World Social Forum
Power to the people
Submitted by ni-radio on January 30, 2008 - 5:11pm.
'We are the millions of women and men, organisations, networks, movements, trade unions from all parts of the world. We come from rural zones and urban centres. We are of all ages, cultures and beliefs, but are united by the strong conviction that another world is possible. With our diversity - which is our strength - we invite all men and women to undertake throughout this week creative actions, activities, events and convergences focusing on the issues and expressing them in the ways they choose.' This was the call to action made by the organizers of the World Social Forum (WSF). The first year, 20,000 responded to such a call. The next year - 100,000. Now in its eighth year, an estimated million people took part in a Global Day of Action on 26 January 2008. Nicola Bullard, from Thai-based Focus on the Global South, joined Radio New Internationalist's Chris Richards to whip around the world so that we can hear what people were doing and saying out there on the streets.
- On the beach at Rio de Janeiro, Moema Miranda from the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE) remembers back to the conversations around the table at which the WSF was born.
- Outside a seminar room in Lahore, Mahar Safdar Ali - the General Secretary of Anjuman Asiaye Awam - explains the connections between nuclear weapons and visas.
- Fresh from a rally in Seoul, young organizer Mikyung Ryu explains the Korean issues that are motivating her people to act.
Befitting the diverse energy of the WSF Global Day of Action, African and Colombian beats collide in today's CD - Voodoo Love Inna Champeta-land performed by Colombiafrica: guaranteed to get all ages up from their seats and dancing in the streets.
Listen directly online (flash 128kbps stream)
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NGOs a No-Go at the WSF?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on February 2, 2007 - 1:46pm.
Tensions between well-resourced NGOs and social movements was one of the major issues for debate at this year's World Social Forum. Read more »
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The WSF's Seven Year Itch
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 29, 2007 - 4:01pm.
Some reflection and discussion about the recent World Social Forum in Nairobi is beginning to emerge on the web. Read more »
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A Green OPEC?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 28, 2007 - 11:37am.
Despite the underwhelming emphasis on climate change at the World Social Forum, there were a few interesting sessions and issues worth noting, many of which might not have been labeled as strictly ‘climate change’ sessions.
One in particular was a workshop on biofuels, organized by the Global Forest Coalition. Read more »
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Radio New Internationalist – World Social Forum Special
Submitted by ni-radio on January 27, 2007 - 5:40pm.
When international campaigners from more than 100 countries converged on Nairobi, Kenya for this year's World Social Forum, Adam Ma'anit and Jess Worth from New Internationalist were on the ground to find the people, the ideas and the action for social and economic justice in 2007. This program - a-day-in-the-life of a World Social Forum - introduces us to:
- Pat Mooney from the What Next? Project as he looks through new technologies to find out what the world will look like in thirty years time
- Basila Urassa, the Executive Co-ordinator of the Network Against Female Genital Mutilation, whose challenging a deeply entrenched cultural practice... and winning
- Al-Hassan Adam, from the Ghana Coalition Against Water Privatization - whose fresh from setting up public water partnerships, and talks about how water privatization has left worms in the water of Ghana
Plus a general discussion about one of the most critical issues facing Africa - and this year's World Social Forum: how China is taking the continent with money, not guns.
Listen now (click the play button) or download the program (click this link)
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Queer eye for the WSF
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 11:31pm.
For me, one of the real achievements of this WSF has been the wonderful turnout of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) activists here (particularly from Africa). The Q-Spot, a venue setup by GALCK (the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya), was one of the most popular hangouts in the stadium. Numerous workshops, trainings, debates, film screenings, exhibits, and poetry readings were well attended and there was a real buzz about the place. ‘Sexual rights’ as a concept has really captured people’s imaginations as both straight and gay alike were able to connect with and rally behind the simple yet powerful assertion that all human beings have the fundamental right to express their own sexuality and be free from persecution. Read more »
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What's hot and what's (ironically) not
Submitted by Jess Worth on January 25, 2007 - 4:15pm.
The World Social Forum is a good place to be if you want to get a handle on the biggest issues that grassroots activists are working on, that communities and movements are resisting, and that we all need to take notice of. This year, the four that really stood out for me are… Read more »
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Kiswahili crash course
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 2:48pm.
Of the few languages I’ve had the privilege to learn (badly) in my life, Kiswahili (Swahili) is my favourite. It’s wonderful expressionism and rich use of proverbs is a window into a different way of looking at life and communicating with one another.
Heavily influenced by Arabic from old trading relationships between Arabian traders and primarily coastal East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), as well as the Comoros, Southern Somalia, Northern Mozambique and stretching inland as a lingua franca as far as Southern Sudan, Rwanda, Malawi and the DRC, it also has some Hindi, Portuguese and English influences, but it is still essentially a Bantu language and one of the most widely spoken non-colonial languages in Africa. It is spoken by over 50 million people and as a first language by some 5 million people (mainly on the coast). There are numerous dialects and a wonderful Kiswahili-derived patois favoured by urban youth called Sheng which originated in Nairobi and loved by East Africa hip-hop artists who bend it to their will with extreme dexterity and creativity. Nairobi and inland Kenyan Kiswahili is fairly flexible whereas on the coast you might be corrected for not using proper grammar or vocabulary. Read more »
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Fall of the House of Windsor
Submitted by Jess Worth on January 25, 2007 - 2:29pm.
It seemed strange that amongst the hundreds of organisations’ stalls ringing the inner circle of the World Social Forum stadium in Nairobi there were only two that served food. At eye-watering prices. All the other officially-registered, slightly more reasonably-priced food vendors, who’d paid to be there, had been firmly placed outside the gates in the so-called ‘food court’ which I didn’t even find til the second day, given the total lack of anything resembling signs. Read more »
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Privatization brings the rain?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 6:25am.
Anti-water privatization activists from all over Africa met today at the World Social Forum to launch a new African Water Network aimed at strengthening co-operation and co-ordinating efforts to ‘oppose water privatization in all its forms’; to work for a participatory model of public control over water; and to assert that water is a fundamental human right. Virginia Setshedi from the South African Coalition Against Water Privatization explained the significance of the event: ‘Today we celebrate the birth of this network to resist the theft of our water, tomorrow we will celebrate access to clean water for all!’ Read more »
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