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Call to the People's Alternative Urban Social Forum in Medellín, 6 to 9 April 2014

Medellín is one of the most unequal cities in Latin America.

It is in this city, location of the VII World Urban Forum held by UN-Habitat, that a large number of local, national and international organizations have agreed to hold the People's Alternative URBAN SOCIAL FORUM from 6 to 9 April 2014.

Medellín, 6 to 9 April 2014

Medellín is one of the most unequal cities in Latin America. It is rife with social exclusion and insecurity, and anyone who opposes the urban planning model, imposing city development in line with market needs, is evicted and expelled from their home. You can hear this from the communities who suffer repression by state forces, the territorial control of the "combos" and other gangs, or who are displaced through gentrification processes and plans for urban renovation.

It is in this city, location of the VII World Urban Forum held by UN-Habitat, that a large number of local, national and international organizations have agreed to hold the People's Alternative URBAN SOCIAL FORUM from 6 to 9 April 2014.

The modernization plans that are taking place throughout the world are oriented towards neo-liberal globalization, converting cities and land into loot for big business: a true feast for the building companies, real estate agents and banks.

This current model of the city, through the rhetoric of innovation, competition and entrepreneurship, strengthens real estate capital, which ends up taking the major decisions about urban life to its own advantage, expressed in the plans for land management plans, strategic development plans, partial urban planning and most of the public policies on urban development.

That is why the people's urban social movements and collectives, organizations and international networks call on everybody to participate in and promote the Alternative people's and community Forum, to develop our own proposals for urban development, inclusive cities where our rights are not reduced to mere rhetoric. We will work in the spirit of the World Social Forum and the World Assembly of Inhabitants and we condemn the failure of UN-Habitat to achieve Millennium Development Goal no. 7-11, about improving marginal neighbourhoods and preventing the eviction of tenants, mortgage debtors and unprotected rural and urban inhabitants.

The People's Alternative URBAN SOCIAL FORUM will include delegations and will hear the experience of urban movements from various cities in Colombia, Latin America and throughout the world. It will denounce the VII World Urban Forum, through the national and international action of exchange, debate and mobilization, demonstrating our non-compliance and our rejection of the form of global capitalism that both constructs and destroys cities. We articulate our concerns from the perspective of a local-global urban social movement, capable of resisting and building alternatives.

It will be an open, participative Forum for citizens to analyze the current state of affairs and to discuss the construction of cities for a life of dignity, without borders.

 

SIGNED

AFROUDEA, Agencia de Comunicación de los Pueblos – Colombia Informa, Alianza de Medios Alternativos –AMA–, Asociación Colombiana de Estudiantes Universitarios –ACEU–, Asociación de Vivienda EMECE, AWASQA Tejido Cultural, CAHUCOPANA, CEPAFRO, Círculos Socialistas de Antioquia, Club del Técnico Electrónico, Colectivo Despertar, Comité Departamental en Defensa del Agua y de la Vida, Comité Permanente de DDHH, Confluencia de Mujeres para la Acción Pública, CORPADES, Corporación de Estudios Sociales, Culturales y Ambientales –CESCA–, Corporación Ecológica y Cultural Penca de Sábila, Corporación Jurídica Libertad, Corporación Social Nuevo Día, Federación de Estudiantes Universitarios –FEU–, Fundación Comité de Solidaridad con Presos Políticos –FCSPP–, Girardota Pueblo, Grupo de Estudio Socialismo en América Latina, Junta Cívica Paraje El Pinar (Fuente Clara-Medellín), Junta de Acción Comunal de La Cascada (Medellín), Mesa de Trabajo Regional de Técnicos Electrónicos y Afines (Oriente Antioqueño), Mesa Ecuménica por la Paz Medellín –MEP, Mesa Interbarrial de Desconectados de Medellín, Mesa intersectorial de Antioquia por el Derecho a la Salud –MIAS–, Mesa por el Derecho a la Ciudad, Movilicémonos Pueblo, Movimiento por la Constituyente Popular, Oficina Estudiantil UN, Organización de Mujeres Aventureras de Medellín, Periferia Prensa Alternativa, Praxis Audiovisual, Proceso Nacional Identidad Estudiantil, Red de Pensamiento Latinoamericano, Red Popular Caminando la Palabra, Tejido Juvenil Nacional Transformando a la Sociedad –TEJUNTAS–, Universidad Pública Resiste…

International Alliance of Inhabitants – IAI–, Asamblea Popular Centro – Bogotá, Asamblea Sur – Bogotá, Asociación NOMADESC, Asociación Voluntaria de Deudores del Sistema UPAC, Bloque de Asentamientos y Asociaciones Pro Defensa del Derecho a la Vivienda de Popayán, CENSAT, Ciudad en Movimiento, Coalición de Movimientos y Organizaciones Sociales de Colombia – COMOSOC–, Colectivo Democrático, Colectivo de Soberanía y Naturaleza, Colectivo Sopa y Seco, Congreso de los Pueblos, Corporación Destechados Pro Desarrollo Comunitario, Desde Abajo, Ecobarrios, Entreredes, Escuela Pedagógica Experimental, Instituto IAPES OFB, Instituto Nacional Sindical, Marcha Patriótica, Memorarte, Mesa Cerros – Bogotá, Minga Urbana Bakatá, Movimiento por la Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo –MODEP–, Movimiento Alimentario de Bosa, Movimiento de Unidad Territorial, Movimiento Ríos Vivos, Periódico Minga Techotiba, Píllela Camará, Proceso Rio Tunjuelito, Proceso San Juan de Dios, Red de Colombianos Unidos por Nuestros Derechos Constitucionales, Red de Hermandad y Solidaridad con Colombia, Red de Lucha contra el Hambre y la Pobreza, Sindicato Único de Mototrabajadores de Colombia, SINTRAUNICOL – Cali, Territorios por la Vida – Popayán, Tulpa Educativa, Unión Sindical Obrera, Zona Pública TV.

Georeferences


The Volunteer translators for housing rights without frontiers of IAI who have collaborated on the translation of this text were:

Juliette Rutherford, Eleanor Chapman

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