NOTING
The change of political system, governance and subsequent change of Governments, there has been a change in economic policy of most countries embarked on Structural Adjustment Programmes including privatization of public companies in the name of empowerment;
The report of the Zambia Privatisation Agency as an example, that out of a portfolio of 289, 257 companies including the copper mines that account for over 60% of foreign earnings were sold off by 2005;
The different modes of privatizing companies have been applied, including liquidations, concessions, lease, management/employee buy-outs, and the most popular one has been to sell majority shareholdings;
Markets which are economic livelihood working places for market vendors and their families, are now targets of privatization – and privatizing them (especially to non-marketeers) will and is depriving them their economic livelihood and empowerment, becoming destitutes in their own countries;
The social movements around the world are deeply engaged in promoting the social dimension of globalisation, we the informal economy workers of the world, who believe being part of a social movement representing the vulnerable workers, and that the social economic malaise or like others are now calling it – the tsunami of poverty, has been caused by the neo-liberal agenda, and privatization is at core of that agenda.
HEREBY RESOLVE
To denounce governments’ intentions of selling markets and fight for our workplaces (markets) which are our economic livelihood;
To demand for economic empowerment by giving markets economic to market vendors who are the sitting tenants for management, and that the only socially accepted mode of promoting the common good rather than one person’s greed is through co-operative;
To call on the international community to stop providing economic aid to countries depriving their citizens their economic livelihood.
PROPOSED: AZIEA
SECONDED: NUIEWO
