PGA Archive:
August 1999, Bangalore, India: PGA meeting
NEW!!! Booklet about the Bangalore conference: in HTML (75 KB; better for quickly reading online) or PDF format (131 KB; better for printing with the original layout, using xpdf).
The dates of the PGA conference in Bangalore have been changed.
These are the proposed dates:
- Sunday 15th - Thursday 19th August: Visit to either South Kanara (programme I), Mysore (programme II) or Shimoga/Chickamagalore (programme III) in three different groups.
- Friday 20th - Sunday 22nd August: Roundtables (in Bangalore)
- Monday 23rd - Thursday 26th August: SECOND PGA CONFERENCE (in Bangalore)
- Friday 27th - Tuesday 31st August: Again, programmes I, II or III - group divided in three.
At the 1st PGA conference in Geneva in February 1998, it was decided to hold the next PGA conference in Bangalore (India) in order to prepare a strong, coordinated grassroots response to the neoliberal onslaught.
This event will be of key importance for the PGA process in several senses.
- The conference will launch a discussion process among peoples' movements from the around the world on the role and functions that an international coordination and communication network like the PGA should play, and how it should fulfil those functions. This discussion could not take place in the first PGA conference (23-25 February 1998, in Geneva) since most of that time was devoted to discussion of the PGA manifesto, and to coordinating actions to coincide with the Second Ministerial Conference of the WTO in May 1998. We feel that a wide and inclusive discussion should start as soon as possible in order to consolidate and move forward the PGA process.
- The conference will also provide a great opportunity to plan massive mobilisations against financial centres on June 18th 1999 and against the Third WTO Ministerial Conference, along with generating new plans for action.
- The PGA manifesto will also be revised during the conference (although we will devote less time to this discussion than during the first conference) and a new Convenors' Committee will be elected.
- As the conference will be hosted by the Karnataka State Farmers' Association (KRRS), one of the biggest movements in South Asia, it will enable a wide range of movements to take an active role in the conference and allow all who travel to Bangalore to see and learn from a very inspiring, important social movement.
- Before and after the conference there will be a series of tours to rural areas where struggles are going on grouped around themes for discussion.
- Of course an important part of the conference is to meet people, feel inspired - to feel that we, in our groups around the world, are part of something far bigger.
For more information write to agpweb (AT) lists.riseup.net or fax to ++91-80-330 2171 (local organizers).