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A land that shelters, nourishes, and welcomes, but most of all a land for living

In 2008, the right to housing will be guaranteed in France. From a theoretical recognition to a universal proclamation, the guarantee for each citizen to have access to a roof, to be sheltered, to be protected, to be able to construct his or her future will assume the concrete form of a law, which justice must henceforth protect.

At first glance, and with a tinge of unnecessary irony, some could see this as a deliberate manner of keeping our advancement in social terms, vis-à-vis some landless Asian peasants, and beggars from shantytowns, who have been toughened by the need to fight for very basic needs.  

But this would seem to take into account only the present struggles, forgetting the basic needs that have given rise to these difficulties: access to land to work and to live.  In some ways, the earth is a living space (from there, why isn’t there an ecological touch to be seen…)

These men and women fight for this decisive first step, this theoretical and sometimes symbolic recognition of their fundamental rights, which is truly a prerequisite to the true feeling of citizenship.

This may also demonstrate arrogance by making too direct an assumption that Occidental values are universally held.  In terms of civic rights, like social advancements, it isn’t necessarily the most competitive or the least saying that gains from others, but rather it is he who offers the most that brings  others with him in a surge of progress.

What a great burst of hope then, for the people engaged in the movement for citizens, all over the East, from Karachi to Manille, from the heart of the vast Orient that creates Asia!

David Millet
FDH Activist in Avignon

PARTICIPATING [citizen involvement]

INDONESIA
Farmers’ Organizations Mobilizing
to Take Back the Land
In Bandung, in western Java, the very first SPORA conference took place between 9 and 21 March. SPORA is a new umbrella organization that brings together various Indonesian farmers’ associations.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

DEMONSTRATING [public activism]

INDIA
Heavily into Debt, the Farmers’
only Harvest is Loss
The suicide rate among Indian farmers has reached the breaking point. With the government unable to stop the crisis, only Indian farmers’ organizations are capable of bringing together the force and the willpower necessary to fight against this desperate cycle.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

TRAINING [knowledge for action]

PHILIPPINES
For Children not in School,
Mobile Unit Comes to Them
In the neighborhoods of Paco and Juan Luna, in the Philippine capital, the Virlanie Foundation began a brand-new project in October: the Mobile Unit, a traveling school for children living in the street, working in their immediate environment.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

COOPERATING [sharing resources]

PAKISTAN
NGOs Affirm their Independence
A code of conduct for Pakistani NGOs has made a lot of noise recently! On 6 February of this year, Pakistani associations, meeting at the SPO office, decided to take their future into their own hands. The Minister of Social Protection and Special Education had decided to give them a code of conduct.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

COMMUNICATING [confronting ideas]

INDONESIA
Radio used to make rights
known and recognizable
It is 6:00 p.m. in Indonesia. Many radio stations are switching over from their programs to broadcast a series offered by Voice of Human Rights (VHR). Today, a legal news program is being aired. With almost 300,000 listeners who tune in and a network of 266 partner stations, this “data bank” has successfully created a network throughout the country!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

TESTIMONY [culture and solidarity]

BANGLADESH
 Fostering the collective memory
thanks to the native language
The twelve strokes of midnight sounded in Dhaka, and on this 21st of February the president lajuddin Ahmed is the first to lay a garland at the feet of the Monument of the Martyrs. It is the middle of the Ekushey Book Fair, an event of the highest importance designed to promote Bengali.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article

PORTRAIT [a meeting with ...]

NEPAL
Profile of Jagat Basnet, founder of the
land rights movement for the landless
and tenant farmers fight
Jagat Basnet is the director of CSRC, a Nepalese social movement organization that works for land rights and researches social mobilization so that land rights movements will be established at a national level. A strong and passionate defender of the most disadvantaged populations, Jagat tells us his personal background.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  read this article