Send Anakbayan Youth Rep to International Conference

Help send Anakbayan Ottawa Youth Representative Kristine Castaños to the 6th International Assembly of the International League of Peoples' Struggle in Hong Kong from June 23rd to June 26th, 2019 and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) 3rd Global Assembly happening before.

What is Anakbayan Ottawa?

AB-Ottawa is a local chapter of the international comprehensive Filipino youth organization that supports the national democratic movement in the Philippines. Our mission is to unite youth from different sectors and communities in the Filipino diaspora in Ottawa in order to advance the struggle for national liberation, democracy and a just and lasting peace in the Philippines. We seek to educate, organize, mobilize Filipino youth on issues that affect the Philippines, as well as here on Turtle Island. Made up of second generation, as well as first and 1.5 generation youth, Anakbayan Ottawa seeks to address systemic issues that oppress the Filipino youth and community through campaigns, community events, and educational workshops and discussions.

There are growing number of Filipino youth migrating into the Ottawa area and Canada over all. Many Filipino organizations have a strong focus on ethnicity, culture and fun. While Anakbayan is also excited to focus on these aspects of our lived experiences, we seek to address the nuances and complexities of being migrants on stolen territory, how migration has been affected by capitalism and imperialism, and what the root causes of our struggles are. See more of our work here: https://www.facebook.com/anakbayanyow/

What is the International League of Peoples' Struggle?

ILPS is an anti-imperialist and democratic formation. It promotes, supports and develops the anti-imperialist and democratic struggles of the peoples of the world against imperialism and all reaction. It has a broad mass character and not subordinate to any political party, government or religion and affords equality to all participating organizations. It strives to realize the unity, cooperation and coordination of anti-imperialist and democratic struggles throughout the world. Find out more here: https://ilps.info/en/about-ilps/

The 6th International General Assembly gathers hundreds of participants from across the world in Hong Kong under the theme of “Win a bright socialist future for humanity! Unite the people to fight and end imperialist war, racism and fascism!"

What is the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines?

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines [formerly the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines or ICCHRP] is a global network of organizations outside the Philippines, concerned about the human rights situation in the Philippines and committed to campaign for just and lasting peace in the country. It aims to inform the international community about the grave human rights situation in the Philippines today.

Beyond information dissemination, it calls on freedom loving peoples, organizations, political parties and governments all over the world to express their concern about the still deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines and to help the tens of thousands of victims in their quest for justice. Find out more here: https://humanrightsphilippines.net/wpsite/about/

Why are we sending a representative?

AB-Ottawa is sending one of our chapters founding members to the ILPS and the ICHRP conference who is also a member of important international solidarity organizations - the Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP) and planned the recent founding conference of the Canada chapter of the International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) on May 11th and 12th, 2019. Building international solidarity is critical to advance our opposition to global imperialism, colonialism and capitalism through understanding the conditions in different regions, sharing our skills, capacity, resources and minds in collective action and spreading awareness of the root causes of forced migration, poverty, displacement and exploitation across the globe.

When we send participants abroad to conferences and exposures, we ensure they have the means, support and capacity to safely travel and learn to the the fullest extent. They come back to the chapter and share what they learned through presentations, workshops and/or educational tools. The contacts they build are in themselves value in expanding our movement for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines! Youth are critical to the global movement as organizers who have always been at the forefront of the revolutionary struggle.

Costs to Participants

AB-Ottawa's funds come only from local fundraising initiatives and being a Working Group of Carleton University's Ottawa Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG-Carleton). We're hoping to cover as much as possible of the costs below to avoid the participant incurring any personal costs outside of taking days off work to attend:

• Registration and accommodations fees to ILPS $491.31 (366.50 USD) for four nights and five days
• First night accommodation: $90 CAD
• Registration to ICHRP for two days $275 CAD
• Flights to and from Hong Kong total $1,946 - 500 CAD covered by donations = 1,446 CAD

TOTAL: 2,302.31

Any and all funds raised will go to these fees. Please stay tuned for campaign updates, and for follow-up and bring back sessions from the two conferences hosted by AB-Ottawa.

In solidarity!

Maraming Salamat

Anakbayan Ottawa Team