April 17, International Day of Peasants’ Struggles

On this day, international networks and urban social movements salute peasants’ struggles and we express our solidarity in their denunciation and resistance to land grabbing around the world.

For decades we have been conscious that the construction of just and egalitarian cities is inseparable from struggles for the social, equitable and sustainable enjoyment of common goods, the democratization of urban and rural land access, urban and agrarian reform, the democratization of territorial management, food sovereignty, environmentally-responsible agricultural practices, the livelihoods of agricultural farmers and their families, and of traditional and indigenous populations around the world.

For these reasons, we are mobilizing to participate in the Peoples’ Summit for Social and Environmental Justice (to take place in Rio de Janeiro from June 15-23, 2012), and we have made a call for this space to become a milestone in the consolidation of dialogue and alliances to reach a consensus on a platform and program for common action between urban and rural inhabitant movements and all those organizations that fight for just, democratic and sustainable territories.

Long live peasants and urban dwellers!

In solidarity,
HIC