Final Declaration of the Social Forum in Burkina Faso

The first social forum in Burkina Faso took place from March 28-30th at the National College for Primary School Teacher Training, ENEP (Ecole Nationale des Enseignants du Primaire) at Loumbila near Ouagadougou.

 The preparations for the forum were shouldered by some 30 associations and started on May 6th last year.

 For three days the forum brought together 750 participants from over 150 associations. Delegations from France, Canada, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Cuba, Benin, Niger, Mali and all the regions of Burkina Faso took part.

 Following the discussions in 3 panels, 34 workshops and 2 open  conferences, the participants of the forum established a number of recommendations, that they would like to convey to all who feel concern about the conditions of profound injustice, generated by neo-liberal globalisation. Obviously all can not be reproduced here, but we have singled out some of the main points, in which participants will recognise their own words:

 We, the participants of the first social forum in Burkina Faso

• reject the neo-liberal policies, which continue to create an increasing gap between rich and poor nations and between rich and poor within the same nation … policies set out to have us believe that this is the sole economic model possible;

• reject  the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few multinationals and states, to the detriment of  the majority of the inhabitants and the future of our planet. This domination by a minority over the whole is intolerable.
• reject the total disengagement of the State in basic social services, vital for social cohesion and solidarity  (health, education, water, communication). The right to water, in Burkina Faso in particular, should be considered an actual part of human rights and a matter of concern for all;
• reject privatisation in its present form, because it leads to waste of national assets and the abandonment of public service;
• reject unfair trade agreements, such as in the present Common External Tariff and the Economic Partnership Agreements that the European Union wishes to impose on us (but which duly informed citizens do not want);
• reject the destruction which will ensue in our agriculture, from which 80% of the population earn their living at present;
• reject any violation of human rights in our respective countries and demand that our leaders dedicate themselves to peace – too many wars, refugees and displaced persons undermine our development;
• reject exclusion in any form.

 We, the participants of the first social forum of Burkina Faso

• reiterate the urgent need for an agricultural policy, which takes food sovereignty fully into account.

Our governments, members of the Economic Community of West African States, should immediately raise the level of the Common External Tariff (the framework in which import duty levels are set) by introducing a tariff band of 50% to protect sensitive farm products (cotton seeds, tomatoes, milk, rice, meat …) immediately, and hence before starting the final negotiations on the Economic Partnership Agreements, to avoid having our markets submerged by sub-products from subsidised agriculture of other countries…)

We pledge to change our habits, giving preference to eating local food products in order to sustain the agriculture of our country.

We invite farmers’ organisations to propose that all candidates for public office (City Mayors, Members of Parliament, Presidents) make a commitment to undertake certain steps of importance for the development of our agriculture and regard for the rural population.

May farmers’ organisations not just align themselves along governmental policy lines, but make sure they defend the farmers’ real interests.    

  
We would wish our governments to deliver land title deeds to farmers, to ensure the security and stability of our agricultural production, and to introduce a surcharge on agribusiness and financial speculation.

There must be true equality of men and women as regards access to land and women must have the right to inherit.

GMOs (Genetically modified organisms

We demand a review of the implementation of the Carthagena protocol, awareness raising among the public and the rank and file, co-ordination between research scientists to better measure the real hazards involved and effective application of the principle of precaution. We ask for the immediate cessation of blackmailing against cotton farmers, who refuse to grow GMO cotton, and a stop to attempts by our public authorities to impose GMOs.

Unfair debt

We demand that the unfair debt, which afflicts our countries, be  converted in its entirety into development programmes at basic  level, accompanied by control mechanisms that are transparent and accessible to all through regular information.

MDG – the Millenium Development Goals and access to basic social services

We note with sadness that these goals are far from being attained, because of the lack of transparency in the present political selection process, the design and carrying out of projects.

Mutual societies

We wish to promote all forms that allow our people to determine priorities, management and ownership. We ask the public bodies to encourage us to this end.

Health

We ask for national coverage, so that people in all regions of our country are entitled to the same benefits as people in the capital.

Education

We ask for the immediate stoppage of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (S.A.P.), free education until the age of 16, raising of the standard of living of teachers and students, promotion and development of informal education.

Communication

“Each village a telephone before 2015”.

Environment

We recommend that the environment be given a higher regard in the formulation and implementation of policies, so as to ensure sustainable practices: re-forestation, organic agriculture, education, better management in mining operations, ban on the use of black plastic bags, improvements in sanitation and traffic flows in the cities.

Civil Society Organisations – CSOs

We believe that it is necessary and urgent that a legal framework be established, so that CSOs, each according to their field of competence, may increasingly be associated with the decision making process in matters of vital importance to the country. They should be entitled to take legal action to defend the interests of their organisation and its members. Special care should be taken to ensure transparency in their financial management and their eligibility in the allocation of funds.

Corruption and good governance

We ask all representatives of the government and public administration to submit to the rule of law, equal for all:

honouring bills, refusal of corruption, bribes, etc.

Respect for the equal rights and obligations of all citizens

The state must be the guarantor of justice and good governance

(against exploitation, torture, summary executions …)

Reinforcement of the freedom of the press (press offence to be decriminalised)

Improvements of the freedom of association and the freedom of expression

The issue of corruption must be discussed extensively, because it is spreading in all directions

We especially recommend the following:

• Stop of the deduction for unexplained “overhead costs” in payments to cotton farmers
• Petitioning by parents for a reduction of excessive school fees
• Alliances with neighbouring countries to fight fraud at customs
• Involvement of associations during the anti-corruption days
• Possibility of access for all to decent housing
• Return to basic values in the re-education of the young

Following the dynamic spell of the forum, we, the Organisations of the Civil Society of Burkina Faso, present here in Loumbila, solemnly undertake to meet again at regular intervals (to be specified: every year, every 18 months, every second year),  to review the effects and follow-up of this final declaration, in order to strengthen our network and make headway in our thinking and our fights.

We reaffirm our opposition to neo-liberal policies and to  international financial institutions, which crush us.

We declare our solidarity with those who fight for their dignity, their material interests and moral convictions, by organising events of this kind, by informing people at the grass-root level, by organising legal, non-violent marches, by taking sides with  the suffering and the excluded … by taking control over our lives in accordance with a logic, in which it is no longer the financial power which prevails, but where  men and women regain the centre stage!

Yes, another world is possible!

Yes, another Africa, united and strong, is possible!

Yes, another Burkina, with less corruption, more justice and more solidarity, is possible!

Loumbila, March 30th 2007

The participants of the Forum

For additional information, please see the forum website:

http://www.forumsocialburkina.info