The Student Trade Justice Campaign was founded in October 2004 through the collaboration of students from across the United States with the support of Oxfam America and Global Justice. It is a national network of students engaging our campuses and communities through education and informed advocacy, committed to achieving responsible, sustainable and equitable trade policy.
Core Principles
- Student Empowerment: We recognize the vital role students play in any progressive movement. We will use our unique position as students to empower others to engage their peers and surrounding communities in the struggle for just trade policy.
- Justice and Equity: We strive for a more just and equitable global community and recognize the role that trade policy plays in achieving this vision.
- People-Centered: In all that we do our driving force is the well-being of people.
- Sustainability: We focus not only on the present impacts of trade policy but the long-term effects on communities both locally and globally. Therefore we support trade policy that is sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally.
- Rights: We recognize that trade policy is essentially a struggle for rights. We support the rights of communities, no matter what their global standing, to full participation in shaping their destiny. Human rights inherently supersede corporate profits.
- Power Dynamics: We believe that in order for there to be fair and equitable trade policies the current balance of power must be realigned. Industrialized countries and powerful corporate interests can no longer have unfair influence over developing countries. We advocate a system where countries have equitable and balanced access to decisions that directly impact their livelihoods.
- Collaboration: We understand that the right for just and equitable trade policy cannot be won alone. We choose to work with an array of organizations that recognize the value of sustainable, fair trade policy and believe in the power of such policies.
We envision a world where the economy works for people instead of people working for the economy; a world where upholding universal human rights takes precedence over profits. We believe that together we can shape a world where longitude and latitude do not determine economic destiny, a place where industrialized countries no longer take advantage of those that are on a path to development.
|
|
