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A fair trade for a just
economy
Building an alternative:
about us
Labour rights
Where do we want to go
Criteria
FTO Mark: a step forward
Producers: a special
philosophy
A real model: ROBA in India
A real model: ROBA in
Bangladesh
A real model: ROBA in Nepal
New projects, new horizons
ROBA system: the
commercial activity
ROBA shop: a liberated space
The transparent price
Education and advocacy:
our mission
Our traveling companions
Campaigns and forums
To spread the
knowledge of a different world
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A fair trade for a just
economy
Fifty years of fair trade have represented
a real change in the possibilities of a common citizen to become a
protagonist of social change: simple actions such as the daily purchases
become an instrument capable of transferring resources and modify
commercial strategies.
Dignity of individuals and environmental sustainability, respect for
local traditions and globalization of the rights: on these bases
commercial relations have been built, which are based on justice and
fairness and which implicate millions of persons and small producers all
over the world.
In addition to all this, hundreds of organizations in the North of the
World have been able to give to the communities in the South of the
World, alongside the partnerships, also a political and advocacy
activities with the goal to change the international rules. Only this
way it is possible to advance in the direction of a greater social
justice, awakening the citizens to a greater civil responsibility,
forcing on the corporations a greater social responsibility. |
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Building an alternative:
about us
ROBA dell’Altro Mondo was born in 1997 as a
cooperative. The goals it has set for itself are centered on the
wholesale and retail sale of products (handicraft only) proceeding
from economically and socially underprivileged areas, according to the
principles of Fair and Solidarity Trade.
Alongside the growth of the commercial sector, ROBA develops a range of
activities linked to the awakening, advocacy and instruction with the
goal to contribute to the limitation and elimination of all the forms of
exploitation and limitation to the social and human development both in
the North as well as in the South of the World. This commitment has
spawned in September 2003 the Association ROBA dell’Altro Mondo -
Cooperazione Internazionale (International Cooperation), a true sister
company of the Cooperative with the specific mission to work and press
at the political level, often in cooperation with other organizations,
for changes in the rules. The Association was born nearly at the same
time as its first Bottega (Shop), which was inaugurated some months
before, in March 2003: a shop that in addition to being a fair and
solidarity sales point, tries to integrate also some aspects linked to
the territory (a small botanical garden to give emphasis to the
Mediterranean Scrub, in the ancient inner city of Rapallo) with the
awakening of the community in which it operates (with educational
courses and public events). ROBA at this point has become a true system,
wherein the commercial and political sides, entrepreneurial spirit and
social sensitiveness, integrate in the effort to demonstrate that an
alternative economy can be a sustainable one.
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Labour rights
Today ROBA employs 12 persons (9 full time
and 3 part time) all of them with open-ended contracts. The absence of
volunteers, people employed under project contracts (previously known as
contracts for coordinated and continuous cooperation) and the decision
not to utilize provisional contracts or other forms of temporary
employment are a clear political choice, which is fully in line with the
mission that ROBA has chosen for itself.
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Where
do we want to go
For ROBA fair and solidarity trade is at
the same time a real utopia, a sustainable alternative and an instrument
for change; to separate the commercial side from the political goals,
not to integrate the partnership with the Southern communities, the
marketing of products and the political and social commitment risk to be
a dangerous boomerang not only for the fair and solidarity movement, but
also for the concrete hopes of change that Civil Society is laboriously
building.
For this reason ROBA has decided to look after all aspects of its
actions; an activity based on the centrality of the Fair Trade Shops,
privileged partners for selling its own products, but also important
traveling companions for the distribution outside the Fair Trade circuit;
this enables to exclude from the audience of possible partners the
chains of the Large-scale Distributors, commercial actors sometimes
linked to events of social desertification and that contribute to make
employment temporary. All this is part of an attempt to find a chain
that puts together production and distribution in a clear and
transparent way that shows clearly the profile of the organizations
dedicated to Fair Trade, important actors not only for their direct
activities, but also for the ethical demand that they feed among the
consumers.
The social and awakening commitment becomes at this point a necessity
for a set up that wants to contribute to changing unfair economic rules:
support and promotion of campaigns (about the World Trade Organization,
Corporate Social Responsibility), participation to national and
international networks (Rete Lilliput, Seattle to Brussels), membership
in federations and coordinating bodies (Ifat, Agices); all the above
with the goal to participate and to put itself to the service of a civil
society on the move.. |
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Criteria
1 To guarantee working conditions
that respect workers’ rights as provided for by ILO agreements
2 Not to utilize child labor and not to exploit juvenile labor,
in compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of the
Child
3 To pay a fair price which guarantees to all organizations (the
production, export, import and distribution ones) a just profit; the
fair price for the producer is the price agreed upon with the producer
itself on the basis of the cost of the raw materials as well as of a
decent and regular remuneration for each individual producer
4 To guarantee the workers a just pay for their work,
guaranteeing equal working and pay opportunities without any
discrimination based on sex, age, social condition, religion and
political opinions
5 To respect the environment and to promote a sustainable
development in all the production and marketing phases, favoring and
promoting biological productions, the utilization of recyclable
materials, and production and distribution processes with a low
environmental impact.
6 To adopt democratic and transparent organizational structures
in all the aspects of the activity, which guarantee collective
participation to the decisional process
7 To involve basic producers, volunteers and workers in the
decisions that concern them.
8 To reinvest the profits in the production activity and/or to
the social benefit of the workers (e.g. social funds)
9 To guarantee the consumers a transparent price, that supplies
at least the following information: FOB price paid to the supplier,
administrative, import and transportation expenses, and profit for the
Shops. Such information may be listed either in percentage or in
absolute value, for each product or for each type of products, or for
country of origin, or for group of producers.
10 To guarantee a multidirectional flow of information which puts
at everyone’s disposal the knowledge of the working methods, the
political and commercial strategies and the socio-economical background
of each organization
11 To promote informative, educational and political actions on
fair and solidarity trade, on the relationships among economically
disadvantaged countries and the economically developed ones and the
related themes
12 To guarantee direct and continuous commercial relationships,
avoiding forms of speculative intermediation, excluding reciprocal
constraints and/or impositions and favoring a better reciprocal
acquaintance
13 To favor projects promoting improvements in the conditions of
the weakest categories
14 To enhance and favor handicrafts which are the expressions of
the cultural, social and local religious foundations since they are the
bearers of information and the basis for a cultural exchange
15 To cooperate, acknowledging each other, in common actions and
to favor moments of exchange and sharing, favoring the common goal over
individual interests. In order to avoid actions which weaken the Fair
Trade they commit themselves, furthermore, in case of controversies, to
follow a path of confrontation and dialogue, if needed with the help of
a facilitator.
16 To guarantee free and transparent commercial relationships
17 To guarantee transparency in the financial handling especially
in what relates to salaries
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FTO
Mark: a step forward
The Fto Mark, the first worldwide mark of
the Fair and Solidarity Trade organizations is the arrival point of a
journey which started in Arusha, Tanzania, and managed by Ifat, the
worldwide federation which gathers more than 250 bodies in 59 countries.
The mark, launched on January 19th, 2004 in Mumbai, India will not
identify a single product, but rather the entire range and therefore the
organizations, which will have to abide by the international standards
laid down by Ifat (among which respect for the environment and for the
directives of the International Labor Organization, transparency in the
production processes, non-discrimination in general) and will be
included in a system of monitoring and verification. |
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Producers: a special
philosophy
The artisans and the networks of small
producers represent for ROBA the beating heart of the whole commercial,
cultural and political activity. We believe that to contribute to
building just economies means most of all to experiment production,
exchange and consumption models based on social responsibility,
considered as a qualifying goal to be created and achieved by the whole
chain, with a view to a gradual change
The choice to sell exclusively handicrafts has driven us to choose
producers who develop projects which are oriented to the promotion and
protection of local cultures and of traditions, safeguarding minorities
and ethnic groups who risk economic and social extinction; in particular
we are interested in supporting projects and products that favor the
development of equal opportunities through the valorization of the
precious work of women.
When we select a producer and a project, these are the first
requirements which we evaluate, beyond their belonging to the
international circuit of fair trade (IFAT).
Another aspect that we are trying to develop is the ecological
sustainability of the productions; the research for natural raw
materials and the utilization of production processes which are
ecologically compatible make up the framework of a light production
method which contributes to the development of economies which are
moderate and non-violent towards individuals and the environment. |
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A real model: ROBA in India
Thanks to its size and multiple ethnic
groups, cultures and traditions, languages and religions, India is more
similar to a continent and it is land of contrasts, characterized by
religious and social structures which have remained unchanged for the
last 4,000 years.
The progressive penetration of foreign investments looking for profits
in key sectors such as health, education and water, is pushing towards
the gradual commercialization of essential common goods in a country
where more than 40% of children under five is undernourished
The steadiness of the relationships with the producers creates new
commercial relations based on trust and cooperation; the groups of
craftsmen have the possibility to plan the production in the medium and
long term and they insure themselves the opportunity to invest the
greater profits in equipment to improve the products and, most of all,
in local public services. The creation of welfare through just
commercial relationships is one of the most important and qualifying
dimension of our activity.
Tibetan Refugee Self Help Handicrafts
An organization founded in 1981 in order to preserve the cultural
richness of Tibet; with its 100.000 exiles, the Tibetan community in
India today is one of the most numerous. Thanks to the work of the
cooperatives linked to communities spread over the territory, backpacks
and bags, office articles, shirts and cotton clothes are produced and
exported
SIPA
A federation of small organizations of producers founded in 1985,
SIPA acts as a collector and facilitator for the export of the products
abroad. The main products we import are potteries, wooden articles and
candles.
FCO
An association formed in the year 2000 by groups and individuals, it
includes today 19 groups of producers for a total of 215 craftsmen,
spread over ten districts. The association provides support and services
for production, which is mainly made up by potteries, earthenware,
leather processing.
Silence
A cooperative founded in the year 1978 in Calcutta by a few
deaf-mutes artists, today Silence employs 72 deaf-and-dumb persons, who
produce wax candles, wooden articles, jewelry and incenses.
It also has a professional training center for handicapped individuals.
EMA
founded in 1977 in Calcutta, EMA brings together several groups of
craftsmen who promote their work and participate in training programs
linked to education and health. They produce mainly hide or leather
items.
SHARE
non-governmental organization formed in 1991 by a group of
craftswomen to improve the living conditions of women at all levels.
Today 2,000 women are involved working with fibers, baskets, pottery,
bamboos and coconut leaves. Share is considered a reliable organization
even by local governmental institutions. |
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A real model: ROBA in
Bangladesh
Overlooking the alluvial coast of Bengal,
bordering on India and Burma and dominated by the crisscrossing of the
Gange delta, Bangladesh is a country full of contradictions and which
has undergone great changes after the liberation struggle.
When it gained independence in 1971, the jute sector was at the first
place in the economy in terms of manufacturing production, employment
and export revenues, which were equal to 87% of the total. The
nationalization of the factories first, and their privatization later,
have taken place against a background of corruption, mismanagement and
imbalances which have threatened and still do threaten the national
economy.
Against this backdrop stands the relationship, by now well-established,
of ROBA with some important consortia of producers, who have been able
to guarantee a very good relation with the territory in view a healthy
and well-balanced competition. The important pilot experiences of
micro-credit, such as the historic Grameen Bank born in 1977, have
favored the growth of a productive fabric, which has offered an
opportunity even to the poorest people; an ideal fabric for the
development of fair trade.
Once consolidated, the relationships with the producers need to be
strengthened and monitored in order to face the possible criticalities
of a complex commercial system. The choice of favoring direct
relationships with small groups of artisans linked to the villages has
driven us to redefine the relationships with the larger organizations of
producers, favoring the production activities over those of commercial
intermediation.
This has favored the possibility of pre-financing the small artisans up
to 100% of the value of the orders.
This result has grown out of a journey that has led us to try new roads
and to verify our commercial strategy in order to be always in line with
our mission.
Corr The Jute Works
historic organization born in 1973 with the support of Caritas; it
has now 4,000 women and 200 cooperatives spread all over Bangladesh and
that cover 17 districts and export to 24 countries. The main product is
jute, a precious vegetable fiber from which bags, cloths and cordages
are made.
MCC
an international organization which is engaged in Bangladesh since
1970 in the support mostly of artisan activities and of programs for the
development of agriculture. Through its training and development
programs MCC implicates each year more than 100,000 families. It exports
mainly water hyacinth furniture
and colored jute bags.
Dhaka Handicrafts
one of the largest organizations born in 1976 with the goal to
improve the socio-economic standing of poor families which today are
more than 3,000. We import mainly baskets.
Rishilpi
born from a mission started with a humanitarian goal, today Rishilpi
is an organization which has succeeded in implicating 4,000 village
families; a cooperative has been created, which is involved in
handicrafts made of wood, hide, palm and date leaves.
The Swallows - Thanapara Project
as of the end of the war in 1972, the Swedish organization “The
Swallows” has committed itself to a project for the revival of
handicraft work and the rebirth of the villages. Today there are 105
artisans in the project, of which 102 are women; their work is based on
sewing, weaving and embroidery utilizing environmentally friendly raw
materials. Among the most sold products are cotton shirts.
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A real model: ROBA in Nepal
A border region between the fertile plains
of India and the desert plateau of Tibet, Nepal is at the bottom of the
list for any international economic indicator and it is the country
where we have started our experience of fair and solidarity trade.
Nepal too has undergone a strong process of economic liberalization
which has attracted foreign private investments to the detriment of
local entrepreneurs; the privatization of the services and the
inefficient use of public resources have furthermore favored an unfair
development, thanks to which 42% of the population today lives below the
poverty line.
In order to get over limits, which are often linked to intermediation
activities that the large producers carry out for the smaller ones, and
that in Nepal had become commercially predominant, in 2002 ROBA Nepal
was founded; an experimental structure made up by an office and a local
referent.
Ruby Mukhia, our reference in Nepal, is the representative in dealings
with the producers and guarantees constant relations and communications
with groups of local artisans, who are situated in those rural areas
which, because of linguistic barriers and remoteness, would be hard to
reach and therefore could not market their products
Mahaguthi
One of the oldest Nepalese NGO, which has always been committed to
the improvement of the living conditions of the small producers,
especially of disadvantaged women. The numerous activities range from
technical and financial support to rehabilitation and training. The
product lines range from cotton cloths to house furniture, to handmade
paper and musical instruments.
Women Skill Development Project Pokhara
No-profit organization founded in 1975 by four women in Pokhara, on
the shore of a lake near Kathmandu, to support a campaign for literacy
and training for women. WSDP in Pokhara, thanks to the manual technique
of the belt loom, produces many-colored cloths used for making garments
and accessories.
Kumbeshwar Technical School
A no-profit organization founded in 1983 which offers educational
and training opportunities to disadvantaged men and women: 300 children
take advantage of free education while there are 350 producers, 99% of
which are women. The main products are hand-knitted goods, made of
Tibetan pure wool and cotton and wood furniture.
Manushi
founded in 1991 to answer concretely the need for help by women in
some villages, giving their families opportunities for earnings and
development. Today there are 300 producers which are somehow linked to
the organization, of which 80% are women. Coloring of the knotted cloths
is one of the main activities which put together the rescue of ancient
traditions with the production of handicrafts.
Sana Hastakala
a non-governmental organization born in 1989 with the support of
UNICEF and with the goal to market the products of small producers. The
artisans are 800, of which 640 are women, producing hand made paper,
pashmina shawls, items in natural fibers, pottery, dolls and jewelry.
Bakthapur Craft Printers
a project which started in 1981 with the cooperation of UNICEF and
dedicated to the production of paper made by hand according to very
ancient Tibetan traditions. The main product is wish cards, on paper
made out of daphne, a Himalayan plant gathered in compliance with the
rotation method and processed in the traditional way.
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New projects, new horizons
ROBA has furthermore developed new projects
in other three countries within the policy of supporting the development
of alternative economies precisely in countries which have been hit
especially hard by economic crisis or which are threatened in the
preservation of their cultural and ethnic identities.
in Cuba we support Cubartesania a project included in the
Development Program of the United Nations and through which we import
furniture and baskets made of guaniquiqui, bags made of fibers and
wooden statues.
in Thailand we work with
Thai Tribal Crafts an organization which protects and promotes
the seven northern ethnic groups through the sale of handmade and
hand-embroidered cloths, garments, bags, backpacks and baskets.
in Madagascar,
thanks to the cooperation with Ravinala, we work with
Fiavotana
which supplies us with scarves and shawls in raw silk
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ROBA system: the
commercial activity
The force of an organization of Fair Trade
rests on its economic independence, in the transparence of its
activities and of the supply chain wherein it operates. These
characteristics, together with the sale of products which originate from
fair trade and which are easily traceable, in practice condition the
economic scenario, fueling the growth of ethical demand on the part of
consumers and, consequently, contribute to modify the commercial
strategies of the for-profit companies.
But in order to be fully efficient, a Fair Trade organization must be
able to build a rigorous system of protection of the rights which may
address both the needs of the southern communities and the needs of the
northern workers; the opening of the market of the producers (necessary
as long as it is gradual) must go hand in hand with a work policy based
on workers’ rights and on a real opposition to any form of temporary
employment. Against this backdrop the choice of one’s own commercial
partners becomes a delicate moment; for this reason to favor small
retailers over the Large-scale Distributors means to put in contact the
world Shops with entities which are often a family enterprise, not to
fuel distribution models which do not care enough for the sustainability
and the protection of the work.
We believe that the problem is not in the contraposition between the
testimonial role of Fair Trade and the opening of the markets to the
producers, but in the choice of the distribution channels used to open
new markets, the conditions and the graduality in doing so. The question
is not whether to do it, but with whom, how and at what pace.
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ROBA shop: a liberated space
It is a space where solidarity, return to
traditions, radication in the territory and environmental sustainability:
this philosophy has convinced us to open, in the historic inner city of
Rapallo, the first ROBA Shop. The fact that the goal is clear does not
mean that it is simple: to offer the inhabitants a space where they can
find items of far-away countries together with eco-sustainable products
by cooperatives which operate in our own territory, to present Fair
Trade as a real choice of life and not as an occasional purchase (in
this sense the choice of furniture is a mainstay), to evidence the link
between the protection of far-away cultures and the defense of local
traditions.
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The
transparent price
If we had to explain the price according to
the definition of the classical economy, we would define it as the main
indicator whereon consumers base their choices. In reality this approach
risks to be especially reductive, because through the price it is not
possible to appreciate all the processes that lie behind the production
and the marketing of a product.
Starting from this observation, Fair Trade has chosen to give the
consumer a special price, which is a medium of information and an
instrument of communication: transparent prices.
We believe that the first step on the road towards an ethical economy
consists in communicating the real composition of the purchase value of
a product, introducing transparence as an instrument of control and
awareness; thanks to the breakdown of the price of the products you find
on the shelves of the Shops, you can immediately be aware of how your
money is spent.
To ROBA Fair Trade is also this: to supply clear and correct information
for the whole range of its own products aiming to an ever greater
transparency, the first basic leg of a gradual journey oriented to
guaranteeing the ethicality of the whole production chain.
Let’s take as an example the “Triangular Lahu Purse” produced in
Thailand by Thai Tribal Craft whose price for the public is 5.16 euros.
You will find the price broken down in five items with the average share
for the producer, the importer and the Shop, varying from 25% to 30% of
the total value.
Let’s look at them in detail:
1 The fair price
It is the price agreed upon with the producer, which includes the
cost of raw materials, of labor and transportation up to loading point.
For the Purse the share is 1.24 euros
2 The transportation
It includes the international transport costs linked to import and
the national ones linked to distribution.
For the Purse the share is 0,15 euros.
3 The share for the importer
It is the margin for ROBA which includes the design, the logistics
and marketing costs.
For the Purse the share is 1.19 euros.
4 The share for the shops
It is the margin for the “Botteghe del Mondo” (World Shops), which
pays for the structures, the employees and for all the initiatives of
sensitization in the territory.
For the Purse the share is 1.72 euros.
5 The taxes
it is the VAT, which for the handicrafts of ROBA
comes to 20%.
For the Purse the share is 0.86 euros
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Education and advocacy:
our mission
To ROBA Fair Trade means to contribute
concretely to social change, creating the conditions whereupon the
citizens may be again protagonists of their choices, to begin with the
simplest and apparently the most trivial one, such as what they buy and
consume.
Fair Trade, ethical finance, critical consumption, all become necessary
instruments for a gradual redefinition of life-styles, for the revision
of our daily activities in a more sustainable manner. But just to sell
and to buy through Fair Trade without changing the general dynamics
which are the source of inequalities means to loose sight of the global
reach of the problems, to concentrate locally without a global view.
It is therefore necessary to sponsor, next to the diffusion of products,
activities of sensitization, of lobbying, when not of downright
mobilization: Social change may occur only operating on different levels,
where personal lifestyle encounters the common interest through the
political activity and the building of networks.
Social activities, in order to be really efficient, must grow out of a
relationship among the different actors of civil society: only this way
it is possible to try and find realistic solutions in a world that is
ever more complex. This is the reason why ROBA tends to link its
political activity to the creation of local networks, both national and
international. As the foundation manifest of Rete Lilliput reminds us,
the minute Lilliputians were able to tie down the giant Gulliver only by
means of cooperation and participation: only uniting our forces we can
reach the goal to make deep and permanent changes in the global system
of inequality.
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Our
traveling companions
AGICES
Rete Lilliput
TradeWatch
SeattleToBrussels
This is the philosophy that has inspired ROBA since its beginnings:
convergence, cooperation and coordination; both inside the Fair Trade
environment and in the relations with other actors of civil society.
This has allowed ROBA to be an integral part of Rete Lilliput, becoming
one of its active component both at the local level (in the Genoa area
during Mobilitebio and the biotech show or the mobilization for the G8
meeting in Genoa), and at the national level with the participation to
the Thematic Workgroup on Commerce and to the Inter-campaign Table. At
the same time, some different organized initiatives have allowed
specific collaborations with some organizations and have given birth to
small coordination groups such as Tradewatch, an observation post on
international trade made up by, in addition to ROBA, Campagna per la
Riforma della Banca Mondiale (a campaign for the reformation of World
Bank), Rete Lilliput and Mani Tese, or have allowed us to be actors in
international networks, such as Seattle to Brussels (S2B), which have
the specific goal to coordinate mobilizations and initiatives on WTO and
commercial negotiations.
Inside the Fair Trade environment, ROBA is a founding partner of AGICES,
the Italian General Assembly for Fair and Solidarity Trade (the single
Italian organization that gathers together most of the fair and
solidarity trade actors) and is a member of Ifat (International
Federation of Alternative Trade) which gathers together more than 250
Fair Trade organizations all over the world. |
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Campaigns and forums
The participation to, and the promotion of
networks becomes a necessary condition to launch national and
international campaigns about the different themes of development and
social justice. Among the most important ones we may remember
Mobilitebio 2000, a mobilization about the use of biotechnologies in the
agribusiness field, the initiatives organized at the time of the 2001 G8
meeting, the Campaign “This World Is Not For Sale” of 2003 for the WTO
ministerial meeting in Cancún, which gave birth to Tradewatch (http://tradewatch.splinder.com)
and Localtradewatch (http://localtradewatch.splinder.it), on-line
observation points respectively on international trade negotiations and
on privatizations in Italy; the Campaign “Less Charity, More Rights” of
2003 about Corporate Social Responsibility and the Campaign “The Cotton
Road” about the system of injustices that lies behind the way cotton is
produced and marketed.
The participation to the different World and Continental Social Forums,
with the presentation of workshops and seminars is the next step for a
political confrontation and for the consolidation of the international
networks.
Mobilitebio
On May 25th, 2000 more than 10,000 persons arrived in Genoa to
protest against Tebio, a trade fair for biotechnologies. The street
demonstration was the point
of arrival of a complex political work, developed by Mobilitebio, a
coordinating body of more than 450 national and international
organizations, who succeeded to maintain the link between the
communication level (in the previous months the Biotech problem was on
the front page of the newspapers) the institutional level (the ministers
for Agriculture, Industry and Health boycotted the fair, even though it
was sponsored by the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and they had
been invited) and the mobilization level (there were tens of public
meetings and initiatives on the matter all over Italy).
The commitment against the agribusiness biotech has meant to link our
fair and solidarity trade philosophy to the struggle of millions of
farmers in the South of the world in defense of traditional agriculture
and of their right to a living. For this reason we have promoted and
supported Mobilitebio and contributed to spread all over the Fair Trade
circuit the slogan “We are all bio-diverse”.
Genova G8
ROBA dell’Altro Mondo, as member of Rete Lilliput, has chosen to
support the birth of Genoa Social Forum and the mobilizations against
the 2001 G8 Meeting with the goal to contribute to the birth of a
pluralistic movement, linking together all the differences that Civil
Society incorporates in order to transform them into a point of strength.
The Genoa experience has made the participation of Fair Trade to the
building of the movement more than a simple testimonial, and this thanks
to the presence of many Shops and many operators to the organization of
a thematic meeting point during the July 21st demonstrations, to the
capability of contributing to the organization of the Public Forum and
of the debates.
This world is not for sale
This organization was created with the goal to mobilize people about
the topics of International Commerce and to stop the WTO negotiations
before the Cancún ministerial meeting. The Campaign, made up by around
twenty organizations of Civil Society, has been able to produce and
distribute materials of analysis, to organize public initiatives (the
Day for Common Goods in the month of May has been organized in synergy
with the European Day for the World Shops, while the mobilization of
September 15th has seen the participation of local groups in nearly
sixty Italian towns) and to participate in talks at the institutional
level. In particular, in Cancún the capability to cooperate with the
delegations from Southern countries and with the South American
movements has been the pivotal point for blocking the negotiations,
while the work side by side with the organizations of international Fair
Trade, foremost with IFAT, has allowed us to give a voice to, and to
share the experiences of Fair Trade as reported directly by the artisans
and farmers.
Less charity, more rights
To be a fair and solidarity organization means operating in such a
way as to change the rules of the game not only at the level of
international commerce, but also at that of the behavior of the
for-profit companies.
This is the reason why ROBA dell’Altro Mondo has decided to participate
in the promotion of the Campaign for Corporate Social Responsibility
together with other twenty organizations, with the goal to answer the
need for transparency and ethicality coming from citizens and consumers,
to contribute to the drafting of simple but binding rules on
transparency, responsibility for the social and environmental impact of
the behavior of the economic operators.
These are goals that we too, as actors in Fair Trade, have to keep in
mind, that put us in the need to confront the deep soul of Fair Trade,
which talks about respect for the labor rights and defense of the
experiences and of the local traditions both in the North as well as in
the South of the world.
The cotton road
Cotton, in all its shapes, is the symbol of a globalization built on
inequalities and on the exploitation of natural resources. The Campaign
has the goal to inform about and analyze the themes of international
commerce, the fall in the price of raw materials, the displacement of
communities as a consequence of Structural Adjustment Plans and of
export subsidies, especially the American ones, which are at the base of
the price dumping. The answers to this situation cannot but be complex
ones, both at the general level (cancellation of the export subsidies,
continuing governmental or community support for the defense of
traditional and family farming methods, of biological products and of
fair trade) as well as at the individual level (buy fair trade and
biological, consume less). This is possible only through a real alliance
between the small producers of the South of the World, the textile
workers, the small farmers of the North and the consumers, to build a
globalization of rights in defense of the rights of the individuals and
of the planet.
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To spread the
knowledge of a different world
To spread the knowledge that a different
world is possible Each product of fair trade tells us a story: the
difficult journey of the persons who choose dignity, who put women and
men, the planet and the traditions before any profit consideration. A
choice to reveal and to recount, which opens to the news organizations
and to politics different perspectives, which gives a voice to the
silent actors of the possible change. This a key to interpretation that
ROBA proposes to all communication professionals and to all persons that
it meets in the spaces that have been opened by the movement, but also
in those moments when the news do not stop at the facts. ROBA, for many
traveling companions, has become a small source of information, which
facilitates data, stories, campaigns and its own alternative and
resistance projects, but also those of all those actors with whom it
networks on the themes of social justice and international commerce. A
notebook with over two thousand contacts, InfoROBA, the periodic
newsletter, but also thematic cards and a constant relationship: these
are the instruments of the relationship that ROBA has built in order to
tell the other face of the unsustainable development.
And to ROBA to communicate means also
to support independent information:
as one of the promoters of Altreconomia (www.altreconomia.it), ROBA
participates to the project Carta (www.carta.org), cooperates with
International Solidarity and is among the founders of Tradewatch
(www.tradewatch.splinder.com), the real-time observatory on WTO. |
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