Police created disturbances towards the end of the peaceful campaign held on 15th at Chilaw

I am happy to add here a You tube from 15th campaign. You can see the details in this. Herman

Global Farmers Forum 2014 pay attention on Small Scal Fisheries

The Global Farmers Forum of IFAD is being held in Rome, Italy now. I attended both the IG-SSF guidelines at FAO and 5th FAFO at IFAD within this two weeks. It is important to see the recognition and visibility of Small Scale Fisher groups through the mediation of WFF and WFFP which the biggest fisher folk organizations in the International Planning Committee on food sovereignty. The following statement came out from the special session organized by IFAD on 8th February, 2014. This statement was read out at the opening session of the IFAD FAFO on 17th February, 2014. I would like to share this with my colleagues and all those who are concern small scale fishers well being in the world. Herman Synthesis of Deliberations of the special session on FAFO 2014 on small-scale fishery Rome, 08 February 2014 1. We the participants in the 5th global meeting of the Farmers’ Forum special event on Small Scale fishery, The World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fishworkers, The World form of Fisher People and some observers representing millions of small and artisanal fishers including fisherwomen, indigenous groups and rural youth, appreciate the Farmers’ Forum process and its contribution to bringing the voice of smallholder food producers into the country strategies and programs of IFAD. Reflecting on our past experiences, werecognise the fact that there is considerable potential for IFAD to work more intensively with small scale fishers and build upon what has been achieved so far. 2. Small scale fishers constitute almost 96% of fishing community across the world and contribute immensely towards food and nutrition security of the growing world population. This sector accommodates more than 50 million fishers all over the world. However, small scale fishery has yet to get appropriate recognition and importance in policies and practices of the nationstates and other actors. The sector faces plethora of challenges like increasing competition fornatural resources resulting into fierce conflicts often leading to land/sea grabbing, depletion and pollution of aquatic resources, climate change shocks and lack of opportunities for youth and women to engage in gainful self-employment in small scale fishery tolive a life with rights and dignity. 3. Small scale fishery must be considered as one of the foundation pillars of food security, poverty reduction and sustainable management of natural resources. 4. We appreciate the support extended by IFAD to ensure SSF’s participation in IG SSF technical negotiation and we hope to receive continuous support from IFAD to engage in important regional and international policy dialogues in future. We welcome the initiative of IFAD to appoint a dedicated staff for dealing with SSF issues.We sincerely hope in coming months and years, small scale fishery will draw due attention of IFAD in terms of resource allocation and cooperation with nation states, small scale fisher’s associations and larger civil society networks. We call upon IFAD to: 1. Recognise small scale fishery’s potentiality for poverty eradication and inclusive developmentall over the world. The small scale fishers in developed nations and among indigenous communities and the fact that they face severe challenges for sustenanceshould be acknowledged in IFAD policies 2. Strengthen small scale fisheries across globe through its engagements with various Governmentsand ensure any such engagement should refrain from undermining rights of small scale fishers 3. Directcountry teams to systematically and actively engage the participation of Small scale Fishers in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Country Strategic Opportunities Program (COSOPs)and projects. IFAD should support initiatives for the creation and the strengthening of existing spaces for dialogue between SSF’s and governments at regional levels. 4. We strongly recommend that Governing body of IFAD should adopt the international guidelines on securing sustainable small scale fisheries and voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests and use the same as one of its guiding instruments for engagement in all future projects related to SSF. 5. Establish, together with other development partners (such as European Commission and bilateral donors), a dedicated grant window,to provide direct and inclusive support to the organizations representing small and artisanal fishers. IFAD should integrate small scale fishery in its ongoinggrant programs with civil society organisations. 6. Support small scale fisher’s capacity for knowledge management to enhance their organizational and professional capacity for better service provision and income generation. Identify good practices carried out by small scale fishers and their organizations and increase investments (finance, technology, capacity building) in their up-scaling and replication. 7. Support small scale fishers better linkage with markets and help them to move up the value chain as elaborated in IG SSF We Call Upon Governments to: 1. Recognize the importance of small scale fishery by mainstreaming it in the entire policy and programming framework of the country. 2. Increase and uphold public investments in small scale fishery sector in order to ensure development of entrepreneurial capacities of small scale fishers, particularly youth and women, and creating viable and sustainable livelihood opportunities in the rural areas. Develop policies and programs to provide small scale fishers with secure access to land and aquatic resources, long-term finance, markets and vocational and entrepreneurial training. 3. Immediately take steps to check land/sea grabbing, threats of evictions and/or loss of livelihoods of small scale fishers in the name of development and due to human induced disasters, including aquatic pollution. 4. Put in place and strengthen existing mechanisms for effective participation of SSF as legitimate stakeholders in development decisions and their adequate representation in the development and evaluation of policies and programs.Toimplement the Internationalguidelines on securing sustainable small scale fisheries and implement voluntary guideline on responsible governance of tenure of land fisheries and forests. We Call Upon our Organisations to: 1. Commit ourselves to work together, in solidarity and mutual trust, to promote our common agenda and reinforce our influence at all levels. 2. Continuously strengthen our engagements with national governments and other actors who support small scale fishery.Enhance our institutional capacity, with participatory monitoring and evaluation systems, to assess and report on our impact and effectiveness to our members and partners. 3. Support, document and replicate good practices in small scale fishery, and further empower small scale fishers, in particular fisherwomen to attain and exercise their rights and duties as elaborated in IG SSF, VG GT and other relevant international instruments. 4. Ensure small scale fishery is central to solutions to poverty and hunger and establish a mechanism through which adequate representation of small scale fishers in various global platformsshould be guaranteed. The special session on Small scale fishery of Farmers forum that brought together, here in Rome, small scale fishers, both men and women, from all continents of the globe has generated great enthusiasm for their potential to contribute to new and better rural realities in developing world.

Tourism: Push people towards Landless,

In the present campaign, east coast group bring lot of connections to the network. Besides, Thrukkowil, Thambiluwil, Ulla, Pothuwil, etc has been developed. Identified some issues on fisher people's faces. Issue identification was done openly and the landlessness was focused as the team represent the IDP community in the country. . Vinayakpuram of Ampara district in one fishing village where fishermen lived before the war and now there is no more allowed the fishing activities along this coast.

Herman

Need Strategic Intervention for adoption of Small Scale Fisheries Guidelines

The International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty, IPC. shared following note on IG-SSF today. As this is a good strategy until next COFI 31 session in June, I would like to share it with all those who concern on IGSSF adoption and implementation. QUOTED FROM IPC The assembly recognized the need of preparing the next COFI since tomorrow, lobbying to our governments to go to the Canadian Embassies, but also at FAO, UN and EU. We should prepare an official declaration and a 1-2 pages document of evaluation of the SSF round to be addressed to the COFI members and spread out before the end of this week. In the lobby work we should look for the support of the other organizations in the IPC like La Via Campesina or other that can influence the governments. There is the need of a better information sharing on what is going on in the negotiations, starting the should start to work on the implementation with anticipation with an implementation strategy in the next months

Small Scale Fisheries Negotiatons are over: Fisherfolk Communities are back home with Frustrations

The resumed sessions of the Technical Consultation on International Guidelines on securing sustainable small scale Fisheries [IG-SSF] has been concluded without a negotiated text. The resumed negotiations on Guidelines were held at FAO head quarters at Rome, Italy from 3-7 February which has been a long process beginning from Bangkok in 2008. The Civil Society Organizations, including World Forum of Fisher Peoples.[WFFP], World Forum of Fish Harvesters and Fish Workers[WFF], International Collective in Support of Fishworkers [ICSF] and International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty[IPC] played a crucial role to make sure the IG-SSF to make a reality. However, this was not successful as the Canadian delegation objected to include the "Situations of Occupation" in the following text of Sub Heading Social Development, Employment and Decent work and the chapter 6.18. of the draft text. It says as follows; 6.18 "All parties should protect the human rights and dignity of small scale fisheries stakeholders in situations of occupation to allow them to pursue their traditional livelihoods, to have access to customary fishing grounds and to preserve their culture and way of life. Their effective participation in decision making on matters that impact them should be facilitated". The main reservation of the Canadian delegation was the "Politically Sensitiveness" of the issue. There were several compromise texts were proposed by USA, Ecuador and Argentinian delegations which did not acceptable to either Canadian delegation or many of the Arab World delegations alternately. Finally, the proposed two texts were bracketed and decided to send to 31st COFI session which will be held in July 2014. However, Dr. Fabio Hazin, Associate Professor and Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture department of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Brazil, the chair person of the Negotiations expressed his deep frustration and the danger once we submit the document to decide at COFI mentioning the time allocated will not help COFI to negotiate and adopt the IG-SSF. Kairo, co-chair of the WFF, a Fisher leader from Nicaragua appealed to all the delegates mentioning, "Millions of small scale fisher people across the globe are awaiting to receive the good news of the IG-SSF. I urge all of the delegates to reconsider your decision before take any decision to submit it to COFI to decide/" There was no positive response from both the camps. Civil Society leaders who engaged in the process since 2008 October, even during the Bangkok 4SSF conference were highly disturbed. Naseegh Jaffer, the Co-coordinator of the WFFP, the Director of Masifundise, South Africa shared his frustration in the forum. "We are desperate as there is no flexibility among delegates to arrive at a decision on IG-SSF. Our commitment, our efforts and the energy we spent for the process is in vain. We are helpless as we can not tell our fisher people, the delegates are not consider the plight of the fisher people." However, at the CSO sponsored side event Mr. Lahesan Ababouch, the director, fisheries and aquaculture policy division, prior to the final session, expressed his commitment to implement the IG-SSF once get adopted. "We are exploring possibilities how to mobilize resources for implementing SSF guidelines. FAO can implement IG-SSF under it's 5 strategic objectives set up." At the same side event,in my presentation though it was for sharing the CSO views of implementation of IG-SSF, representing WFFP, I urged from all the delegates to consider to come to consensus on the last chapter to be negotiated[6.18] ahead in the afternoon. " We, the small scale fisher communities are desperately expect to adopt the IG-SSF though this is not the exactly what we expected. However, in 1984 when there was a global summit on fisheries there was no any space for voice out SSF views. There was no recognition of SSF in that time and after 3 decades the situation changed and we are negotiating on IG-SSF. This is a big achievement for us. We urge, all of the delegates to support capacity building of the small scale fisher community leaders and fisheries organizations to take part the effective implementation of the IG-SSF." However, all these efforts are on hold now as there is no final negotiated text in hand. So, the fisher leaders, CSO supporters, Researchers and many more who expected to adopt IG-SSF are getting back home with frustration and desperation. However, the last hope is to make it happen at the coming 31st COFI meeting in June, 2014. At the CSO review meeting tomorrow, we need to discuss the way forward to address the situation. Till then, we are awaiting in empty hands. Herman

Commemorate Martyrs of Fuel price struggle 2012

The 2nd commemoration of Antony Fernando who was killed during the February, 2012 in the Fuel Struggle and other Fishermen who sacrifice their lives on behalf of fisher people's movement will be held on 15th at Chilaw. The Farmers also join hand in hand with Fishers to the campaign and we all raise Land issues, Foreign Fishing Vessels operating in SL waters, arrest of Sri Lankan fishermen and poor attention of the authorities and also the Indian trawlers invade in to Sri Lankan waters together with Fuel Subsidy cut off. The basic arrangements are going on and the road campaign and poster pasting, distribution of leaflets will be held on 11th February in order to bring the attention of the whole society on it. Herman