Women raise their voices against tree plantations - The role of the European Union in disempowering women in the South

Mar 2009

In order for raw materials and the products made from them to be produced and made available to the European public, a series of trade policies are formulated to promote the “development” of different corporations in the South. Trade policies and agreements establish the legal framework for big corporations to operate in the South by setting a series of trade promotion mechanisms that facilitate and protect their investments opening the way for their business.
The European Union’s “Global Europe: Competing in the World” trade policy has been strongly criticized by social movements in a declaration stating that it “pushes for the deepening of policies of competition and economic growth, the implementation of multinational companies’ agenda and the entrenchment of neoliberal policies, all of which are incompatible with the discourse of climate change, poverty reduction and social cohesion. Despite trying to hide its true nature by including themes such as international aid and political dialogue, the core of the proposal is to open up capital, goods and services markets, to protect foreign investment and to reduce the state’s capacity to promote economic and social development.” According to a report by Friends of the Earth, the European Union’s trade policy “is explicitly about serving the interests of European corporations – opening up new markets, natural resources and energy reserves for them.”
Corporations invest millions of dollars in advertising, fabricating new “needs” and thereby further raising the levels of consumption and, consequently, extraction of natural resources in the South.
There are a large number of well documented examples of the destruction that has been directly or indirectly caused (and continues to be caused) by European companies.
These impacts are not gender neutral, and while impacting communities as a whole, they have specific and differentiated impacts on men and women.
In this document three case studies are presented that show how consumption levels, EU policies and corporations are impacting on the lives of women in the South.
These studies are the result of three workshops held in late 2008 in Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Brazil, as part of a joint project between Friends of the Earth International and the World Rainforest Movement, with women from local communities who have seen their lives impacted by the transformation of their ecosystems.

By: Friends of the Earth International - World Rainforest Movement

 
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