Charter of the Peoples of the Earth - InformationRio+20 gives the opportunity to produce new proposals to conceive and organize the transition towards sustainable societies. This section will try systematically to gather them progressively during the process.
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- Ethical and philosophical fundamentals: subjectivity, domination, and emancipation
- Human rights, peoples, territories, and defense of Mother Earth
- Political subjects, the architecture of power, and democracy
- Production, distribution and consumption, access to wealth, common goods, and economies in transition
December 25 2011
Charter of the Peoples of the Earth
Details of the Proposal
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A Charter project to join the Peoples together and start a debate
In these times of uncertainties and global challenges, it is imperative that citizens, the men and women who make up the endless mosaic of the Peoples of the World, be able to shape their own fate and develop together the values and principles that guide the human adventure of the twenty-first century.
Should the Peoples of Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania wait for others to decide, without their consent or in their name, the ethical foundations on which the next chapter of the global adventure will be built? Should they be content with simply overcoming, within their state borders and sometimes with the support of international institutions, the threats that societies are imposing on the planet and on them, the persistence of extreme poverty, the concentration of wealth and power, and many other obstacles usually inherited from a long history of wars and conflicts?
The journey to open the paths of an emancipated humanity has begun. There is an increasing awareness of the enormous transitions the world is facing. For long periods of time, the Peoples have been divided, but they have mutually and repeatedly shared their solidarity, audacity, wisdom, and creativity to overcome the hurdles of History. In the facts, they are already the messengers and bearers of new ethical, cultural, political, and social realities that have been built over time on the basis of the trials and errors, innovations, tensions, and conflicts through which they have gone. It is now their right, along with all other actors involved, to discuss these important issues that bind them together, to speak on their own terms, and to think about how to live in community with dignity and in harmony with Mother Earth.
The following Charter is the first initiative and an invitation to talk. It can be enhanced, modified, and reformulated according to the needs and the talks being held within the framework of the preparation of the 2012 Earth Summit and afterward. The text draws on the historical Freedom Charter, which was born in South Africa, was a banner for the anti-Apartheid movement, and was adopted in 1955 by the Congress of the People.
The Charter was written by the coordination teams of the Forum for a New World Governance and the Citizens Regional Assemblies, engaged and participating in People’s movements active in different continents.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others” – Nelson Mandela
Whereas serious threats are weighing upon our planet and on ourselves,
Whereas tyranny is inflicted daily on billions of us through the crippling effects of extreme poverty,
Whereas our states and our governments are often neither able nor willing to all agree to implement suitable and timely solutions to the dangers threatening our planet and ourselves,
Whereas the United Nations and the agencies derived from it or connected to it do not always have the financial, material and political means to face these threats effectively or eradicate them,
Whereas the international financial agencies—the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank—as well as transnational corporations are not only incapable of solving the crises, but are also those mainly responsible for them,
We the peoples of Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania, proclaim, for our entire planet and for the men and women who live on it, that our Earth is our Mother Earth and that the Universe is our Homeland,
That the poverty of some is the poverty of all,
That the humiliation of some is the humiliation of all,
That the fear of some is the fear of all,
That the slavery of some is the slavery of all,
That together, we form a mosaic of peoples
Who are free and responsible, and stand in solidarity,
Who in their extreme diversity and in their magnificent plurality, are indivisible in the face of the separations produced and fed by ressentiments induced by history, by the often artificial barriers of state borders, and by the injustices and inequalities that strike certain countries rather than others, certain regions rather than others, certain communities rather than others, certain individuals rather than others,
Who remain convinced that their near and distant future depends on overcoming all these obstacles born from a long history of wars and conflicts that will have to end while another chapter of the great human adventure opens up, one as exciting and auspicious as it is frightening for the challenges and uncertainties it contains,
We affirm that we shall work and shall fight ceaselessly for:
Every woman and every man to be equal in rights, without distinction as to race, color, gender, background, or nationality,
Every woman and every man to benefit at the start from the same equality of opportunities,
Every woman and every man to practice freely his or her religion and hold his or her beliefs, including that of having none,
Every woman and every man to express his or her opinions freely, anywhere on the planet,
Every woman and ever man to access the wealth and resources of our planet, regardless of their place of birth or residence, or of where the wealth and resources are from,
Every woman and every man to be able to access an education system worthy of its name for all their children,
For every woman and every man to have rapid access to a health system where they are welcome and that is adapted to his or her health condition,
For every woman and every man to be able to access the water they need for their survival, their health, and their well-being,
For every woman and every man to be able to organize and to participate in the political life of their village, their country, or their region,
For every woman and every man to have access to a legal system that regards all citizens of the world equally, regardless of their origin,
For every woman and every man to have the inalienable right to move anywhere in the world without distinction as to nationality,
For every woman and every man to have a job in keeping with his or her qualifications, anywhere in the world, regardless of their place of birth,
For every woman and every man to be able to live in dignity and respect, in security and comfort, in joy and according to their conception of happiness,
For all human, energy, and financial resources to be finally made to contribute to eradicating poverty so that together and serenely, we can build our common future.
Finally, it is the duty of all, in a spirit of solidarity and responsibility, to make these rights accessible and respected indivisibly.
Exclusion of a single one of us and all of humankind is scorned.
The peoples, joined together, must govern the world!
So we will fight together, side by side, until the last of the obstacles to our emancipation have fallen and we can live in harmony with our Mother Earth, in complete dignity and freedom.
Peoples of the Earth, too long have we been divided.
The time has come to open the avenues of Humankind Emancipated.
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