Daily news from the World Social Forum / Forum Social Mondial Porto Alegre, Friday 26/1/2001
A feminist spotlight on the World Social Forum
The World Social Forum represent a new international arena for NGOs and social movements to create and exchange ideas on social and economic alternatives under the motto "um outro mundo é possivel" - another world is possible. WomenAction is present at the Forum to disseminate information about the activities during the Forum from a feminist perspective, and as co-organiser of a workshop on 'Communication and citizenship' Although women's organising and strategies for women's human rights do not have a central place in the Forum's programme, the overall topics of the forum - macro and micro projects to promote social and economic justice - are all key to promoting women's human rights at this point. Throughout the Beijing+5 process large numbers of women from all regions of the world, but especially from the South, emphasised the need to address issues of globalisation in order to achieve gender equality. Women are the ones hardest hit by neo-liberal policies demanding cuts in education and health budgets, dismantling of public services.... Women's presence and input is therefore essential at the Forum where alternative solutions to the order of things as we know them today are formulated. Otherwise the gender perspective will not be taken on board and women' s rights risk to be a marginal concern in the growing civil society movement for a different kind of globalisation.
Malin Bjork - Les Pénélopes
Inauguration of the World Social Forum
At yesterdays opening of the Forum, participants where greeted by the governor of Rio Grande du Sol, who warned against the one-and-only thinking characterising most national and international politics promoting evermore of de-regulation and privatisation. After the more formal opening, around 10 000 people - representing the whole range of civil society actors -embarked on a huge demonstration through the city of Porto Alegre.
The World Social Forum takes place at the same time as the World Economic Forum, which take place in Davos, Switzerland where thousand of corporations assemble each year to formulate their views on economic policies. The World Social Forum developed as a consequence of a growing international movement that advocates for greater participation of civil societies in international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The World Social Forum aims to provide a space for building economic alternatives, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening South-North and South-South alliances between NGOs, unions and social movements for a 'different kind of globalisation' - based on solidarity, and social and economic justice.
Malin Bjork - Les Pénélopes
Women's organisations at the World Social Forum
Out of several hundred workshops taking place throughout the five days of the Forum, some 60 workshops are organised by women's organisations. Local, regional, and global alternatives promoting women's human rights and economic and social initiatives by women will be presented and discussed. There is a quite a large majority of Brazilian organisations among the workshop organisers - this is also the case when it comes to women's organisations. Even though the different regions of the world are not evenly represented at the Forum, we can look forward to a wide range issues being treated such as combating of sexual violence, women's workers rights in an international context, women and racism, women's social economic solidarity projects..
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