[Bogor, 13 Aug 2017] Five countries members of International Land Coalition (ILC) Asia generated a declaration on the occasion of International Youth Day to create space for the rural youth.
Bogor, Indonesia, 12th of August 2017 – International Land Coalition (ILC) is a coalition of 200+ members across the world, which built its regional Platform in Asia, covering 45 member organizations working on land issues across 11 countries throughout Asia. In 2016, during the ILC Asia Regional Assembly, five Asian members, Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA) based in The Philippines, Community Development Association (CDA) of Bangladesh, Farmer and Nature Net (FNN) of Cambodia, Ekta Parishad of India, and Rimbawan Muda Indonesia (RMI) of Indonesia decided to start working on youth and land issues. It was concluded that youth and land is not yet a mainstream subject globally despite youth and land being closely linked with the continuity of the struggle over land and the future of farming.Furthermore, there is a need to gather data in order to better understand the youth both in rural and urban areas.
In this regard, 40 (forty)young people from five Asian countries gathered in Bogor, Indonesia from the 10th to 12th of August 2017. Participants in the regional gathering aimed to brainstorm ideas on youth and land which resulted to a common agenda of working together for a campaign with the commitments of organizations who participated. The initiative called “Securing the Future: Land Rights for Rural Youths”was opened on the occasion of International Youth Day 2017.
The main goal of this campaign is to realize rural youth activism for inclusive and sustainable development through promoting the role and initiative of rural youth in agriculture and access to land.
To affirm their commitment to rural youth and inclusive and sustainable development, the 5 (five) country-members generated a declaration on the occasion of International Youth Day 2017 to create space for the rural youth with the following outcomes:
1. Rural youth must be able to engage with policy makers and stakeholders in their respective countries.
2. Rural youth must be able to play a primary role inongoing agriculture processes.
3. Rural youth must be able to be participate in bottom-up decision making processes.
4. Rural youth must be empowered to provide land-based opportunities.
5. Rural youth must have access to all sources of development.
6. Rural youth must be acknowledged for their important role in the reconstruction of society, in the eyes of the social, political, economic, and cultural change.
Mr. Shah I Mobin Jinnah and Mr. Manik Adhikary from CDA Bangladesh, Mr. Aneesh Thillenkery and Mr. Anurag Rai from Ekta Parishad India, Mr. Lorenzo Espacio and Mr. Noland Penas from AFA-Pakisama, the Philippines, Ms. Kong Sokchhoin and Ms. Sorn Sem from FNN Cambodia, Ms. Mardha Tillah and Mr. Yasiman from RMI Indonesia were participating during this series of event.
This three-day event was organized by Rimbawan Muda Indonesia, with the support of International Land Coalition Asia.
-Press Release
