Kathmandu Declaration 2022 A South Asian Peoples’ Declaration for Peace, Equality, Human Dignity.   May 27, 2022 SAAPE Sixth General Assembly, 26-27 May 2022  WE, the members of the Sixth General Assembly of South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) and Peoples’ SAARC, having met at Kathmandu, Nepal from 26-27 May 2022 on the occasion of the Sixth General Assembly of SAAPEWE have taken note of the worsening socio-economic, political situation and conflicts and tensions in our respective countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). We recognize that South Asia is at the lowest ebb in terms of cooperation among South Asian countries in trade and overall social development. The two major waves of the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in lockdowns and the consequent economic losses, rise of unemployment and hunger, have dovetailed simultaneously with the rise of religious fundamentalism, political extremism, loss of freedom of association, rise in complete political destabilisation in Afghanistan, and greater dependence of many countries on privatisation models for achieving financial stability.WE are mindful of the existence of common problems in the region and convinced of the need to strengthen regional solidarity and cooperation in the process of recovering from COVID-19, and the strengthening people’s access to public health in the long term.WE are in pain and alarmed about the increasing deprivations and inequalities in the human, cultural, economic, social and political spheres of our people and the declining values of social, political democracy and human rights in the region,WE Recall SAAPE’s mission to intervene on the issues of poverty and exclusion, and we affirm the commitment to reviving Peoples’ SAARC to build solidarities among social movements and the need to take new initiatives and actions which will ameliorate the present situation.,Hereby, adopt the following declaration:We recognize the commitment to build alternative political and social justice to strengthen peoples’ movements for a more equitable and dignified life.The neo-liberal agenda imposed by the US Empire has remained as the fundamentalists' weapon in Afghanistan. It has brought its people, particularly women and children to their worst forms of existence. The experience of Afghanistan clearly suggests that outsiders, with full mindsets of fundamental extremisms, cannot inject democracy and human rights. Democracy can only come through peoples’ movements for human rights and good governance.There is an unprecedented increase in the levels of different kinds of violence, human rights violations, and exclusionary measures with less or nothing being reported about such cases. We believe all the stakeholders and actors whether internal or external must do what is necessary to reduce and stop these atrocities in Afghanistan.The political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka reinforces our belief that war and neoliberalism will not work in South Asia. We note that in the midst of growing hardships of steeply rising living costs, food and fuel shortages and, loss of livelihood, the people of Sri Lanka have launched a struggle that is peaceful, united and determined. We support their struggle to overcome the challenges of an authoritarian, corrupt government, and an anti-people constitution that perpetuates repression and ruthless exploitation of people, their resources and the environment.The People’s SAARC fully endorses the call from most sections of Sri Lankan citizenry for a complete renewal of Sri Lanka’s constitutional framework, especially the abolition of the executive presidential system, which has enabled the extreme concentration of power in individuals.SAAPE is committed to helping coordinate, and strengthen the peoples’ organisations in the region.We condemn religious fundamentalism and violence against minorities, consequently, the spread of terrorism by both state and non-state actors. We unequivocally denounce the use of terror against civilian populations in all forms and circumstances. Feudalism still prevails in our region. This extends to social relations within the family, within governments, resulting in dynastic rule within government and also within the corporate structures. Feudal power is an obstruction to democratic governance and accountability.We need agrarian reforms and we need to focus on the issues of food sovereignty.We are alarmed by the increasing warmongering and spawning of trans-border hostilities by South Asian states to suit their sectarian political interests.We demand that the states of South Asia de-link from terrorists, religious fundamentalists, and extremist groups and organizations that attack unarmed civilians to further their political gains. State and religion must be separated. We reaffirm our commitment to a progressive, democratic and secular state. The stories of hunger, unemployment, disease, illiteracy, homelessness, increasing child labour, gender inequality, discrimination, casteism, and racism, especially against the fishers and other excluded social groups such as the Dalits, Adivasi, LGBTQIA, of our region is prevalent in every corner of South Asia. We demand adequate public resources to address these issues.The economic restructuring of South economies has resulted in all the South Asian countries adopting the Washington Consensus model of stabilisation packages, which actually has resulted in further destabilizing the people's ownership of their resources, the commons, and their policies of State services since 1991. The present acute privatisation of public goods, the collapse of the public health services during the recent pandemic, and the failed models of development are all a result of the long-term addiction of south governments to the models of development, which the West has forced on our governments. Privatisation and deregulation have led to increasing corporatisation of State resources, tax freebies, and policies favouring the wealthy.Inequalities are consequently at an all-time high. The vulnerability of the health system, the lack of food pricing to protect people from the volatility of inflationary pressures, and the monopoly of a few food companies have reversed the gains that were achieved soon after independence. The climate crisis is a result of the overconsumption of some at the cost of hunger for the many. The pandemic only highlighted the underbelly of capitalist adventures that the stabilisation measures brought about. Unequal value chains are evident in most production lines where the firms outsource the production to other south countries where the risks reside. The new international economic order brings in more stringent privatisation measures, more flexibilities in labour standards at the production end, and foreign direct investment, which has stringent forms of labour extraction attached to them. In the long run and already in the medium-term indebtedness occurs, and self-reliance is lost. It is critical to protect the sovereignty of national ideas of the people, their idea and their vision of development. The illegitimacy of public debt must be exposed, confronted and governmental actions must come under public scrutiny. The climate crisis is closely linked to the models of development. Communities for decades practised sustainable development and governments need to promote and scale-up community successes. The climate crisis is a result of the corporatisation of agriculture, uncontrolled use of energy, etc. It is important that governments scale up successful models rather than import ways of food production, which destroy the resilience of the people. Land and natural resource grab in South Asia is a serious issue that has led to the alienation of people from their rights to life and rights to livelihoods. Land grabbing must be stopped urgently. We demand rational utilization of natural resources and democratic control of communities over them to eradicate poverty. A democratic and ecological regional planning for water and other resources must be ensured as a priority. The dilemmas of resistance for civil society organisations have also become a critical factor in how movements may build up their work in alleviating people’s distress. Registration is needed for receiving funds. However, such compliance brings with it other problems of surveillance and loss of freedom of association. The crisis is acute and there is no easy answer to this issue. The valuation of freedom in our societies is a sword of Damocles that thwarts our roads ahead for the freedom of association.We demand the release of all fishermen jailed in India, Pakistan Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, and go for an agreement to announce a Non-arrest Policy. We see the need for a people-friendly Rule of Law based political order that is mandated through a constitutional arrangement where sovereignty rests entirely with the people. Citizens should have the right to recall corrupt officials along with the machinery that can put such usurpers of power behind bars, after due process of law.We urge the governments of the region to individually, and collectively, prioritize post COVID economic recovery through regional collaboration and cooperation. All individual member countries must come together to address the issues of vaccine inequality, vaccine accountability, and economic recovery in the region. We also demand that Sri Lankan refugees wanting to stay back in India are given citizenship. The Sri Lanka government must provide security and assistance to those wanting to return to their homeland. SAAPE stands committed to helping appraise the situation of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal and the Rohingya community who were exiled. There is a need for an effective regional and international response to this issue. We urge the governments of South Asia to manage proper documentation of these migrant workers and their rehabilitation and reintegration with high priority for women, girls, and their children while being abroad for a longer time.     We urge states to unilaterally repudiate sovereign debts.We have realized that the marginalization and structural exclusion of women from governance, economic and political participation has reinforced the feminization of poverty, discrimination, and violence against them. Furthermore, it has hindered women’s accession and influence in politics and governance.  The exclusion of women and other sexual minorities from politics and governance is a violation of fundamental human rights as it breaches the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We recognize that women’s meaningful engagement in politics and governance is their fundamental right and their meaningful participation can contribute to reducing gaps in society while promoting peace and dignity for all. Governments should promote social democracy within families and societies through education. Governments must institutionalize zero tolerance for any forms of violence against women. South Asia is affected by the caste system and the resulting structural discrimination which destroys inclusive social relations. As a result, the Dalit community faces multiple problems and they lie at bottom of the hierarchy in our society. South Asian governments need to take more appropriate actions for the upliftment of the Dalit communities. We are in favour of a secular, democratic, humanist order free from discrimination of all kinds, denial of dignity, and artificial boundaries that impede our right to movement, especially at the level of general citizens. We demand visa-free movement across borders. Besides, we envision a society that guarantees us all Human rights, especially that which is contained in the International Bill of Rights. We demand that all South Asian governments ratify and implement all Human Rights conventions as our societies can only claim to be democratic when the rights of the marginalized are guaranteed. Full social security needs to be guaranteed for all vulnerable populations in South Asian countries by national governments. We must ensure a minimum living wage and job security for all workers in the region. With the ever-rising inequalities, this is mandatory.We are acutely aware that catastrophic levels of climate change will make the poor and marginalized even more vulnerable. To combat this, we must institutionalize sustainable and resilient patterns of production and consumption.We appreciate the Sustainable Development Goals’ affirmation to reduce inequality, combat climate change, and strengthen labour rights. However, we have apprehensions that the efforts to eradicate global poverty only through economic growth, export-oriented models, trade liberalization, etc. within the existing neo-liberal paradigm would be counter-productive and perpetuate poverty as well as increase greenhouse gases. We assert that the attainment of SDGs is dependent on structurally changing the current socio-economic model and its institutions.We, the citizens of South Asia summon all our friends in Civil Society and in people-friendly political processes to wake up to the needs and aspirations of ordinary people, to strive for a new world order and, to make sustained efforts in South Asia. We must ascertain the will of the widest sections of civil society and move forward to defeat the forces of fundamentalism and elite capture while abolishing discrimination based on gender or social group affiliations. We must together end all forms of religious fundamentalisms, poverty conditions, inequalities and create a new form of world order based on humanist values and the agreed Conventions of the UN and nationally established Constitutions. 

SAAPE is concerned about the great danger that COVID-19 pandemic poses in South Asia. The pandemic has already made the lives of the people miserable and woeful. The world is entering in a new phase of history. The pandemic has exposed the ugly face of the neoliberalism which has miserably failed to protect our lives. Hundreds of thousands have died, health workers in the front lines of this battle have been put at risk, as country after the country failed to provide adequate protective gear to their doctors, nurses and others. It has the potential to cause grave damages to the poor and to the economic livelihoods of millions in the informal sector. If we are unable to contain the spread of this virus, allowing it to spread to high-density areas, slums, working people neighbourhoods, refugee camps and other centres of vulnerability and poverty, South Asia will be left to face health, economic and social disasters on a scale never experienced before. The developed world is being over-run by the pandemic and their economies driven into recession. The chances of South Asia, therefore coping is remote, as most of the region’s economies are already in a desperate state.The current crisis has exposed the frail nature of our public health systems. Although uneven across the region, it is already evidenced that the public health systems are unable to cope with the current burden of disease. Three decades of neoliberal capitalism have destroyed basic public services including quality public health care and universal social protection. The average expenditure on public health in South Asia has hovered around 1.3% of the GDP. Even Italy and France which have been the epicentre of the pandemic were investing around 11% of the GDP and yet they have been unable to stem the tide of deaths and the increasing pressures on their health system to cope with the pandemic. Globalisation for South Asian countries resulted in greater privatisation of health care and a reduction in the role of the state. South Asia, by and large, has seen the reduction of primary health care centres in the predominantly rural areas making quality health care impossibility for the poor.The majority of the people depend on the public health system. This system is on its knees today. Bangladesh has 112 ICU beds and 400 ventilators for a population of about 165 million. Pakistan, a country of 220 million people has a bed-to-population ratio of less than one per 1,000 when the recommended average by WHO is five per 1,000. The WHO also mandates a doctor to population of 1:1000, while in India it is 1:1,404. For people living in rural areas and completely dependent on government healthcare facilities, the doctor to patient ratio is abysmally low with 1:10,926. Other countries also lack adequate facilities to face the current pandemic. The situation in Nepal is also not different as there are only about 360 ventilator machines in the country and 260 of them are in the Kathmandu Valley. Afghanistan is also facing a severe shortage of coronavirus tests and ventilators. In Afghanistan as of April 2, the country’s two designated coronavirus hospitals had only 12 working ventilators between them. According to Sri Lanka’s Government Medical Officers Association, Sri Lanka only has about 600 intensive care unit beds with ventilators.As millions are compelled to be in confinement, the majority, especially, the vulnerable are in situations without any decent social safety nets, income and struggling with getting food. Millions of informal workers have been left to their own devices as states had destroyed institutions to support them. The lockdowns that were declared on the populations have caused extreme difficulties to the people, necessary as they may have been. In India, millions took to the roads in an exodus of a kind hardly seen since Partition days. Afraid of being caught in the cities without shelter, work, food etc. millions chose to travel home to their villages on foot. We are also concerned about the situation and difficulties faced by the poor, women and vulnerable section of every community, struggling hard to survive in the time of lockdown, curfews and other restrictions. Globally, patriarchal, gendered norms of unpaid care work are being reinforced at homes that are resulting in rampant domestic violence. Millions of workers have lost jobs and livelihoods, particularly women who are contract-based and casual, consequently deepening hunger, individual and household debt crises. Migrant workers are in miserable conditions in South Asia as millions are struggling to live without food and place to rest and sleep and women migrant workers are most vulnerable. Panic and fear are common sentiments that are affecting people’s minds.South Asian countries have failed to make use of economic growth to improve the lives of the poor and marginalised people, mostly women, girls and marginalised communities and reduce inequalities the region is facing. Extreme inequalities have deepened the health, social and economic crises by allowing the rich to plunder and earn profits even from basic services, which the states have handed over to them. The poor and the working people are facing extreme forms of destitution and vulnerability at the time of COVID19 crisis, living without adequate basic needs materials to keep alive and prevent from the disease- foods, soaps, water and proper shelter. To contain the spread of coronavirus, the governments in South Asia have issued travel restrictions, curfews, lockdowns to maintain social distancing and possible outbreaks. The people who work in the informal and unorganised sectors, daily wage earners, hawkers, migrant workers etc. are facing the brunt of the adverse situations where they have become helpless in their lives.Many South Asian countries are now paying the price for diluting, not implementing and in some cases as in India -repealing and proposing to repeal even more pro-labour laws. Ironically and happily the Government of India has now issued orders to say that no one should be terminated from employment and that wages should not be denied even if workers have not come for work and that rents payable by workers should be waived by landlords. While we are happy to see that through these orders the old dogma of “Flexible Labour” and “Ease of doing business” is put on hold-this still amounts to ‘too little- too late’. We urge all South Asian Governments to learn proper lessons  from this crisis for the future and steps taken to cry halt to anti-labour thinking that has been quite rampant in our region.The video conference of the head of states of SAARC member states held in March 2020, though a welcome step, is totally inadequate to deal with the current crisis as it fails put in place practical measures to ensure that every country can intensify testing as well as ensuring that the region secures adequate health equipment, medicines, protective clothes and sanitizing materials. The threat posed by COVID-19 cannot be treated solely as a health risk but must be seen as a threat to the overall development of South Asia. The economic dimensions of this crisis require a comprehensive emergency response by SAARC. We need, now more than ever, a regional response as opposed to countries responding in isolation because the virus knows no border and its implications are of a trans-boundary nature. We need democratic space more than ever to combat this crisis and strongly condemn any attempts to curtail dissent in society.South Asia faces some of the world’s worst socio-economic inequalities which contribute to one of the worst gaps in access to healthcare facilities. Barring a few exceptions, a dysfunctional public health system plagues patients all across the region. The bulk of the population is at the mercy of the overstretched and underfunded public health system. Therefore, we demand the following actions from the South Asian governments to address urgently to fight the COVID19 crisis:The SAARC COVID-19 Emergency Fund should be utilised proportionally to provide support and assistance as per the need of any member state. A regional mechanism should be formed to share and exchange knowledge, information and ideas on the status and fight against the COVID19 and express solidarity to collectively fight against the impending danger of the pandemic in the region.Investing in basic services, particularly the health sector, to better prepare ourselves to combat challenges that we may face in the future. All the basic services should be provided by the governments ensuring its quality, sustainability and better preparedness for any looming danger. Similarly, ensuring universal social protection for all at the time of crisis is another important step which enables all the poor and vulnerable people to sustain at the time of crisis. Strengthen social protection and start thinking for a new vision of South Asia with all people have a universal minimum income.South Asian governments should call for the cancellation of all external debts so that the resources can be concentrated to provide quality basic services to the people. India being the member of G20 must raise the agenda of debt cancellation at the G20 Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors virtual meeting, taking place next week, 15 April 2020.The governments should ensure that everyone is supported at these critical times and expenses are paid through progressive taxation on rich who have immensely benefited from the economic growth and neoliberal policies.SAAPE call on all South Asian governments to reduce military and defence budget by at least 10% of the national expenditures every year. The health budget should be increased to a minimum 10% of the total national budget.The governments must adopt social protection measures such as social cash transfer and distribution of resources and care to safeguard the livelihoods of the most vulnerable as well as the various employees who have lost their source of income due to the COVID19 pandemic.The governments must reduce the financial burdens on small businesses and low-earning individuals by reducing VAT and other taxes. This will reduce their burden as they face increased uncertainty during these crises.We urge the global political leaders and particularly the South Asian governments to take lessons from the failure of neoliberal policies exposed by COVID 19. The privatisation of the health sector resulting in downsizing and squeezing of public services particularly neglecting the role of the public health system has led us to this situation where deaths are daily occurring, where the elderly are dying in old age homes without being counted as COVID related deaths (as in UK and France). This is high time to transform the current challenges to opportunities by transforming the global order from the controls of global wealth by a handful of people to developing mechanisms so that the wealth and opportunities are distributed evenly to develop the facilities for essential services.There must be curbs placed on the runaway mechanisms built up by the private sector in health care who are not regulated and who take little responsibility when there is a pandemic of this scale and magnitude.It is time for a serious reconsideration of where we are headed in the future…are we people-centred societies or are we to be governed and subjected to conditionalities which do not have the agreement of the people? The lockdown has seriously impacted on peoples’ access to basic foods, employment and dependence on governments making the decisions without informing the citizens well in advance. While the curve may be flattened due to the lockdowns it is also true from various field reports being generated by civil society organisations that there are hunger, homelessness and joblessness facing millions of workers across the countries. Palpable anxiety is also leading to an alarming increase in domestic abuse of a kind rarely seen.South Asia’s future lies in cooperation, peoples’ power and strong democratic government not super-rich elite led power. Therefore, it is imperative that we rebuild our movements to fight for a South Asia free of inequality, disease, hunger and homelessness. Redistributive justice, a life free of hunger, a life that enjoys social protection must be guiding values of our societies. This pandemic and the toll it is taking on society is a symptom of what we have done in building unequal societies and living in a state of over-consumption, trade wars, and disregarding the call for a sustainable development trajectory for South Asians.We express our deepest solidarity to the people who are fighting this crisis by working in the frontlines to save lives. We express our solidarity with the millions of migrant labour left homeless and facing an uncertain future. We express our solidarity with the women and children of hundreds of households where domestic abuse and child sexual abuse has increased. We express our solidarity with the farmers who are being forced to destroying their own crops because interstate trade and transport have been stopped in the lockdown.We urge governments to see the pandemic from people’s perspectives and take swift action to contain the pandemic and at the same time to begin a new chapter in South Asian cooperation to combat poverty and all its threats to humanity.SAAPE Secretariat, Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu DeclarationTax and Fiscal Justice to Address Rising Inequality in South Asia27-30 March 2019, Kathmandu, Nepal We, citizens of several South Asian countries- Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka- who are working for the rights of the common people in various sectors as members of parliament, political parties, civil society and mass-based organizations, academia and activists, gathered in Kathmandu, Nepal from 27 to 30th of March 2019 to discuss importance of tax and fiscal policies and the role of public spending on addressing multiple inequalities in the region. We are very concerned about the shocking rise in inequalities affecting millions of people especially women and working class people in South Asia. Therefore, as we promised in our first convergence held in Negombo, Sri Lanka in November 2018 not to be silent and fight to create fairer and more equal societies for our children and future generations, we reiterate our concerns listed below.  1.        We are deeply concerned with the adverse impacts of indirect taxes that are imposed on daily essentials, including health and educational needs of people; the tax regime exempts the rich from taxes and helps them accumulate wealth, while it deprives common people of even the most basic needs. 2.        We appreciate the policy commitment of South Asian Governments to gender-responsive budgeting, yet the budget policies and procedures are not gender sensitive and responsive leading to narrowing of the space and opportunities for promoting gender justice in governance system and public spending. 3.        We demand that the governments of South Asian countries make immediate efforts to revisit their tax regime and make it progressive in order to increase the tax to GDP ratio, to mobilize tax revenue through progressive direct taxes and reduce the burden of indirect taxes.  4.       We express our grave concerns on the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We condemn the neo-liberal economic policies that promote elite capture of politics and national economy causing a rise in the wealth concentration. We call upon the governments of countries in South Asia to take immediate policy interventions and programmatic measures that prevent elites from capturing the policy and governance space, and redistribute resources to the people and protect the life of the common people. 5.        We observe the consistent rise in the military and defense expenditures in many South Asian Countries that contribute to the weakening of democracy, justice and human rights of its citizens. We call upon the governments to redirect the budget towards education, health and social protection for the citizens. 6.        We demand that the concerned governments rationalize tax incentives, tax exemptions and tax holidays, and end those that are unproductive but are given on the pretext of attracting investments. Such measures drain the public exchequer of tax revenue and result in increased inequality. We call upon the governments of South Asian countries to come together, collaborate and promote south-south cooperation aiming to promote peaceful co-existence and united South Asia to fight unfair world economic order. 7.        The wage gaps have been observed to be very high and not proportionate to market inflation. The working class people are strained and distressed with their income. Women workers and their dominant sectors of engagement such as agriculture, domestic work and care work are subjected to low wages and no wages. We demand that the governments must take pro-active initiatives to end the gender pay gap, ensure appropriate and livable wages that would lead to a decent life for all occupations, for men and women, and in women dominant labor sectors.  8.       We demand that South Asian governments recognize, reduce and redistribute women’s unpaid work, especially care work, through valuation and equal distribution of household responsibilities for both men and women.   9.        We demand the promotion of representation of women and working-class people in decision making and political processes and institutions as they are essential for challenging all the causes of inequalities. We urge the political parties and the governments of South Asian countries to provide a minimum of 33 per cent of the seats for women’s participation at all decision-making levels in the party and in the state machinery to create a gender-sensitive environment. We expect this percentage to rise to 50 per cent as women form half of the world’s population and their presence in equal numbers in the political and decision-making levels is important to reduce inequality. 10.      We demand the governments to publish the status of capital flight and tax evasion by individuals and corporate entities in the form of a White Paper on a regular basis. We also demand strong legal provisions and implementation of existing laws to disqualify tax evaders from the electoral process and in any public position.  11.     We the people’s campaigns and organizations in South Asia would commit ourselves to take a firm step on our struggle for challenging inequality and would continue engagement with governments and people's movement for creating fair and just economic order at our national and regional levels.   As per our commitment during the Negombo Convergence 2018 to unite South Asians and mobilize them to create visible actions, we have formed a South Asia Tax and Fiscal Justice Alliance to organize campaigns for tax and fiscal justice and to fight against inequality in South Asia region. We all, the participating individuals and organizations, are members of this initiative and would like to call upon all interested individuals, organizations and movements to join the alliance to address a crucial situation of rising inequality and the role of taxation and public spending at national and regional levels.   To achieve these demands, we decide to come together and, Campaign across the region to create awareness on tax and fiscal justice and its importance in reducing inequality. Train and mobilize people around the demands and create visible actions across the region.  Engage in evidence-based advocacy at local, national and regional levels to make our demands more evidence-based and conduct research at the national level on taxation to come up with appropriate analysis to make the system more progressive to reduce the inequality.Pressurize the governments to include the elements of gender responsiveness while formulating budget so as to ensure the collection and allocation of public resources is carried out in such a way that are effective and contribute to gender justice and promote women’s empowerment.

Negombo DeclarationEnd Gender Inequality through Fiscal Justice and Access to Basic Rights!19-20 November 2018, Negombo, Sri Lanka We, the people of South Asia from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka working as members of parliament, in political parties, civil society and mass-based organisations, business and academia, gathered in Negombo, Sri Lanka on 19 and 20th of November 2018 at the South Asian Women’s Convergence on Addressing Gender Inequality through Fiscal Justice and Access to Basic Rights, are extremely concerned about the staggering level of inequalities affecting millions of women in South Asia. We resolve not to be silent but rather, to fight to create a fair and equal society.We express grave concerns about the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few and call upon states to take immediate measures to reduce the rising inequality.We demand that South Asian governments make immediate efforts to increase the tax to GDP ratio to mobilise tax revenue through progressive direct taxes and reduce the burden of indirect taxes.End unproductive tax incentives, tax exemptions and tax holidays under the pretext of attracting investments that drains public tax revenue. The South Asian states must come together and collaborate to end this race to the bottom.Increase public spending on priority social sectors such as education, health and social protection in order to address inequality from which women will gain more. Reduce military and other unproductive expenditure.We demand that states take pro-active initiatives to end gender pay gap. Living wages should be ensured for every trade and occupation.We demand that South Asian governments recognise, reduce and redistribute women’s unpaid care work through valuation, technological innovations and investment to free women of such oppression.Expedite process of gender budgeting and engage women’s group to work on the gender budgeting and taking care of gender dimensions.Invest in promoting women-led business and enterprises.Ensure equal representation of women in all decision making bodies, especially, in all fiscal policy-making process, implementation and monitoring. To achieve these demand we decide to come together and,Campaign across the region to create awareness around the issues.Train & mobilise people around the demands and create visible actions across the region.Unite South Asians to raise their voice in unison to demand an end to gender inequality.As an immediate action, we all agree to arrange public mobilisations during World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, between 18-25 January 2019 in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, as a part of worldwide movement against inequality. The mobilisations will include demonstrations, rallies, art work, musical performance, cartoons etc.

Declarations: South Asian Women's Convergence on Local Governance and Women's Political Participation in South AsiaExpanding spaces and enhancing rights for equality and justice We, the women rights campaigners from South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) working as members of parliament, in political parties, civil society organisations, business and academia, gathered in Kathmandu on 6 and 7 August 2017 on the invitation of All Nepal Women’s Association (ANWA) to acknowledge and extend solidarity to the women’s struggle and to converge the idea for expanding spaces and enhancing rights of women’s participation at local governance in South Asia. We collectively acknowledge that including women in local governments is an essential first step towards creating gender equal society, governments and gender sensitive policies in the South Asian region.Local government ensures people’s access to politics at a very grassroot level and is a vital building block for any democracy. Although women’s political participation in South Asia has received significant attention over the years, their presence in the local level of democracy has been inadequate and even their existing participation has been overshadowed by their secondary role to that of their male counterpart. Patriarchal mindset and political structures, social values and traditions and extremist fundamental religious influences stand as strong impediments against enhancing women’s meaningful engagement in politics and local governance. Some progress has been made but the progress is insufficient provided that women in South Asia are still underrepresented in decision-making and leadership positions and the lackluster implementation of the internationally agreed agreements including the Beijing Platform for Action and currently the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We recognise that women’s participation in local governance not only enhances their rights and space but also strengthens democracy, and their exclusion is a violation of fundamental human rights and a breach of the spirit of universal declaration of human rights.Reconfirming that women’s participation in politics and governance is not an endowment rather entitlement of women and compensation for historical and structural exclusion of women, we call upon political parties, governments, civil society organisations, and mass media in South Asia to take adequate steps to ensure women’s equal representation and political participation in local governance. It is men who have been exercising power in most spaces, political and otherwise. The convergence appeals the relevant stakeholders to take the following actions to ensure and enhance women’s active participation in politics and expand these spaces through democratic processes.-        We urge the political parties of South Asia to provide a minimum of 33 per cent of the seats for women’s representation at all decision-making levels in the party machinery and to create a gender sensitive environment in the inner-party culture. We expect this percentage to rise to over 50 percent as women form half of the world’s population and their presence in equal numbers in the political and decision-making levels is as important. Reservations in direct elections are also imperative.-        We call upon political leaders to effectively prove their commitment to the non-negotiable cause of equal rights and opportunities for women by formulating policies, enacting laws, creating a conducive environment and allocating resources to increase women’s participation at all levels of governance and to respect all international obligations, including the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).-        We demand that quotas, reservations and other mechanisms be introduced in all countries of South Asia so that all South Asian countries achieve at least 33 per cent representation of women by the year 2020. Effective implementation of these quotas, ensuring they are filled and making special provisions in countries where such provisions are not yet in existence is necessary.-        We call upon all women and the parties/organisations they belong to, to work towards feminist goals of bringing more women into political decision-making by using their voting rights.-        We urge governments across South Asia to work towards gender friendly markets and economic policies, to economically empower women and on labour laws and social security for women working in the informal sector.-        Ensuring access to education, capacity building and furthering leadership development for women in the region is another challenge that all sections should take up on a priority basis.-        It would be imperative for women’s organisations to establish connects with parliamentarians and women in political parties, as one of the means of promoting women’s participation and bringing women's issues to the foreground.-        Patriarchy masquerading as religion and majority religious fundamentalism/extremism has adversely affected women’s rights, pushing women back into the realm of their homes, thereby hindering the process of their participation in public life. We urge States and civil society to address the issue of religious fundamentalism of all kinds and guarantee women equal rights as enshrined in most of their respective constitutions.-        We urge all those working on issues concerning women, their participation in public life, on securing them their rights to come together, as most of the issues faced by women in South have many commonalities. Hence, learning from best practices wherever possible and standing in solidarity with their counterparts, pressuring governments to take up their cause is also imperative.-        We demand that mechanisms be created for women to be elected and appointed to all decision-making structures and secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) ensuring their 33 per cent representation.We make a solemn pledge to continue to struggle for women’s political rights and ensure their fair representation in all State mechanisms at local level.7 August 2017

Kathmandu Declaration of the South Asia Peasants’ ConvergenceFebruary 2 and 3, 2017, Kathmandu, Nepal We, the representatives of South Asian peasant organisations, agricultural labourer unions, plantation workers unions, young farmers, women, landless and Dalits, Adivasis, small and marginal farmers, pastoralist and herders and other small food producers gathered here in Kathmandu, call upon all progressive organisations and social movements to transform and fight for building a just society based on equitable distribution of resources and ensure access to and control of producers in productive resources along with land, finance and technology.South Asia is home to around a billion peasants and agricultural workers. We gather here to celebrate their struggles and join hand in hand to fight united against all the challenges we face especially due to increasing right wing capitalist and large corporations’ attacks and erosion of our formerly acquired rights. We gather here strengthened by the spirit of our friends and leaders and all those whose courage and commitment to our democratic struggles inspire us. We would take this opportunity to extend cooperation and solidarity between people to people, in fact peasants to peasants across the South Asian region for resisting all attempts to turn this region into a battlefield or a looting ground by vested interest groups. We condemn all attempts by governments to interfere in the affairs of other countries. We would continue to struggle to make this region peaceful, prosperous and an example of cross-border solidarity.We are facing a deeper and more severe financial, ethical, social, political and institutional crisis than ever, in terms of food, labour, energy, economy, climate and ecology created by neo-liberal capitalism. We are aware of the prevailing deep rooted hunger, poverty and malnutrition in the region and we also have a common understanding of its structural causes. We are alarmed by the grave issues of agricultural crisis, including land grabbing, climate change, corporate agriculture and mono-cropping, chemical farming and GMOs and loss of peasants’ rights that have been impoverishing the peasantry and the working class of our region. A large number of farmers, close to 5 lakhs (500,000) in the region, have resorted to suicides as the only way to escape poverty in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. We oppose the use of agricultural land in other non-agricultural activities. We condemn the forcible acquisition of agricultural lands in the name of energy and other infrastructure projects. Faced with such situation there is an urgent need to build a stronger resistance. We would fight for a region where peasants and farmers have decent livelihood, respect and prosperity from farming.There is also an increasing control of imperialist forces, namely, the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The impacts of WTO dictated policies of liberalisation, deregulation and privatisation along with WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) with its provision of market access, reduction of farm export subsidies and domestic support to agriculture has proven detrimental to farmers. We continue to fight to keep WTO and FTAs out of agriculture. We deeply condemn business and intervention in the name of poverty reduction programmes by the World Bank, IMF and ADB including micro-credits which have devastated thousands of peasants and the rural poor and are responsible for farmers’ suicides. At the same time, it is evident that we cannot simply fight to maintain the peasants in whatever condition they are in. Rather, the goal has to be modernisation, which will have to be democratic, culturally appropriate, take ecological concerns into account, and be based on policies that ensure that all sectors of concerned people are genuinely part of the actual policy making and implementation process. We want to collectively work to make farming a decent source of livelihood and income. The States must ensure that farming is attractive for the youth. We demand more agro-based industries and rural development. The States must make public expenditure in agriculture including the creation of infrastructure.Access to resources including land, water, seed, etc., remains a key question for the agrarian transformation and well-being of peasantry. We demand comprehensive agrarian reforms including scientific land reforms. This means ensuring full access over land, recognising indigenous peoples’ legal rights to their territories, guaranteeing fishing communities’ access and control of fishing areas and ecosystems, and recognising pastoral migratory routes. We know that only such reform ensures a future for rural youth and reduce the rapid migration of youth from rural areas.We reaffirm that food sovereignty is the fundamental right of all people and societies should control food and agricultural systems and policies, ensuring everyone adequate, affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food. Not only the indigenous knowledge and sustainable practices in farming have been seriously destroyed by the conventional farming, but also it has given the control of seeds and many other resources into the hands of few companies and elites. Therefore, we defend agro-ecology to conserve biodiversity, cool the planet and protect our soils and seeds. Our agro-ecological model can not only feed all of humanity but is also a way to stop the advancement of climate crisis through local production in harmony with our forests and waterways, enhancing diversity and returning organic matter to natural cycles.Our struggle is to build a society based on justice, equality, peace, development and prosperity. We demand respect for all women rights. We demand an end to the conflicts and wars over appropriation, proliferation of military bases and criminalisation of dissent and reaffirm our support to create and maintain unity in diversity. We present our vision which is inclusive, broad-based, practical, radical and hopeful as an invitation to join us in transforming our societies and protecting the earth.We reaffirm ourselves to the alternative vision of political, social, economic and cultural systems to enable ecological, social and sustainable development of the region that eliminates all forms of discrimination based on class, gender, sexuality, disabilities, caste, ethnicity, religion, language and geography; which leads to a situation free from exploitation and oppression.We demand:The effective implementation of food sovereignty as the fundamental right of people and ensure, their access to resources including seeds.The end of neo-liberalism designed by corporations and operated through markets that favour unjust profiteering over people’s sustainable development and deny peoples’ collective rights to commons;Recognition, promotion and implementation of people-centred cooperation at all levels to resolve issues and problems of South Asia. We demand that SAARC meetings should be held according to plan.Encouragement to locally produced organic foods initially with supply to schools and hospitals.Take WTO and FTAs out of agriculture. Ensure that agriculture is our way of life, our livelihood, our culture, our food, and our way of relating with the nature.Ensure comprehensive agrarian reform to guarantee dignified livelihood of peasants and maintain ecological balance.Ensure equal rights to and use of land for women. Ensure justice and equality for women, which require the transformation of social and economic arrangements, including access to land, credit, education, social benefits and power.Include the rights to compensation for all those who participate in food production and care of natural resources – fisher-folk, indigenous peoples, landless workers, pastoralists and forest dwellers.Supply subsidised and cheap inputs to individual farmers and guarantee crop insurance. Ensure Minimum Support Prices for small farmers. Increase the State budget allocation in agriculture.Apply ILO convention on agricultural workers across the region and recognise them as workers and frame national labour laws. Implement equal wages for equal work for men and women and the prohibition of child labour in hazardous occupation.Recognise Right to Employment and implement employment guarantee policies in all countries with decent wages.End all forms of social discrimination, abolish bondage and child labour.The respect for rights of landlocked countries. We demand that our government should respect the South Asian Free Trade Agreement, Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship - 1950; Motor Vehicle Agreement among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) - 2015; Convention on Transit Trade of Land-locked States - 1965 and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - 1982.Effective implementation of land use policy in each country ensuring protection of fertile farming land. We also demand to stop Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in primary production of agriculture.

Fifth General Assembly, 2-3 September 2016We, the members of the Fifth General Assembly, of SAAPE, having met at Kathmandu, Nepal from 2-3, September, 2016, do hereby, unanimously adopt this declaration.We have assembled at this fifth General Assembly as South Asians drawn from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal and taken note of the emerging situation in our respective countries and in South Asia.We are deeply disturbed at the all-round degradation in the quality of life that the majority of South Asians are experiencing. We witness increasing deprivations in the human, cultural, economic, social and political spheres of our people.We condemn the warmongering and spawning of trans-border hostilities by South Asian states to suit their sectarian political interests. We condemn the violence, cruelty, arson and looting injected by extraneous thinking into the locality, the class room, the market place or the place of worship.We condemn religious fanaticism and its recourse to terrorist methods in which unarmed civilians are the worst affected. Indeed, this sort of terrorist attacks has become one of the major challenges for most of the countries in South Asia. We unequivocally denounce the use of terror against civilian populations in all forms and circumstances. Today, that means first and foremost we must condemn the bombings, suicide attacks and other means of terrorism. The attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Gulshan, Bangladesh; the series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan; the rise of various religious fundamentalisms across South Asiaall bear signs of a society where violence has become a norm and religion is routinely used to silence voices of reason and compassion. We demand that states restrain from supporting groups/organisations that attack unarmed civilians for political or other goals.We pledge to carve out a new narrative of radical peace and equality from the ruins of our violent past. All the progressive, secular and democratic forces must come and stand together, under the banner of radical peace, justice and equality for all. Despite all the setbacks of the last few years, the potential growth of a genuinely progressive alternative has not been extinguished and, most importantly, has never been more necessary than now.We must also condemn acts of terror when these are perpetrated by our own governments. We strongly denounce the repeated acts of state-terrorism by the South Asian governments. We condemn state-terror pursued by repressive movements, suspending civil liberties, militarising the public space, hardening the Penal Code and rousing religious and racial animosity.  Perpetuating a coercive police-state in the guise of so-called anti-terrorism agreements, do not address the root causes. These are only superficial answers dished out to masses and contribute to the endless spiral of global terror.We also condemn another form of terrorism – that imposed by neo-liberal economic fundamentalism – in all South Asian countries millions of children go to bed hungry and grow up in acute malnutrition resulting in stunting and underweight, thus affecting their ability to study, grow up and live without full citizenships due to increasing income gaps. This is happening after more than two decades of neoliberal growth in all countries of South Asia. The story of hunger, unemployment, disease, illiteracy, homelessness, child labour, gender inequality, discrimination and deprivation, especially against the excluded social groups of our region is writ large in every corner of South Asia. It is our considered opinion and our lived experience that this condition of all round human misery stands further accentuated ever since neo-liberalism invaded our lands. Unfortunately, the ruling class across the region in spite of their mutual differences and hostilities are united in imposing this economic model which has spread inequality, human deprivation, discrimination and erosion of the quality of life of the millions.SAAPE stands committed to help to appraise the situation of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. International community has not been able to significantly contribute to ease this pending problem. There has been no sign of immediate repatriation of the refugees by the Nepal government. The Bhutan government is adamant in refusing the refugees’ right to return.We also demand that Sri Lankan refugees wanting to stay back in India are given citizenship. The Sri Lanka government must provide security and assistance to those wanting to be in their homeland.We demand ‘Rights to Minorities’ and ‘No to Majoritarianism’, ‘full citizenship with all entitlements to minorities’. All cases of cross border inceptions where migrants have not been treated well even within legal framework must stop. We also demand full citizenship rights for migrant workers.We demand that People’s SAARC and the Official SAARC are linked and exchanges are maintained so that the two bodies do not work in isolation. People’s SAARC should be accredited with Observer status, to voice grass-roots opinion and work for a better South Asia.Land and natural resource grab in South Asia is the serious issue that has led to the alienation of people from their rights to live and rights to livelihoods. The land grabbing process must be stopped urgently. We demand rational utilisation of natural resources and democratic control of communities over them to eradicate poverty. A democratic and ecological regional planning for water and other resources must be ensured as a priority.We urge states to respect the rights of land locked countries of the region.We urge states to unilaterally repudiate sovereign debts.We realise that the marginalisation and structural exclusion of women from governance, economic and  political participation has reinforced the feminisation of poverty; discrimination and violence against women are further hindering women’s accession and influence in politics and governance; exclusion of women and other sexual minorities from politics and governance is a violation of fundamental human rights and breaches the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We recognise that women’s meaningful engagement in politics and governance can contribute in reducing gaps in society and promoting peace and dignity for all. We reconfirm that women’s participation in politics and governance is a right. The historical and structural exclusion of women needs to end. All forms of patriarchal authority need to end. Violence against women must have zero tolerance in society.We therefore pledge ourselves in favour of a secular, democratic, humanist order free from discrimination of all kinds, denial of dignity, and artificial boundaries that impede our travel and our friendships, especially at a people to people level. We demand barrier free movement and visa free regime. We want a society that guarantees us all Human rights, especially that which is contained in the international Bill of Rights. We want the South Asian governments to ratify all Human Rights conventions and implement them strictly. The South Asian society can only claim itself democratic when the rights of people at the bottom are guaranteed.We want a people friendly Rule of Law based political order which is guaranteed by a constitutional arrangement in which Sovereignty rests entirely with the people, with the right to recall corrupt officials along with the machinery that can put such usurpers of power behind the bars, after due process of law.The SAARC charter as well as the agreements must be immediately implemented.We call upon all our friends in Civil Society and in people friendly political processes to wake up to the needs and aspirations of ordinary people and to strive for a new world order and to make efforts for the same in South Asia. Let us prepare well for the People’s SAARC and use the coming opportunity to ascertain the will of the widest sections of civil society and move forward to defeat the forces of fundamentalism, elite rule, and exploitation, discrimination based on gender or social group affiliations and end all forms of poverty, inequalities & religious fundamentalism.Full social security needs to be guaranteed for all vulnerable populations in South Asian countries by national governments. Given the rise of inequalities this is mandatory. We must ensure minimum living wage and job-security for all workers in the region.We are aware that catastrophic levels of climate change would make the poor even more vulnerable. To fight that we need to institute sustainable patterns of production and consumption. We demand that governments takes affirmative steps and firmly commits to hold global warming below 2° Celsius increase. This would imply phasing out fossil fuels, investments in renewable energy, stopping the loss of biodiversity, and ending overfishing, deforestation, and desertification.While we appreciate the Sustainable Development Goals’ affirmation to reduce inequality, combat climate change, strengthen labour rights, eliminate Western agricultural subsidies, etc. we have apprehensions that the efforts to eradicate global poverty only through economic growth, export-oriented models, trade liberalisation, etc. within the existing neo-liberal paradigm would be counter-productive and perpetuate poverty. We assert that the attainment of SDGs are dependent on structurally changing the current socio-economic model and its institutions.

11-12, September 2013, Kathmandu NepalWe the women rights campaigners from south Asian Countries working in members of parliament, political parties, civil society organisations, business and academia gathered in Kathmandu on 11 and 12 September 2013 on the invitation of All Nepal Women’s Association to acknowledge the women’s struggle, to enhance the solidarity and strengthened the regional and in country movement for women’s equal political participation and representation in the south Asian countries have collectively agreed that engendering politics and governance is an urgent needs for peace, prosperity and to end human poverty in south Asian region.Realising the marginalisation and structural exclusion of women’s from governance and political participation has reinforced the feminisation of poverty;Confirming the discrimination and violence against women are further hindering women’s accession and influence in politics and governance;Reaffirming the exclusion of women from politics and governance is violation of fundamental human rights and breaches the spirit of universal declaration of human rights;Recognising the women’s meaningful engagement in politics and governance can contribute for reducing gaps in society and promotion of peace and dignity for all;Reconfirming Women’s participation in politics and governance is not an endowment rather entitlement of women and compensation for historical and structural exclusion of women;Recalling the 14 points declaration made by South Asian Women’s Conference in 2009 for breaking barriers and claiming women’s space in south AsiaCall for political parties, governments and civil society organisations including mass media for taking adequate steps with sincere commitment and practical realisation for equal representation and participation of women in politics and governance;The conference appeal for following actions to engender politics and governance in south Asia:Citizenship is the foundation for accessing and influencing politics and governance, we call government of south Asian countries to ensure full and equal citizenship rights for womenCurrent notion of delegative liberal democracy model is failed to ensure women’s proportionate participation, we demand for reforming democratic system to be more progressive, women friendly and able to recognize and adequately respond the women’s needsThe election modalities on are crucial for attaining women’s proportionate participation, we appeal the election commissions of south Asian countries to practice special gender policy that promotes ethical, safer and adequate legislative measures for making women’s equal representation and participation in election in many ways as voter, candidate, political campaigner and election observer as well as electoral officials.Criminalisation of politics and corruption in political system has further hindered women’s participation and representation in governance, we call upon political parties, governments, civil society and media to expose the crimes and corruption in politics and to seek accountability and political integrity from political parties.Women’s political participation and representation in governance is adversely influenced by all discriminatory and harmful cultural practices including early marriages, dowry, violence against women, misconception of witchcraft, exclusion from education and economic engagement.We call government and civil society to take adequate effective actions to end such kind of structural cultural barriers against women’s equality in society.The patriarchal mindset among the male dominated parliamentary system has not recognised women’s competency, the conference call for interventions on changing the patriarchy mindset among political leaders and parliamentarians.We declare united regional movement lead by women political leaders together with activists, civil society, workers’ union, academia and business sector to further reclaiming women’s equal space in politics and governance of south Asia.We acknowledge and appreciate the steps taken by people, women and political parties of Nepal to have one-third women parliamentarians in past constitution assembly. We are not fully assured the continuity of 33 percent participation in upcoming election. We call for political parties, in solidarity with struggling civil society and women leaders, at least to institutionalise the 33 percent women’s representation in upcoming constitution assembly, to have 50 percent participation in local governments and to move ahead for equal women’s representation at all level of political parties and governance.We thank the Rt. Honourable President of federal democratic republic of Nepal Dr. Ram Baran Yadav for availing his precious time and encouragement provided to the participants of the conference. We also thank the Rt. Honourable vice president of federal democratic republic of Nepal, Paramananda Jha for his encouraging speech and being with us during inauguration of this conference.Celebrate women power for peace, justice and dignity!

Kathmandu Declaration, 2012Adopted by 4th General Assembly of SAAPE, 18-19 December 2012 We the members of the Fourth General Assembly, of SAAPE, having met at Kathmandu, Nepal from 18-20, December, 2012, do hereby, unanimously adopt this declaration.We have assembled at this fourth General Assembly as South Asians drawn from Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal and taken note of the emerging situation in our respective countries and in South Asia.We are deeply disturbed at the all-round degradation in the quality of life that the majority of South Asians are experiencing in their respective countries. We witness increasing deprivations in the human, cultural, economic, social and political spheres of our people.The average South Asian loves to live in peace and harmony with her neighbours both within and beyond the borders that artificially divide us. When South Asians meet in each other’s country, there is so much of joy, happiness and fraternity, irrespective of religion, language, colour of skin or political affiliation. Yet there is so much of violence, cruelty, murder, rape, arson and looting, when extraneous thinking is injected into the locality, the class room, the market place or the place of worship. The story of Malala bears symbolic witness to what we have stated above. This little girl of Swat region in Pakistan decided that it was her birth right to go to school, but to our utter dismay, certain fundamental forces shot at her and tried to kill her. But this brave could not be killed, in spite of a bullet even in her head. She not only survived but she inspires us with her determination to live as an educated girl against the propaganda of fundamentalists.  We, especially, on behalf of all south Asian Girl children rejoice that she has recovered and is alive and smiling.Malala has upheld the right of girl children to attend school in exercise of her fundamental right to education and it is Taliban that is put to shame for this criminal act against an innocent but determined girl child of Pakistan. We wish to adopt her as the daughter of South Asia and call upon all Governments, educational institutions and all child friendly organisations in our region to introduce scholarships for girl children's education by collecting donations in her name from all citizens of South Asia. Henceforth all school books should have a lesson in their text books explaining the story of Malala and explain how and why she fought for the right to education for all girl children. Simultaneously we take note of the tragic reality in all South Asian countries where millions of children go to bed hungry and grow up in acute malnutrition resulting in stunting and underweight, thus affecting their ability to grow up, study and become good citizens. This is happening after more than two decades of neoliberal growth in all countries of South Asia.The story of hunger, unemployment, disease, illiteracy, homelessness, child labour, gender inequality, discrimination and deprivation, especially against the excluded social groups of our region is writ large in every corner of South Asia.It is considered opinion and our lived experience that ever since the invasion of neoliberalism into our lands this condition of all round human misery stands further accentuated by the day. Unfortunately, our leaders, who represent the elite of South Asia are united in importing this economic model which has spread inequality, human deprivation and erosion of the quality of life of the millions. We must remember that this importation of the economic policies is primarily meant to help the crisis ridden western world of their own problems. This model is inspired by the 'Washington Consensus' (created by the united action of the World Bank, the IMF, the WTO and the treasury of the USA) has been imposed on us either through the Structural Adjustment Programme or the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and not through the democratic consensus of our people.Indeed democracy has also been a casualty in South Asia. There are continuing obstacles to our progress along democratic lines. Recent events in different parts of South Asia, however, witness the rise of democratic struggles. The People, the Bar Associations, the Judiciary, the constitution making process, the media and above all civil society has been fighting relentlessly for advancing and consolidating democratic rights. Unfortunately there are attacks and setbacks in our endeavour and most recently these threats have come from fundamentalists of different religious origin and even from the ruling circles of the elite as we have witnessed in Sri Lanka. At the same time we renew our pledge to Peace and we remain committed to the peaceful path of struggle. We call upon all people's movements and all forms of protest and mobilisation in south Asia to shun the path of armed insurrection. There are too many instances where innocent people are the victims of cross fire and it is time for us to learn that the rich traditions of peace and non-violence, in the world and in our region alone must inspire and guide us in our struggle for a new world-  even if it is against imperialism aided and abetted by the local elite for their own aggrandisement.We therefore pledge ourselves in favour of a secular, democratic, humanist order free from discrimination, denial of dignity, and artificial boundaries that impede our travel and our friendships, especially at a people to people level. We want a society that guarantees us all Human rights, especially that which is contained in the international Bill of Rights.We want a people friendly Rule of Law based political order which is guaranteed by a constitutional arrangement in which sovereignty rests entirely with the people, with the right to recall corrupt officials along with machinery that can put such usurpers of power behind the bars, after due process of law.We call upon all our friends in Civil Society and in people friendly political processes to wake up to the needs and aspirations of ordinary people and to strive for a new world order and to make efforts for the same in South Asia. Let us prepare well for the Peoples' SAARC and use the coming opportunity to ascertain the will of the widest sections of civil society and move forward to defeat the forces of fundamentalism, elite rule, exploitation, discrimination based on gender or social group and end all evil within the South Asia.It is important that SAAPE help to appraise the situation of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal. International community has not been able to significantly contribute to ease this pending problem. There has been no sign of immediate repatriation of the refugees by the Nepal government. Migration across borders and its impact on receiving states such as the issues in North-East India are foreign related issues as it shares borders with four foreign countries. There are major problems resulting from this cross border linkages. Infiltration from Bangladesh has brought about various problems to ethnic communities who are struggling for their rights and ownership to resources. Hence, land grabbing has a completely different meaning for ethnic people. There should be an emergency strategy of SAAPE so as to have a focal point to take immediate actions which will help us to stand up as South Asia, against tragic incidents such as the case of Malala. A People’s Coalition has to be formed and perhaps it can be linked with the Special Team about to be formed for Afghanistan. Trade Measures should have a “Look East” policy. We should critically look at on trade policies being implemented in South Asia by World Bank, IMF etc. to have people’s views on the impact on these policies.‘Rights to Minorities’ and ‘No to Majoritarianism’, ‘full citizenship with all entitlements to minorities’. There have been cases of cross border inceptions where migrants have not been treated well even within legal framework. States have clear doctrines and secretarisation of migration for the interest of national sovereignty and security. There are bilateral and trilateral interests, political pressure and diplomatic protocol to be maintained. In this connection, civil societies should work together to develop a mechanism to work in terms of protecting people who are crossing the border.Peoples' SAARC and Official SAARC relationship has to be linked and maintained so that the two bodies do not work in isolation. India must not give military aid to South Asia. It is the responsibility of the Indian civil society to break this and show the attitude that Indian politicians are to blame not the Indians in general.Land and natural resource grab in South Asia is the serious issue that has led to the alienation of people from their rights to live and rights to livelihoods. The land grabbing process must be stopped urgently.19 December 2012

KATHMANDU DECLARATION ON CLIMATE CRISISAdopted in the South Asia Regional Conference on Climate Change1-2 January 2011We the representatives farmers’ organisations, political organizations and parties, civil society organizations and non-government organizations from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Nepal having gathered at Katmandu on 1st and 2nd January 2011, with the objective of discussing multiple impacts of climate change including its impact on food sovereignty in the South Asia express our deepest concern over the vulnerability of the region to climate change, devastating impacts of climate change on lives, food sovereignty, culture of people and especially marginalized people and women, and voice our dissent in the strongest possible manner on the outcomes of ongoing UNFCCC negotiations, and lament lack of serious and effective policies and steps of our National governments to tackle this climate crisis. We also call upon UNFCCC, national governments in South Asia and other developing countries, regional Institutions like SAARC, and the civil society to lead expedited efforts to intensify the struggle for seeking pro people solutions to this crisis, based upon the principles of common but differentiated responsibility, climate equity and justice and other principles enshrined in international human rights covenants including UNFCCC, and human rights based approach to development.We express our grave concern on climate change impacts in South Asia, that it is already having serious impacts especially on our food sovereignty. South Asia is the region of world highest number i.e., 40 % of poor population, and is also highly conflict torn region. Though the regional per capita emission of South Asia is around 0.2 to 10 tons; South Asia is the worse victim of climate impact. According to the IPCC one third of Bangladesh and all most all coastal area of India will be lost due to sea rise. Himalayan glaciers has the probability to complete meltdown, which will create severe drinking water crisis over the entire region. Due to temperature rise and climate variability there will be 35 to 40 % crop loss especially in rain fed regions. Displacement of more than 50 million people mostly farmers and poor is also predicted. Economies of the almost all the countries will be severely affected slowing down the rate of growth and equitable development in the region.We have already observed the impacts in recent (2010) Pakistan floods, which affected all most half of the country and 20 million people and their life and livelihood. Repeated cyclones in Bangladesh recently (cyclone Aila in 2007 and Sidr in 2009) caused loss of 4500 lives and damages amounting to $ 3 billions. We stand in solidarity to the people whose lives have been devastated in these calamities.We have also observed challenges presented by the climate crisis to the highly stressed food sovereignty situation in the region,. Which will not only affect the region but the entire world. Bangladesh is a major importing country, while Nepal, India and Pakistan are also hardly food self sufficient. Internally in South Asia, food distribution is also unequal, commensurate to the enhancing trend of income disparity, a large (not less then 30 to 40% of the population) number of population depends upon subsidized food supply or by safety net programs. We also observed that how climate change is impacting farmers and farming in the form of rise in temperature, reduction in rainfall and number of rainy days, salinization of soil and water, reduced farm outputs and income, and decrease in production of food, fodder and feed.We also express our strongest resentment on the inadequate and unbalanced outcomes of the UNFCCC process highly favoring the developed countries and carbon capitalism, and undermining the rights of developing countries, least developed countries and Small island nations. We strongly resist the diversion of the negotiations away from the principles enshrined in the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol in the COP 15 and COP 16, and also condemn the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreement and developing countries submitting to the capitalist and neo-liberal forces.We call upon our South Asian leaders to take a common position in next UNFCCC, CoP 17, in view of the grave impacts of climate change in the region and demand;Genuine and serious efforts from the developed countries to prevent rise of temperature below 1.5 DC and CO2 content below 350 ppm.Enhanced emission reduction commitments from Annex 1 countries up to 25-40%, by 2020  ( on the basis on 1990 emissions)Recognition of the historical role of Annex 1 countries in bringing world to this crisis and payment of Carbon Debt of at least $ 100 billions per year.Abolition of all market based mechanisms, which is highly unjust, capitalist and force developing countries to do all mitigation efforts, while developed countries continue to pollute and further encroach atmospheric space.Transfer of green technology to developing countries without IPR provisions, so that developing countries can benefit from replication and utilization of these technologies.All climate financing should be in form grant, and which should be additional to the already committed 0.7 % of GDP as aid to the developing countries.Oppose all sort of involvement of international finance institution (IFI) i.e., World Bank and Asian Development Bank involvement in climate finance.Respect for the Rights of Mother Earth, which has been a long standing tradition in the South Asian region, and other demands in the declaration of the world peoples Conference on the Rights Of Mother earth and Climate Change held at Bolivia.Develop a new UN protocol for the climate forced migrants as universal natural person that the developed countries have to take responsibilities of them in accepting their rights to life, shelter, livelihood in view of UNHRD.We also urge upon our South Asian leaders,;Respect and recognize that climate change is a regional issue and develop solidarity amongs south Asian countries and they must come up common minimum regional plan in next Maldives SAARC summit, to be held in November 2011SAARC should take initiative to prepare a study on Assessing on climate impacts in the region, and should prepare Common Agriculture Perspective Plan 2020 in participatory manner looking at the road map for devising common strategy to ensure food sovereignty in the region.Redefine the role and definition of SAARC Food Bank in view of the principles that SAARC food bank is for South Asian hungry people.SAARC should seriously consider on constitution of promotion and preservation of South Asian Seed Bank, as preventing commercialization and coropratization of our local seeds. And as to support national level effort to promote and preservation of our seeds and also to support our community effort in this regard.As South Asian countries share common rivers and where most of the those river source is in Himalayan glaciers, SAARC leaders must come up with common water source sharing and preservation plan so it will facilitate or our life line i.e., free water for life and livelihood in South Asia.To immediately implement the declarations issued in the 16th SAARC Summit …….We also call upon our national governments in our South Asian regions to take steps to strengthen our national climate resilience and adaptation capacities including;To have a strategic response and action plan based on climate impact assessment done by our national scientists and including the concerns of climate victims, farmers, laborers, and social movements. The plan must be the part of national long term development plan updated regularly.To have constitutional protection to the right of food sovereignty, including rights to food and employment, tillers right to lands, rights for small farmers and share croppers, forest community has rights over forest resources, fisher folk has right over of common water or fishing source, no commercialization of natural resources which will endanger community who is already protecting and whose livelihood depend upon the recycling of those natural resource).Increase public investment in agriculture and strengthen agricultural infrastructure and support services and focusing on preservation and promotion of local seeds system and rights of the small holders and marginal farmers and oppose corporatization of agriculture.We also call upon our fellow movements, farmers and labors organizations, civil society organizations toProtest and have wider solidarity against neo-liberal forces and carbon capitalismTo promote pro farmer and pro poor alternative action researches, especially in respect of sustainable natural resource management and sustainable agriculture.We believe it is the path to uphold the rights of our mother earth and simultaneously ensuring equity and justice in our societies.FacebookTwitterEmail