Document: The Manila Declaration. Statement of the Asia—Pacific People's Conference on Peace and Development

Over 200 peace and nuclear disarmament activists from 18 countries assembled in Manila, Philippines from January 10–14, 1989 to participate in the Asia-Pacific Peoples Conference for Peace and Development. Sponsored by the Australian Anti-Bases Coalition campaign and the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific-Philippine Forum, in conjunction with grassroots multi-sectoral and issue-oriented groups in the Philippines, the conference seeks to promote a regional approach to nuclear disarmament, demilitarization, the elimination of foreign military bases, peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

As a result of this conference, the Asia-Pacific People's Forum on Peace and Development, a transnational coalition of organizations and individuals committed to a“nuclear free and independent Asia and Pacific region,” was organized.

As a truly broad people's movement, the Forum has declared its support, among others, of the“total dismantling of all nuclear arms and foreign military and intelligence bases in our region,” the“full support for the inherent rights of indigenous peoples to their ancestral domains, and to their self-determination and preservation of their cultural heritage,” the“elimination of all discrimination based on race, gender, class, and religion,” the“full implementation of all international conventions on human rights, disarmament, peace, and development, throughout the region,” and“ending the use of foreign debt as the major vehicle of economic intervention and domination in the region, and repudiating “Third World’ debt. Demanding a new, just, and equitable economic order.”

In light of the journal's commitment to peace, economic well being, social justice and ecological balance, we are publishing these documents for our readership's information and reflection. Additional information about the Forum may be obtained from Asia-Pacific People's Forum on Peace and Development, 5 Road 13th, Quezon City, Philippines, or 1314 14th Street, #5, N. W., Washington, DC 20005, USA.