<html>
<body>
Dear Friends in PHM:<br>
This is a notice originating from Health Care Without Harm and GAIA. I
think it is of great interest to all of us active in the struggle for
health care as a human right. Please take action yourselves, and
circulate broadly<br>
Best,<br>
Pam<br><br>
GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST JAPAN’S WASTE COLONIALISM<br><br>
Warm greetings from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
/<br>
Global Anti-Incinerator Alliance (GAIA) and from the Basel Action<br>
Network-Asia Pacific (BAN-AP), Greenpeace Southeast Asia (GPSEA) and<br>
Health Care Without Harm (HCWH-Asia).<br><br>
We are writing to invite your organization to join our coordinated
action<br>
on 2 May 2007 against Japan’s illegal and immoral scheme to
establish<br>
waste colonies in Asia by liberalizing trade in toxic wastes through
trade<br>
and investment agreements. Japan is banking on the desperation of
Asian<br>
governments to push their agenda by linking toxic waste trade with<br>
Japanese development aid and investments.<br><br>
At the recent Waste Not Asia (WNA) meeting in Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala,<br>
India, we all felt the need to raise the red flag, to arouse and make
our<br>
citizens and governments critically aware of the imminent Japanese
toxic<br>
threat.<br><br>
We have chosen 2 May 2007, the eve of Japan’s Constitution Memorial
(Kenpo<br>
Kinen-bi), for our coordinated Global Day of Action. Kenpo Kinen-bi on
3<br>
May is often chosen as a day to reflect of the meaning of democracy
and<br>
governance in Japan.<br><br>
On 2 May 2007, we hope that we can organize suitable activities,<br>
especially in countries that have forged or are currently
negotiating<br>
their Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Japan.<br><br>
Colleagues from BAN-AP, GAIA, GPSEA, HCWH-Asia, and the<br>
EcoWaste Coalition met to discuss common activities that we and
allies<br>
from Asia and the rest of the world can possibly do to signify our
concern<br>
and oppositition against what is dubbed as Japan’s waste
colonialism.<br><br>
We thought that it will be effective to undertake the following
activities<br>
on 2 May:<br><br>
1. CYBER PETITION: We plan to launch on 2 May 2007 our petition
against<br>
Japanese waste colonization to the Japanese government through Prime<br>
Minister Shinzo Abe, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World
Health<br>
Organization (WHO), the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)
and<br>
other appropriate governmental and inter-governmental agencies. The
cyber<br>
petition will be hosted by the websites of participating groups for<br>
broader reach and impact.<br><br>
2. CREATIVE PROTEST: We plan to mount a tableau (a still image or
a<br>
frozen moment) - in front of the Japanese Embassy on 2 May 2007 of
the<br>
historic Iwo Jima flag-raising. In this parody of the raising on the
US<br>
flag atop Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima, we will plant Japan’s flag in a
mock<br>
dump of trash to illustrate visually Tokyo’s scheme to establish
waste<br>
colonies in Asia.<br><br>
3. POST CARD: We plan to inundate Japanese embassies with post
cards<br>
from concerned citizens. The postcard template will be available for
free<br>
download at the GAIA website by 13 April 2007 (target mailing date: from
2<br>
May 2007).<br><br>
4. VIRAL VIDEO: We plan to make a video clip that will be
circulated<br>
virally mainly through e-mail to show our concern and discontent
against<br>
Japan’s rising waste colonialism.<br><br>
5. MEDIA WORK. We plan to prepare a press release template that<br>
participating groups can build on and disseminate to the local
press.<br><br>
We hope that we can join forces to make this Global Day of Action a<br>
successful reality. Please e-mail us to signify your interest to join
the<br>
Global Day of Action, and organize or participate in ANY of the
above<br>
suggested activities.<br><br>
Of course, we will warmly welcome your suggestions for any other
related<br>
activities that we can do together.<br><br>
We very much look forward to hearing from you.<br><br>
Thank you very much and warmest regards.<br><br>
Sincerely yours,<br><br>
Manny C. Calonzo, GAIA, mannyc@no-burn.org<br>
Richard Gutierrez, BAN-AP, rgutierrez@seanet.com<br>
Beau Baconguis, GPSEA, beau.baconguis@ph.greenpeace.org<br>
Merci Ferrer, HCWH-Asia, merci@hcwh.org<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Pam Fadem<br>
Hesperian Foundation<br>
1919 Addison Street # 304<br>
Berkeley, CA 94704 USA<br>
Tel: 1-510-845 1447<br>
Fax: 1-510-845 9141<br>
Email: pam@hesperian.org<br>
Website:
<a href="http://www.hesperian.org/" eudora="autourl">www.hesperian.org<br>
<br>
</a>**Honor your loved ones this holiday season with a <b>Hesperian Gift
of Health</b> and provide health care workers and community leaders
around the world with gifts of Hesperian community health books. Please
visit
<a href="http://www.hesperian.org/" eudora="autourl">www.hesperian.org</a>
for more information. **<br><br>
</body>
</html>