Jaigat’s four pillars and to share their work with the team. She cited an example of Grade 5 children in Canada who have taken up a cyber peace project to use internet and mobile to share the message of building caring and compassionate relationships. The team met and interacted with school children the next day and proceeded to interact with students from colleges where the yatra and the four pillars were introduced. The youth team of the Jai Jagat yatra also performed a skit that aimed to sensitize them on nonviolence. Some representatives from the youth team of core walkers, interacted with the college students and spoke of their experiences of the walk and also addressed the issues of violence and environment. A group of padyatris accompanied Rajagopal for a meeting with the collector along with a group of local youth who were part of the training. Rajagopal during the interaction said, ‘My dream of a discussion between governance, local youth and social activists has come true in Harda. This is the beginning of a nonviolent governance that is open to listening’. He added, compassion has its own strength; one can create conflict-free villages by imbibing the quality of compassion. Let us encourage social movements that are nonviolent. Let’s work towards making Harda a nonviolent district, make it pedestrian friendly, women friendly, differently-abled friendly. Let’s make nonviolence a way of life, of culture”. In the afternoon the team visited Gandhi Kuti, a hut where Gandhi had stayed during his visit to Harda in 1933. This historical experience marked the last of the programs scheduled for the stay at Harda.

Youth Training – Timarini

Jai JagatDeveloping Capacities for Justice and Peace, Global Peace March, Training reportDecember 28, 2019

The Jai Jagat padyatris were scheduled for a training program in the Timarni of Harda district in M.P. The one day event held on the 13th of December 2019 was organized around an interactive session with jai Jagat team and the young attendees on nonviolence and the core values and mission of the year long walk. The event saw overwhelming participation with nearly 350 young people present during the cultural events and training program. The event was organized by Social Health and Education Development Organization (SHEDO), an NGO that works in the Timarini block of Harda district, Madhya Pradesh. SHEDO are working with Youth for their development through influencing transformation in the self to bring about social changes that could build a better future for the well-being of all. It is this commitment to change that inspired their interest in the Jai Jagat movement. They wanted to learn how to bring this change through the Gandhian message of Ahimsa which shows their commitment to bring about profound and truly transformative change in and around them. Synergy and Tinka were other local organizations that co-organized the event. Completely led by the youth, the event managed to create a vibrant democratic space, decorated by sustainable material and art work by the organizers. The program was anchored by youth of the organisations and the event layout was designed in a way to touch upon various aspect of the Yatra. The event began with a performance by 'Folk Studio', a musical band that sings traditional Bhujaria songs with its message of peace. It was followed by a Kathak performance, a classical dance form originating in Kerala, presented by a young girl from the Timarini city. Members of the Jai Jagat team spoke of the vision and objectives of Jai Jagat yatra and shared their own experience of being on the road for last 73 days. The main theoretical understanding of the principles of the Jai Jagat movement were introduced in an interactive session with Rajagopal P.V., the eminent Gandhian under whose leadership this movement has been organized, and Jill Carr-Harris, the international coordinator of the journey. Rajagopal P.V. addressed the youth delineating the history of violence that unfolded in the wake of the Second World War followed by the arms race of a bipolar world during the cold war. He drew the young minds towards the violence rooted in the socio-political and economic world we live in and how every small step we take, potentially can be a point of departure from this violent standpoint. In an insightful session, Jill Carr-Harris spoke on the need to evolve a worm’s viewpoint as opposed to a bird’s eye view in order to suggest how one can include the last person. Looking from a worm’s standpoint implies looking at things that are near to the sight. This viewpoint enables looking for the last person and also counters the top-down policy model as it is through bottom-up process that true village level changes can be introduced and those left behind in the discourse and practice of development included. Our education system speaks of theory and things that do not matter or affect our daily life and surroundings. Gandhi had suggested a near-far approach as an alternative to the modern system of education. Jill spoke of issues that the young could connect with drawing on the nonviolence framework in each instance. The training reached its highpoint in the dialogue session as students raised some pertinent questions. These were taken by Rajagopal and Jill who ended the sessions with an appealing speech that also tackled all the four questions posed. The issues of nonviolence in modern education was the first up raised by a post-doctoral student. The second question revolved around the responsible use of social media while another question touched upon inter-generational gap. Lastly, a young rapper questioned the practice of nonviolence in the face of rampant and violent caste-based discrimination and repression that has been on the rise in the country. In response to the first question, Rajagopal said that the issue of education was primarily that of the issue of how we understand modernity. Modernity must come internally instead of being an external manifestation alone. Jill in an emotional speech addressed the questions and suggested the need to change the lens of violence through which we look at the world and even our social relations. She suggested the space for constructive dialogues to address inter-generational gap while for social media she asked the young people to act responsibly and use the virtual space constructively. The program ended with bravery awards to the young people of Timarini followed by solidarity speeches by the local dignitaries. The following day some fifty young people accompanied the padyatris to Harda where another training program was conducted.

Vidisha Training of Core Marchers (November 19th to 21st 2019)

Jai JagatDeveloping Capacities for Justice and Peace, Global Peace March, Training reportDecember 4, 2019

The training helped to form families of diverse groupings in order to blend different cultures and languages. This was a successful model of organizing, that later was used by the yatrees to organize its daily activities. The Vidisha training built on the Lalitpur in these sense that it used different nonviolent communication methods to strengthen the group and build emergent leadership. One of the highlights of the training was how it focused on participants opening to other perspectives; Rajagopal’s presentation on poverty and land rights, and building social movements was critical for people to assist them in reflecting back on the six weeks of interactions in the march. Also the participants from the International Land Coalition, who arrived shortly prior to the Vidisha training, got an exposure to nonviolence in organizing marginalized communities on land.

Lalitpur Training of Core Walkers

Jai JagatDeveloping Capacities for Justice and Peace, Global Peace March, Training reportDecember 4, 2019

This was a two-and-half day training that was reviewing the four pillars of the Jai Jagat along with an exploration into Gandhi’s nonviolence. The methods used by the trainers were games, group work and art-based interactions. On the second day people recorded videos of presentations on the four pillars, the logic being that they would gradually work on perfecting them as they moved towards Geneva. The training was conducted by two well-known Canadian “process” trainers: Debbie O’Rourke and David Fletcher. Their primary emphasis was on teambuilding bringing the Ekta Parishad workers into closer association with the international walkers and the Indian urban youth participants.

Training on nonviolence in Sweden

Jai JagatDeveloping Capacities for Justice and Peace, Training reportMarch 1, 2018

Jill Carr-Harris went to Sweden in December 2017 to give trainings on nonviolence to two schools. Annette Larsson and some of her colleagues invited us to train ten separate classes in the La Gardia Secondary School. Some of the teaching staff in the social sciences and humanities met to discuss how to further integrate these concepts of nonviolence and (social, economic and political) inclusion into the courses. They believe it to be very timely given the politics of the day. Twenty students in the Preparatory School for New Swedes took part in a training. These refugees are from Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Zambia and Myamar. They looked at the issue of nonviolence and realised that they come from communitarian societies and have something to contribute to Swedish society. Although they feel somewhat segregated from the Swedish high school by studying in a separate location, they looked at ways that they could begin a greater integration process so that their language and fluency in the culture would increase. It was evident that if they learn to integrate in high school, that they will be more integrated in society. In follow up to April 2017’s meeting in Lipkoping, twelve people came together to participate in a daylong training on nonviolence. A group of 15-20 Swedish friends aware of nonviolent training will try to raise funds to come to India for further capacity building. They felt this to be necessary before undertaking a large march from Goteberg to Geneva. One-day training was given to students in the University in Goteberg. The focus point was how leadership development is a key part of the Ekta Parishad training. The group discussed how building capacities was central to the success of any nonviolent action. The Togetherness group (SAME) in partnership with Lena Martinsson is also going well in preparing for the Jai Jagat march. Their main focus at the moment is the local problem of refugee resettlement. Then, we met three people in the Swedish Parliament. Firstly, the Head of the Women’s Wing of the Social Democratic Party, Carina Olsson; secondly, the Chairman of Forum Syd, and who is also a Member of Parliament in the Social Democratic Party, Kent Harstedt; and the MP for the Green Party, Agneta Borjesson, for furthering linking the Greens to the Jai Jagat 2020

Motion by the city of Paris

Jai JagatConference reportsMarch 1, 2018

Rajagopal visited Paris from November 30th to December 3rd, 2017. A meeting with numerous organisations was held on December 2nd. The World Social Forum (WSF) delegates that attended were keen to see a group from Ekta Parishad join them in the next WSF in Brazil in March 2018. At the initiative of the Greens Party, the city of Paris also passed a motion supporting the Jai Jagat campaign. We try to build a network of municipalities supporting the Jai Jagat campaign. Rajagopal met Chicko Wittaker, one of the founders of the World Social Forum. He also met Jean Pierre Dardaud, Joseph Bouliot, and Yves Bertelot.

Gandhi Foundation at the Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Jai JagatConference reports, Nonviolent Governance and Conflict ResolutionJuly 15, 2014

On the occasion of the opening of the Gandhi Foundation at the Tbilisi State University, Georgia, on June 30th, 2014, Rajagopal PV (Ekta Parishad) and Jill Car-Harris (IGINP) visited the Georgian friends of the Jai Jagat 2020 Campaign. Meetings were held for three days to celebrate the opening of the Foundation and the engagement of Georgia in the Jai Jagat 2020 Campaign. They were presided by our friends and prominent board members of Gandhi Foundation Georgia, Ms. Nina Tsikhistavi and Irakli Kakabadze, as well as the Rector of Tbilisi State University, Dr. Vladimir Papava. Georgians had invited Mr. Rajagopal PV to understand the Abkhaz and Ossetian conflict raging in the country. The meetings were spaces of reflexion to understand and discuss how nonviolent conflict-resolution can be attained, and share experiences and advices. The meetings were also an opportunity to meet with the Indian Ambassador of Armenia and Georgia, Mr. Suresh Babu, as well as Georgia's Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, Mr. Paata Zakareishvili, who held a one hour long meeting with Rajagopal PV and Jill Car-Harris. The Minister saluted the opening of the Gandhi Foundation which, according to him, will create new opportunities for peaceful dialogues between different conflicting sides in South Caucasus. On their side, Jill Carr-Harris and Rajagopal PV both noted that having a Ministry of Peace was a great step forward global peace and an example for other countries. The meeting was concluded by an agreement made between the Georgian Minister of Sports and Youth, Mr. Levan Kipiani, and the Georgian Gandhi Foundation. They agreed on the creation of a youth training on peace and nonviolence to encourage the new generation in the path of reconciliation.

International Conference on Land in Curvaradó, Colombia

Jai JagatConference reports, Nonviolent Governance and Conflict ResolutionJune 21, 2013

Over six days 150 delegates from India, Bolivia, Honduras and Colombia met with international observers from the United States and Canada in a conference for territory and land rights. In a beautiful experience of solidarity with the families of the Curvaradó Community Council, who are developing unsung processes grounded in strong ethical convictions in the middle of political violence, exercising their rights to protect diverse sources of life and a to a legal restitution of their territories to ensure a dignified existence. We, participants of the International Conference on Land held in Curvaradó in June 2014, observe, interpret, discuss and conclude the following: In our respective countries exist similar situations regarding the limitation of land rights through legal means, violence, absence of inclusive policies or recognition of ethnic and gender rights, of rights to underground resources and air, on the part of the state and private national and multinational actors. Business interests in the territories, particularly those related to the accumulation of belowground territory, are protected by the majority of States, which allows them to be defined principally as resources serving the consumption demands of the few throughout our countries and the world. This has increased the concentration of land, ecological footprints and social inequality and exclusion. Policies designed by the World Bank and other multilateral financial and trade organizations have defined land legalization and restitution processes in order to facilitate, via national policies of flexibility and favorability, investment in the purchase of land for agro industrial food production, biofuels, infrastructural works and mining extraction, among others. Some governments, which have redefined a sense of democracy, in advancing national sovereignty and people’s rights, have constructed alternatives to exclusion and the intense destruction of ecosystems. In India, out of a population of 1.2 billion 480 million people are landless and are fighting for land. Close to 2.5 million rural inhabitants face crushing debt. Since India won independence from Britain in 1947, more than 60 million people have been displaced by dam development and other infrastructural works. Over the past 25 years, Ekta Parishad, inspired by the philosophy of Ghandi, has mobilized over 100,000 people in 6,000 villages. One of the biggest demands that Ekta Parishad supported was the movement for justice, part of the Jan Satyagraha movement, which negotiated a 10-point agreement on agrarian reform with the Indian government last October. In Honduras, repression has manifested itself in diverse ways since the coup, including assassinations, forced disappearances, detentions, torture, false accusations, denial of the right to protest, and, in relation to land rights, a refusal of community land rights in favor of mining operations and water excavation. Private security forces and state agents act at the service of private actors, including companies like DESA, SINOHYDRO, and the FICOHSA group, which is trying to construct the Zarca Hydroelectric Dam. One leading opposition group is the Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras, COPINH (Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras). Its leader, Bertha Cáceres, has been illegally detained and prosecuted for leading proposals for water rights. José Martínez, also with COPINH, was a target of abuse by authorities in his country during his departure for Colombia, and had his bags confiscated for carrying messages of solidarity with communities in Colombia. In Bolivia, the Aymara and Quichua people continue in the construction of Suma Qamaña via the Plurinational Constitution of the Bolivian State. Faced with the capture and concentration of land, social movements have begun, with the current government, a process of land reallocation via nationalization and a new focus on agrarian policy, confronting transnational extractive interests and agricultural products like soy. In Colombia, diverse social and community processes agree that the concentration of land in a few hands and rural inequality is on the rise. Land restitution and titling laws have been ineffective at reaching justice and equity. The current government’s so-called development projects prioritize agribusiness, extractive operations that generate new forms of displacement and exclusion, lacking recognition of the right to prior consultation, and causing the destruction of water sources and social and environmental breakdown. Under such strategic objectives, private actors including wealthy individuals, Colombian and multinational companies enjoy benefits like easy access to land, financing and tax breaks. Exercising the right to land, its use and protection in Colombia occurs within a context of multiple and systematic violations of human rights and humanitarian law on the part of the state armed forces and their paramilitary auxiliaries, often through hostilities and armed operations against guerilla groups like the FARC and the ELN, whose violent activities have also affected the rights of rural populations. The participants in the Conference call on our sister communities and allies to advocate:

• To the parties involved in the armed confrontation in Colombia:

• To the Colombian government:

• To the Honduran government:

• To the Indian government:

• To the Vía Campesina, Environmental and Women’s movements:

• For the proposals constructed within Latin America such as the Boliviarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC):

International Conference on Land in Dakar, Senegal

Jai JagatConference reports, Nonviolent Governance and Conflict ResolutionMarch 25, 2013

In March 2013, a week-long International Conference on Land was held in Dakar, Senegal, under the supervision of International Initiatives - from which is originating the Jai Jagat movement. The agenda of the Conference evolved around sharing experiences on struggles around land rights and on nonviolent mobilisation. In Senegal, the civil society is facing daily threats on its access to land and livelihood resources. As the notion of « land-grabbing » does not have the same relevancy and definition in the different represented countries, the discussion was framed around the concepts of land restoration, land (re)distribution, land protection and land management/development. Here is the resulting Dakar Declaration endorsed by the participants : THE DAKAR DECLARATION We, representatives of the civil society and grass-roots community organizations involved in land issues in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Colombia, Senegal, Nepal, France and in India, representatives of the International Initiative, reunited in Dakar from the 21st to the 23rd of March 2013 around land governance issues, share the collective engagement in promoting a secure and fair access to land and natural resources as well as the control and ownership of land by small agricultural producers living in rural and urban areas (fishermen, farmers, livestock farmers). Point out that that access, fair use and responsible natural resources management, especially land, water and forest, is essential to allow impoverished women and men to exercise their fundamental economic, social, political and cultural rights; in particular, the right for every person to be freed from hunger and poverty, with respect to their dignity. Recognise that in spite of the engagement and efforts from several Governments at the implementation of governance issues favourable to the most impoverished (in collaboration with civil society), a majority of Governments do not succeed in protecting the rights of impoverished citizens. Inadequate agricultural policies jeopardize land rights and worsen hunger and world poverty. Recognise the efforts of civil society organizations around the world at the implementation of responsible land programs for the impoverished. Consider that the recent grabbing of land in favour of private interests or third States targeting tens of thousands of hectares all around the world – whether it be for food security, energy, mining, environment, tourism, speculation or geopolitical reasons – undermine human and national rights by depriving local, peasant and pastoral communities of their means of production. It either restricts access to natural resources or to freely produce. This hoarding of land worsens access and land control at the cost of the poor and especially the young and women. Be aware of the obsolete character of internal laws (like the law on « national domain » from 1964 in Senegal) in our respective countries, of the recurrence in land transactions in rural areas without prior consultation of the local population. Furthermore, in urban and suburban areas, the politics of expropriation (often because of economic pressure) for various reasons such as public causes (social housing, tourism, highways, airports, plants, and so forth) and urbanisation, without respecting the procedures. For this reason, the population questions the investment projects in terms of surface area and usage, the increase of social tensions related to land issues, and rural exodus, but especially the precarious solutions found to these problems. Be concerned with contributing to the research of efficient solutions on questions linked to land, and of the necessity of resorting to a peaceful resolution of land conflicts. State the crucial contribution of small farmers and livestock farmers in reaching food security on the continent. We call the Governments to invest in the promotion of family farms with the goal of finding solutions to starvation and poverty but also limit the environmental degradation and promote sustainable development. Farmers ask themselves why land governance is not « standard » in countries where food production is important. Confirm the necessity to concentrate on the implementation of safe land rights for marginalized groups, including livestock farmers, fishermen, agriculturists, forest users and such segments of the population. Recognize the role of development partners and multilateral organisations in the land rights and reforms that are favourable to the poor. We invite partners to sustain civil society organizations efforts in this regard. We, attending representatives of the civil society, grass-roots community organizations and representatives of the International Initiative on land, are committed to:

• Taking initiatives in collaboration with the Government, civil society, private sector and development partners in our respective countries in order to a better take into consideration small producer needs in implementing politics and agricultural programmes from our countries.
• Conceiving and implementing a « multi-actor » strategy on land reform which respects poor people’s rights contained in our land policies.
• Investing in the strengthening of the capacity of civil society organizations in promoting the rights of agricultural actors, in particular women and young people.
• Supporting the federations of local groups in different zones where land conflicts have occurred. Promoting the implementation of a national network affiliated to an international network centred on land issues.