wfn.org | LWF Calls for Trade Decisions that Promote Healthy Society

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF Calls for Trade Decisions that Promote Healthy Society 
Ecumenical Alliance Monitors WTO General Council Meeting in Geneva

GENEVA, 27 July 2005 (LWI) - The General Secretary of the Lutheran
World Federation (LWF), Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, is urging members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council, meeting in Geneva this
week, to take decisions "that will create a healthy world and a healthy
society."

He challenges members of the global body dealing with the rules of
trade between nations and regions, to seriously take into account the
concerns of many communities worldwide that are affected negatively by
unfair trade rules. Many of these mainly poor communities also offer
basic solutions, and the WTO should listen to them, Noko said in an
interview with Lutheran World Information (LWI). 

The WTO General Council meets July 27-29 to discuss the progress of the
so-called Doha Round of the multilateral trade negotiations launched in
Doha, Qatar in 2001, in preparation for the October 2005 Ministerial
Meeting in Hong Kong.

During this week, social movements and civil society organizations are
called to form a "General Council of Peoples" in order to mobilize
against the WTO corporate agenda. 

The group of non-governmental organizations stands up for the interest
of developing countries and ordinary people around the world as well as
the environment in light of increasing global trade liberalization.
Their aim is to monitor the General Council negotiations, and in this
way hold WTO members accountable. 

One of the concerns of the LWF Department for World Service (DWS) is
the negotiation of the WTO Agriculture Agreement, as agriculture is
inextricably linked to poverty eradication, especially in developing
countries. On the basis of its "Guiding Principles for Sustainable
Development" the LWF advocates that peoples, communities and countries
should define their own agricultural, labor, fishing, food and land
policies, which are ecologically, socially, economically and culturally
appropriate to their unique circumstances, explains Rudelmar Bueno de
Faria, DWS Program Officer for Sustainable Development and Environment.
"Food is a common good and the WTO should not regulate agriculture as a
merchandise," he adds. 

The coordinators of the "General Council of Peoples," among them the
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), of which the LWF is a member, have
planned discussion forums, workshops and plenaries on current trade
policies. They are open to the public as are the music and cultural
events July 27-30. 

In order to raise awareness at community level about the WTO
negotiations, the EAA has produced a sample letter that can be sent to
trade ministers or WTO representatives, calling for  increased
transparency in WTO negotiations; respect for human rights obligations
in trade agreements; and enabling poor countries to choose policies that
help their small farmers. For more information please go to
http://www.e-alliance.ch/wto.jsp 

"The world is waiting for good news," says Noko. "Especially economic
refugees who hope that fair trade will bring about change so that they
can start a life as dignified human beings," he adds. 
(484 words)

(By Julia Heyde, youth intern, LWF Office for Communication Services.)

(Available LWF resources: "LWF Guiding Principles for Sustainable
Development" -
 http://www.lutheranworld.org/what_we_do/dws/DWS-Principles.pdf ;
LWF Documentation 50/2004 "Communion, Responsibility, Accountability,
Responding as the Lutheran Communion to Neoliberal Globalization" -
 http://www.lutheranworld.org/What_We_Do/Dts/DTS-Publications.pdf )

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a total
membership of nearly 66 million. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work.
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

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