From the
World Communion of Reformed Churches:
A revival of mass
movements for social change is needed so that the voices of ordinary
people will be heard in discussions about reform of the global financial
system, says a Latin American leader of a landless
peasant movement.
João Pedro Stédile
of Brazil’s National Movement of Landless Rural Workers has told a
church-sponsored conference in Brazil on reforming the global economy
that populist movements are attempting to rearrange
the economies of the countries of the world. Their intent, he says, is
to push for changes to solve the main problems of the people - the
search for food, land, jobs, housing and education.
Stédile is one of the speakers at the Global Ecumenical Conference on a New International Financial and Economic Architecture
initiated by the World Communion
of Reformed Churches (WCRC). The conference, organized in partnership
with the World Council of Churches and the Council for World Mission,
runs from September 29 to October 5 in São Paulo,
Brazil.
Seventy economists, theologians, anti-poverty advocates and social scientists have gathered to
do a critical analysis of the
impact of the global financial system on populations and the environment
and to propose a fresh vision on which to build a new economic and
financial “architecture”. The aim is to create a
concept for a system, based on principles of economic, social, climate
and ecological justice that serves the true economy, responds to social
and ecological concerns, and sets limits to greed, say conference
organizers.
“The problem is
the lack of a wider mass basis. Social movements are being criminalized
everywhere in the world,” Stédile said in an interview in São Paulo
yesterday. “Our hope is that soon we will witness
a revival of the mass movements and that these movements, in turn, will
put the real problems of people on the agenda.”
“Rather
than limiting ourselves to converging documents and statements, we need
to have a stronger impact in the current correlation of forces and that
can only happen through
popular mobilization,” the anti-poverty advocate adds.
Conference organizers
are working to prepare a statement that defines the principles of a new
model of economic exchange that
shares wealth more equitably and takes account of the need to limit
consumption of non-renewable resources. A panel of people with
connections to financial and economic institutions
will be set up following the conference to promote discussion of the principles in financial decision-making forums.
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