To a 2020 of inspiring struggles

FIAN International publishes its 2019 Annual Report and highlights it will reinforce its work towards "greening" human rigths.

Critical analysis, mobilization and action: These have been at the heart of our work throughout 2019. And despite rising authoritarianism and increasing corporate capture of public policy spaces, our resolve has been strengthened, as have our joint efforts with social movements and the wider civil society to overcome multiple crises.

Nowhere has the damaging effect of authoritarianism on human rights been more clearly illustrated, than President Bolsonaro’s drastic measures in Brazil. Not only is the country returning to unprecedented rates of hunger through public policies that undermine human rights and benefit corporations and elites instead, but it is also exacerbating sentiments of discrimination of all sorts towards the most marginalized groups within the Brazilian society. The closure of the National Council for Food Security and Nutrition (CONSEA) – a shining example of people’s engagement in defining food policies - has been a big blow for right to food supporters. So too, placing personalities with strong links to profit-mongering corporate agribusiness in positions to defend the interests of vulnerable people – look at Marcelo Xavier da Silva as new head of the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI). This is why we have been actively engaging with different movements and wider civil society to bring this issue to regional and international human rights bodies. In parallel, we are also shedding light on how the rise of authoritarianism is one of the biggest threats to the right to food in modern times. We hope that our findings in the report ‘Authoritarianism, Hunger and Denial of Rights” will act as a warning to other societies of what can easily happen if we don’t consciously mobilize against this trend.

Speaking of some recent trends, this brings us to another concerning issue of the corporate capture of public policies. In June 2019, we received the shocking news that a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the UN Secretary General and the World Economic Forum (WEF) had been signed.On the surface, some may ask “well, but what is the problem?” Well, the agreement grants transnational corporations’ preferential and deferential access to the UN system, and this comes at the expense of the public interest and human rights.  In other words, it moves the most significant international public body towards a privatized and undemocratic format of global governance. We didn’t– nor will we –stand idly by. Under our collective leadership, together with the Transnational Institute, hundreds of civil society organizations are mobilizing to end the SPA through advocacy, media and street actions. We will keep defending peoples’ sovereignty and human rights everywhere.
For this same reason, we will keep increasing our efforts to ensure climate justice. The climate crisis is a real emergency with dire human rights consequences. By having allowed the current  market-led production and consumption systems go unchecked for so long, we are on the brink of environmental disaster. What world are we leaving to our children and future generations? 

The last question links very well to the current pandemic of COVID-19, which has widely spread while making the final touches of this report. This pandemic and the measures to counteract it, is marking the beginning of a looming food crisis, where the lives of millions are at stake. The destruction of wild ecosystems, exacerbated by industrial agriculture and extractive industries, is increasing the risks of diseases originated in animals – like the one that is just happening– while accelerating climate change. We need to react quickly and design innovative responses that are anchored in human rights and social justice. As the famous quote says “problems cannot be solved by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”. If there is a clear message that we can draw from this pandemic and other “pandemics” such as hunger, malnutrition and discrimination, is that to overcome the crisis we cannot just go back to normal

This is why we will continue to work to make sure that the voices and the solutions of those communities most affected by food insecurity and the climate crisis are heard in climate, biodiversity, food policy discussions - and in any other that aims to tackle this crisis!  FIAN International will contribute to “greening” human rights through the UN Declaration on the rights of  peasants and other people working in rural areas. There is an inextricable link between climate, the environment, and the right to food and nutrition that must be thoroughly addressed. This is why the adoption of agro-ecology as a framework to transform food systems and address ecological destruction will be paramount in our work.*

To a 2020 of inspiring struggles!

Download FIAN International's 2019 Annual Report

*This text has been first published as Foreword by the President and the Secretary General of FIAN International in the 2019 Annual Report.