Haitian Uprising in the Wake of Gas Hikes, Neocolonialism
On Friday, July 6, Haitian protesters took to the streets in widespread demonstrations against proposed cost hike in gas (and gas products) in the country.
Mina Remy, Author at Grassroots International
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Celebrating Women’s Leadership and Resilience
Both La Via Campesina and the World March of Women have been pioneers in highlighting the myriad ways women are oppressed in the private and public sphere – which is one of the many reasons Grassroots International is honored to partner with both of these powerful global movements.
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Haiti: Between a New Hurricane Season and the Last
This year forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are predicting an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season, with “ a 70 percent likelihood of 11 to 17 named storms, of which 5 to 9 could become hurricanes, including 2 to 4 major hurricanes. An average season produces 12 named storms of which six become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.”
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Grassroots International Joins Call to Protect Haitians from Deportation
Grassroots International joins over 100 organizations and 200 individuals in calling the Department of Homeland Security to extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to nearly 50,000 Haitians living in the U.S. since the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti.
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From Crisis Response to Building Resiliency in Haiti
Because of our deep roots in Haiti, and with the generosity of our supporters, Grassroots International immediately raised emergency funds to support our partners recovery efforts in the most devastated areas in Southern Haiti, and also farther out in Northern Haiti where sustained winds and rain led to severe flooding and destruction of homes and farms. In doing so, Grassroots International respected the call for a Haitian-led recovery effort articulated by Haitian social movements and the Government of Haiti to avoid mistakes made by relief agencies after the 2010 earthquake.
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When the Rains Fall in (West) Africa
The following pictures were taken in July 2016 in the Guinée forestière region of Guinea in and and around Kankan and Kissidougou. They show what the area is like during the rainy season - healthy, vibrant greenery for miles, and when there’s nothing but green fields on both sides of the road for miles on end.
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Photo Blog: West African Learning Exchange
Grassroots International grantees We Are the Solution (WAS) and the National Coordination of Peasant Organizations of Mali (CNOP-Mali) gathered together in Bamako for a farmer-to-farmer learning exchange funded by Grassroots International.
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Africa not a Blank Slate, Farmers Already have Solutions
Contrary to Western assertions, Africa is not a blank slate.
Africans have a long history of vibrant culture, politics, economics and agriculture. However, since Europe’s first encounter with Africa through present day, international “decisionmakers” have approached the African continent as though it was devoid of people along with history. Africa is imagined out of context, and those projections become the basis for policy.
In our times, the battle for Africa is being waged one plot of agricultural land at a time. Control of Africa’s food system is being wrested away from peasant farmers and being turned over to agribusinesses such as Monsanto under the guise of agricultural development. -
Rural Communities in Guinea Combat Ebola
Since 2014 Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been stricken with the deadly Ebola virus. According to the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization (WHO), the virus has affected over 20,000 and killed nearly 8,000 people. The virus is expected to continue at epidemic proportions until the end of this year.
The outbreak first began in Guinea, and Guinea continues to be one of the most affected countries. Due to poor-to-non-existent public health infrastructure throughout the country, especially in rural areas, combating the virus has been an impossible task made worse by fear and distrust of the government and outsiders in local communities.
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Videos Explore Farming in Palestine Under the Israeli Occupation
Farmers everywhere need certain things to thrive: Land, water, seeds, and a little help from the weather. But Palestinian farmers face relentless obstacles even to get to their fields, let alone irrigate them. For almost a decade Grassroots International has supported the work of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in the West Bank. UAWC has been a key ally for Palestinian farmers exerting their right to farm in the face of settler violence, restricted access to farmland, confiscation of olive trees, and destruction of farms. In the videos below, UAWC farmers in two West Bank towns (Wadi Qana and Al Falamyeh) detail the many ways in which the Israeli occupation affect their livelihoods.
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Women are the Backbone of Haiti’s Economy
Women, and rural women in particular, are the backbone of Haiti and its economy. They farm, harvest, and transport their produce to local markets where they in turn sell it. They do all of this despite little-to-no support from the government and without the necessary agricultural infrastructure to ease their burden.
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Keeping the Jordan Valley
It’s hard to imagine that within the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) there’s one region that‘s even more contested than others, but there is: the Jordan Valley.
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In Their Own Words: Gaza’s Farmers and Fishers Speak Out
In this remarkable video, the Gaza branch of Grassroots International partner the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, documents the plight of fishers and farmers in the Gaza Strip. This video is a testament to Palestinians’ commitment to their land and livelihoods despite overwhelming Israeli military pressure to give up. Palestinian farmers and fishers continuously risk their lives by pursuing their craft amidst the Israeli blockade of Gaza. For them giving up their way of life, and a means to sustain their families, is not an option.
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Recovery in Gaza After Winter Storm Alexa
The occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) faced one of the worst winter storms seen in decades last month. The West Bank experienced record snow fall, which municipalities were ill-equipped to handle. While Gaza was spared much of the snow, the Strip received a devastating wintry mix of freezing rain, strong winds, and bitter cold that paralyzed an area considered a humanitarian crisis long before the storm.
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Haitian Movements Speak Out Against Monsanto, Offer Community-led Solutions
Haiti’s peasant movements are reforesting the countryside, building irrigation systems, feeding communities – just to name a few activites that are improving lives for rural communities across the nation. In the video below, members of Haiti’s Group of Four (G4) and the Dessalines Brigade describe how Haiti’s peasant movement connects with the struggle for food sovereignty in the United States, and globally. The video includes Grassroots International partners from Haiti and Brazil speaking at an Occupy the Food Prize rally on October 17, 2013 in Des Moines.
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MPP’s Much Ado About Women
Haiti, like everywhere else, has a complex relationship with women. Women’s work in and out the home is invaluable, sometimes the difference between: eating or not, schooling or not, and medical care or not. The majority of Haitian households are headed by women who are divorced, widowed, or never married. These women are eking out a living by the skin of their teeth—resourceful in a resource-strapped world. But despite Haitian women’s contributions to society and economy, they remain trapped invarious levels of social and institutional discrimination. They face barriers to adequate housing, education, employment, and justice. On the whole, urban-based women fare a little better than rural-based women, but not by much.
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MPPs Much Ado About Women
Haiti, like everywhere else, has a complex relationship with women. Womens work in and out the home is invaluable, sometimes the difference between: eating or not, schooling or not, and medical care or not. The majority of Haitian households are headed by women who are divorced, widowed, or never married. These women are eking out a living by the skin of their teethresourceful in a resource-strapped world. But despite Haitian womens contributions to society and economy, they remain trapped invarious levels of social and institutional discrimination. They face barriers to adequate housing, education, employment, and justice. On the whole, urban-based women fare a little better than rural-based women, but not by much.
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TIAA-CREF Divests Social Choice Fund from Controversial Veolia Corporation
Grassroots International and its partners in the We Divest coalition join activists from around the country in congratulating TIAA-CREF for taking a step toward living up to its motto, “Investment for the Greater Good”. “TIAA-CREF has made a move in the right direction by divesting its Social Choice Fund of Veolia stock given that Veolia's business model and practices have consistently put profit over people -- whether privatizing water resources around the world, or enabling Israeli occupation and segregation in the West Bank. This is a victory for all those concerned with human rights and justice,” said Nikhil Aziz, Executive Director of Grassroots International.
Read the full press release below.
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Palestinian NGOs Issue Statement Condemning World Bank-sponsored Red-Dead Sea Canal
The $10-billion proposed canal would divert water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in an effort to save the later from “environmental degradation.” The project is a partnership between Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Grassroots International partners the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and Stop the Wall are among the signatories to the statement below that calls for a halt to the project. Palestinian organizations cite both political and environmental reasons for their calls to stop this water and land grab that would impede Palestinian rights.
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When Peasant Movements Unite…
Strength through unity.
That is the motto on the Haitian flag, and it is being played out now in a new collaboration among the country’s leading social movements.
Each of the four largest Haitian peasant movements have storied histories individually and now collectively under the umbrella of the Group of Four (G4). In Kreyol the G4 is called “4 Je Kontre” or “4 Eyes Meet.”