Associations 21

Associations 21 for Sustainable Development is a network of associations and organizationsof the civil society working in different fields: environment, culture, agriculture, social economy, education, gender, social work, North-South relations, human rights, etc.

Cfr founding charter:
http://www.associations21.be/Charte-fondatrice

Since 2006, we develop together a critical transverse thinking, so as to allow everyone access, here and there, now and later, to quality of life. As part of the major group “NGOs” defined in the Rio Declaration, we contribute to social dialogue in Belgium, in order to integrate sustainable development principles into all policies and, eventually, into society. Facing huges problems…On one hand, concerns expressed by the visionary heads of the Rio Summit in 1992 have now become urgent and immediate problems:

1. In 20 years, the production of wealth has exploded but these are less and less spread. There are still many hungry (1 billion) while in 2011, global food production could be enough to feed 6 billion people, provided that provided that the global food system is controlled and modified. . Meanwhile, around the world, inequality is still growing. In Belgium, according to the General Report on Poverty published in 1994, between 6 and 7% of people were then living below the poverty line. Now in 2011, they are 15%. In 2015, most of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved.

2. The pressure of human activity on resources has also emphasized; particularly, the ecological footprint of industrialized countries is still growing. Consequently, humanity has exceeded the limits of Earth’s biocapacity and the most vulnerable populations are the most affected, especially in developing countries. The three major Rio conventions of 1992 (climate change – desertification and biodiversity) have failed to contain global warming, desertification and biodiversity loss.

3. Liberalization has facilitated the globalization of trade without internalizing social and environmental costs. The financialization of the economy has pushed these trends and changed the balance of power in favor of financial institutions, so that it has been more and more difficult to take measures towards sustainability.

4. In this context, repeated crises and austerity programmes cause social conflicts and push numerous people in misery.

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