October 2013, World Zero Evictions Days – for the Right to Housing. All Together! Let’s mobilize to demand the Right to Housing!
The first step of joint agenda established by the World Assembly of Inhabitants (WSF Tunis 2013) is on October, the World Zero Evictions Days – for the Right to Housing, in order to unify the Global Campaign for the right to housing and to land.
The central focus is the struggle against evictions, the foreclosures, the land grabbing and the persecution of activists: these matters involve all the inhabitants, both urban and rural all over the world.
The targets are the neoliberal policies: the roots of the urban and global crisis, corruption and real estate and land speculation, they exclude more than a billion people from a home and throw tens of millions more out on the street every year.
This way we support the local struggles to defend in solidarity the human rights and the common goods for the future of cities and territories.
In the dock the principal authors of the global and housing crisis
Among those in the dock are the nameless or ‘sovereign’ hidden parasites behind funds such as the IMF, the World Bank, the European Troika, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, i.e. the principal authors of the crisis. They don’t have any legitimacy to propose their neoliberal suggestions, which are based upon the market and war, to overcome it.
Also in the dock are governments, at every level, and occasionally certain supranational institutions, like UN-o the ambiguous role played when proposing partnerships to subordinate states and local authorities to the private market, giving the keys of the cities and territories tho whose want to speculate.
Let's mobilize , all together to defend the inhabitants rights
The joint drive of the World Zero Evictions Days relaunched the federating spirit of the World Assembly of Inhabitants 2013: the main international networks for the right to housing are convinced that only with a united struggle can they effectively face the global and housing crises. By doing so, they can defend the most threatened inhabitants and thoroughly tackle the roots of inequality, such as social and environmental non-sustainability. This decision means actions and concrete initiatives (marches, occupations, the defense of threatened people and communities, forums, etc.).
Just to let you know, amongst other things, about the launch (together with the International Alliance of Inhabitants and Amnesty International) of the third session of the International Tribunal on Evictions (Geneva, October 17-19 2013) and the first Conference on Right to Housing (Tunis, 24-27 October 2013) .
Let's mobilize , all together to challenge governments
From the World Days the organizations of inhabitants will from now on challenge governments at every level (local, national, regional, supranational) to obtain urban and social housing policies based on a social urban pact which is an alternative to the neoliberal paradigms, i.e. the individual and collective rights and the rights of inhabitants to be creators of a community which respects diversity, a basic condition for a future living in harmony with nature, non client-users of the territories.
First of all, to obtain “Zero Evictions” public policies for land and housing.
With the objective of opening the possibility of a true dialogue about these topics with opposing parties, the organizations of inhabitants and their networks, along with the support of allies and associates, are marching together.
It follows that governments should respond positively to these proposals, rejecting any repressive measures.
It follow that social organizations should follow their commitment, to unify and struggle in solidarity.
Let's mobilize , all together for winning battles
For these reasons, all of inhabitants are invited to join the World Days and bring their own experience to strengthen the struggles of themselves and others, via shared platforms for action, asking other organizations to refer to the Days in their plans for those days (actions against policies of evictions, financial institutions, spending cuts, land grabs, mining projects or mega-projects, or supporting the social function of property or the right to the city, defending common goods, etc).
For these same reasons, the invitation is extended, with the aim of consolidating the collaboration thanks to the constitution of the “Joint Anti-Evictions Task Force” at local level, as well as the development of dialogue and the convergence towards the “Urban and Community Way”. In effect, we are trying to jointly construct a global and common space for organizations and networks of inhabitants, the aim of which is to exchange experiences of struggle and of alternatives, share strategies and put into specific practice g-local solidarity.
Do not touch my land, my water, my house, my activists!
For rural and urban harmony, respect diversity and cultures!
Thus the beauty of the World Days 2013: all together for winning specific battles and reaching ‘another possible world’.
Contact & info: amh-wai2013@habitants.org - www.habitants.org