PFF to organise WFFP General Assembly meetings from April 27

The General Assembly-5 (GA-5) of World Forum of Fisher Peoples (WFFP) will be held here from April 27 to 30. So far, WFFP's three constituent assembly meetings and one general body meeting have been held in Delhi (India), Loctudy (France), Kisumu (Kenya), and Negombo (Sri Lanka), respectively.
Being a founder-member of WFFP, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) is hosting the event in which 60 international and 40 national delegates, representing the fisherfolk organisations of India, France, Spain, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Canada, South Africa, Honduras, Sierra Leone, Benin, Mauritania, Senegal, Uganda, Mali, de Guinea, and Indonesia would be participating.
PFF is a people's organisation, having a membership of 60,000 fisherfolk across Pakistan. It has been striving to protect the socio-economic and political rights of under-privileged fishermen of Pakistan for last 12 years. PFF is a founder-member of WFFP, which is an international alliance of 36 mass based national organisations of fisherfolk working in 32 countries of all continents of the world.
WFFP aims to protect, defend and strengthen the communities which depend on fishery for their livelihood, and represents the small-scale, artisanal fishers' interest at the international level and play the role of global political organ of these communities.
According to the schedule announced by PFF, Chairman of PFF, Muhammad Ali Shah, will deliver the welcoming speech, followed by introduction of WFFP & objectives of GA-5 by WFFP Secretary-General Herman Kumara. There will be folk dance, folk and Sufi songs and performance on Sindhi musical instruments and tableau's.
PFF Secretary-General will present vote of thanks. The WFFP General Assembly is organised after every three years, as per WFFP constitution, and ensures democratic functioning, elections of new office-bearers, and plans out for the global common agenda for the artisanal, small-scale fisher communities and the membership of 40 million fishers across the world.
Major objectives of the meeting are:
-- To protect, defend and strengthen the communities that depend on fishing as their sole livelihood.
-- To assist member organisations to secure and improve upon the economic viability and quality of life of fisher people.
-- To recognise, support and enhance the role of women in the social, economic, political and cultural life of the fishing community.
-- To create an understanding of the resource as a common heritage of humanity, and through sustainable fishing practices, conservation, regeneration of the marine and inland resources and protecting the ecosystem, to ensure that it is passed on to future generations.
-- To protect fishing communities, fish resources and fish habitats, such as coastal zones, watersheds and mangroves, from land-based, sea-based and air-based threats, including pollution (use of the sea as a dumping ground for toxic waste), destructive industrial aquaculture, over-fishing and destructive fishing practices, and un-regulated tourism.
-- To create common understanding on the regional as well as global issues of the small-scale fishermen and take these issues on global policy forums (livelihood, seawater territorial issues, fundamental rights, etc).
-- To raise cumulative voice on global forums against anti-fisherfolk policies by the IFIs, and multinational companies etc.
The issues encircling disputes on water territories, detained fishermen, and several international frameworks like UN Law of Sea, depletion of the fish stock caused by several reasons including deep sea fishing by deep sea trawlers, food security issue, depleting natural resources, climate change, etc shall be discussed in detail in the meeting. Global fisheries policy will also be focused to overcome the issues and bridge the gap among states. Constitutional amendments in WFFP constitution and discussions to strengthen WFFP shall also be held.