Latin America Week 2008 Conference

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Wednesday March 12, 2008 17:01 by events@lasc.ie - Latin America Solidarity Centre events at lasc dot ie 5 Merriow Row, Dublin 2 01 6760435

Turning the Tide: Resisting the Water Trade

The Latin America Week Conference will be a unique opportunity for activists in Ireland to exchange view and experiences with international activists. This year's theme will be the struggle against water privatization and the threat posed by European Trade Agreements. The Conference closes Latina America Week: a week of educational and solidarity events focused on the issue of the private exploitation of water and the impact of this on human development in Latin America with public debates, seminars, workshops, photo exhibitions, documentaries, fundraisers, Club Sandino in Dublin, Derry, Limerick, Belfast and Galway.

LAW Conference will take place on Saturday 12th April from 10:00 to 16:15 at the Auditorium, Park Inn Hotel, Smithfield Village, Dublin 7.
Free Admission.

CONFERENCE AGENDA

10:00 – 10:15 Chairperson Address

10:15 – 11:15 VIEWS FROM EUROPE

10:15 – 10:35 Giuseppe De Marzo, spokesperson of ASUD-Italy: “Italian grassroots experience to stop water privatisation”
10:35 – 10:55 Satoko Kishimoto, coordinator of Water Justice Project-Transnational Institute (TNI), The Netherlands: “Neither Private, nor Bureaucratic: Participatory Public Alternatives to the Water Sector”
10:55 – 11:15 Q&A

11:15 – 11:45 Coffee break

11:45 – 12:45 VIEWS FROM LATIN AMERICA

11:45 – 12:05 Ricardo Buitrón, from Acción Ecológica-Ecuador: “The Ecuadorian's people struggle against water Transnationals and the impact of the EU trade agreements in the region”
12:05 – 12:25 Enrique Galán, member of the Directive Committee of ECOFONDO-Colombia: “Turning water into a Constitutional right in Colombia”
12:25 – 12:45 Q&A

12:45 – 13:45 LUNCH (available to buy at venue)

13:45 – 16:15 ADVANCING THE EU – CAN CAMPAIGN

13:45 – 15:45 Participatory activity (workshop, roundtable, etc)
15:45 – 16:10 Feed back to Plenary
16:10 – 16:15 Presentation of LAW 08 Declaration

16: 15 Conference closes

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

CESAR RICARDO BUITRON CISNEROS
Acción Ecológica, Ecuador. www.accionecologica.org
Ricardo Buitrón from Acción Ecológica, an Ecuadorian ecological organisation with existing links to Ireland (featured in RTE documentary). The organisation has worked on various campaigns around natural resources, including oil and water. Representatives of the organisation participated in LAW 2006. They are long-term LASC partners and our co-operation will add consistency to LASC’s work.

JULIO ENRIQUE GALAN ROA
ECOFONDO, Colombia. www.ecofondo.org.co
Enrique Galán, member of the Directive Committee of ECOFONDO, a Colombian environmental organisation, legally constituted as a private non-profit corporation working to protect public interests. ECOFONDO’s regulations and administrative structure define it as a non-governmental, democratic and participatory organisation. This organisation is also participating in the campaign to hold a referendum to integrate water as human right in the Colombian constitution.

GIUSEPPE DE MARZO
ASUD, Italy. www.asud.net
Giuseppe De Marzo, spokesperson of ASUD, an Italian association promoting Global solidarity between the Global South and North. They have been active in various initiatives in solidarity with the struggle for social justice in Latin America. They have also participated in the mobilisation against water privatisation in Italy, where they have collected 400,000 signatures against it.

SATOKO KISHIMOTO
Transnational Institute (TNI) Amsterdam, Water Justice Project. www.tni.org
Satoko Kishimoto is a coordinator of Water Justice Project at Transnational Institute (TNI) based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Water Justice project advocates alternatives to water privatisation such as progressive public water reforms and Public-Public Partnerships as the key elements for solving the global crisis in access to clean water and sanitation. She is a member of the editorial team of ‘Reclaiming Public Water-Achievements, struggles and visions from around the world-’ published in 2005. The book has been translated into 12 languages by now.