Manifest CILA
The Global South is coming together to innovate its practices of democracies, seeking new ways to ensure effective governance and political action.
Throughout history the North has lived at the expense of the South.
The development of countries in the Global South have been relegated to dependency and control since hegemonic colonialism.
The exploitation of our countries’ natural resources and the way we live our lives in our environments has been conditioned and imposed in an interdependent world.
The life, territory and development of both has been taken over by elites (a few) who have ruled for their own. In turn, the political arena and its rules of the game, mostly centralist, obey the logic that concentrates power and reproduces inequalities.
On the other hand, pre-colonial practices such as the ayni, the minga, the convites, the tequio, the urambas not only reconcile us with our history but also bring us closer to collaborative decision-making, teach us to build consensus among different people and include all people in public life. These are clear answers to the much talked about democratic crisis in our region.
The social outbursts of the last years translated into multiple demonstrations, full squares, the growth of social movements, the entry of new faces and participatory practices into politics in the search for minority representation at the edges of the system have also taught us more about how to redistribute power than ever before.
In the same way we join and recognise ourselves as inhabitants of the global south in the quest to make our territories more sustainable, plural and inclusive. Where life is respected. Where the diversity of knowledge, the cosmovisions of our societies and respect for nature are integrated with other ways of living, making public decisions and building societies.
We are organizations from the global south committed to giving voice to the voiceless. Our commitment is based on innovative and collaborative governance, promoting collective action. We believe in Democracy as the system for advancing change, guaranteeing equality and equity for the fulfillment of the Rights of all people. We strive for Transformative Governance. From giving meaning to more sustainable, diverse and innovative democracies in each of our contexts.
Overcoming existing territorial and intercultural distances, we now come together and unite in favor of an agenda of values and principles that generates autonomy and protagonism for the Global South, making it stronger and more powerful. From our global strength to have local impacts we seek the advocacy of those who have been on the edges.
Our gesture is that of the outstretched hand and not the clenched fist. We want to open the wheel of our knowledge and keep the wheel open to diversity.
We believe, therefore, that from our territories we can transform the world. And your participation is important to us. Let’s add all the voices of the Global South for this transformation. Will you join us?
