CALL FOR GENDER FOCUS, WOMEN'S
ISSUES, ADVOCACY, ACTIONS
THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM
DAKAR, SENEGAL, 6 – 11
FEBRUARY 2011
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE
The WSF was born in 2001 at Porto Alegre
(Brazil) and celebrated its tenth birthday recently on January last. This
tenth birthday was an opportunity to evaluate its progress up to this point, to
analyse the movement’s achievements and weak points, and to consider the
challenges to the World Social Forum in the light of the systemic crisis that
is affecting the whole world, including its economic, environmental and
political dimensions.
The World Forum in Africa will constitute a
unique opportunity for global social movements to develop their critique of
world capitalism in the light of the crisis, to achieve a better understanding
of the new issues at work in today’s world, to prepare democratic and popular
alternatives and to reflect on the future of the World Social Forum itself, as
an open space.
This event will also be extremely important
for African peoples. For them, it will constitute an unprecedented opportunity
for collective democratic expression and will enable them to move towards a way
out of the political, institutional and economic deadlock that has been imposed
on them by their ruling classes, by the great powers, and by the international
financial institutions.
After organising the polycentric Forum at
Bamako in 2006 and the WSF at Nairobi in 2007, the Dakar Forum will be an
opportunity to consolidate the achievements of the African social movements and
the forces of progress on the continent and to compile a striking and visible
record of their struggles and alternative solutions in the global search for a
just world.
I - THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: crisis of capitalism
and crisis of civilisation...
The 2011 Forum will be organised within a
global context that has been marked by the growing discreditation of neoliberal
ideology, symbolised above all by the international financial crisis and its
consequences for the entire planet. The financial and economic crisis was
preceded by a world food crisis which added millions more to the already
lengthy list of those who no longer have enough to eat, and by the energy
crisis which has exposed the limits of a model that was founded on the pillage
and wastage of non-renewable resources. All these crises are a reflection
of the last throes of capitalism and its hegemonic claims, which are caught up
in a crisis of legitimacy that deepens with every day that passes. Nowadays,
all the founding myths of capitalism are being challenged: the ‘free market’;
‘free trade’; the ‘self-regulating’ economy; the minimalist state; the
‘mastery’ of nature; the individual as the basis of society, and the
marketisation of property that is held in common and of livelihoods...
In this context, climate change is but one
indicator that reveals the depth of the crisis and the fundamental inability of
the dominant modes of production and consumption to adapt. Furthermore, the
failure of Copenhagen shows, if this were necessary, that the world is governed
by a combination of force and injustice, and that certain economic and
political forces are prepared to sacrifice the planet in order to safeguard
their own interests.
However, the current crisis has a further
dimension, one that is far more dramatic: the evocation of new threats, the
maintenance of a permanent state of war, and the continuing violation of the
rights of peoples to dispose of themselves. A state of war as a strategy
for emerging from this crisis, or simply as a means of sustaining a political
and economic hegemony that is strongly challenged, is the ultimate aim of the
great world powers, and one which they are pursuing instead of presenting
alternatives to a system and a model that have run out of steam.
The crisis is accompanied by a systematic
attrition of rights: the rights of workers, whose situation has grown extremely
vulnerable; of migrants, who are being increasingly criminalised and are losing
the protection due to them, and of women who pay a heavy price on the economic,
social and cultural levels...
More and more social and intellectual
movements round the world are interpreting this crisis, not simply as a financial
crisis or a dysfunctional aspect of capitalism, but in more profound terms as a
true crisis of civilisation, given the extent to which the very foundations of
the dominant economic, social, environmental, cultural and political system
have been challenged by a large section of humanity that views them as the
source of the economic, social and political injustice in the world, and as the
source of the damage that has been done to the earth.
Protests and resistance are no longer being
directed simply at the economic system, but more broadly at the whole set of
rules and values which have determined human relations for several centuries,
and certainly since the fifteenth century, when capitalism first emerged and
spread.
The forceful entrance of certain nations onto
the international division of labour and the political management of the world,
the ongoing de-colonisation process in Latin America and the struggles of
autochthonous peoples, together with Africa’s aspirations to escape from its
head-on confrontation with Europe and to control its own resources and
decisions, could also be interpreted as calling into question the hegemonic
order that has ruled the planet for several centuries.
Likewise, demands for climate justice, and
furthermore, for environment justice, are simply ways of calling into question
a system of production and consumption that has no future and is based on
mankind’s predatory relationship with the environment.
The current world crisis has shown that
humanity desperately needs to re-define fundamental aspects of the contract
that binds its members together, and the nature of the essential bond between
living beings and the earth. In the same way, it reveals the fundamental
limits of hegemonic values and dogmas that were imposed through violence,
slavery and oppression in the course of many centuries.
II – CONTEXT FOR AFRICA
The WSF’s return to Africa is an expression of
the international social movement’s powerful and active solidarity with the
struggles and resistance engaged in by African social movements and peoples.
This return takes place within a significant
political moment: on the one hand Africa is one of the last bastions of
neo-liberal policies, as defined by the Washington Consensus, on the other
hand, this continent is a place of confrontation between traditional hegemonic
powers that seek to maintain their economic, political and military influence,
and emergent powers in the Southern hemisphere.
Likewise, Africa is the place where the
crisis has given rise to very severe economic and social hardship, and where
global competition for raw materials has given rise to the bloodiest conflicts.
Thus, a challenge has been launched to
indicate that the social movements are ready to confront the dominant model
wherever the last bastions of neo-liberal policies persist.
One area of engagement for these movements is
provided by the Economic Partnership Agreements that the European Union wishes
to impose on the African continent. EPAs are ‘free-exchange’ agreements which
contain grave threats to African economies. This is why the African social
movements have responded with a dogged resistance that has contributed towards
strengthening the opposition in some countries and to delaying the conclusion
of negotiations in many regions. This opposition to the EPAs forms part of the
general context of struggle against the neo-liberal policies that are advocated
by the international financial institutions and the WTO, and for which the
African continent has paid dearly.
The African ruling classes have generally
been complicit in the fate that neoliberal economics and the hegemonic powers
have inflicted on the continent. They are also responsible for the state
of civil liberties and for the institutional instability, as well as for the
predatory economies that operate in just about the whole of Africa.
Elsewhere, everywhere in the world, old and
recent Diasporas are asserting their particular cultural, political and
affective ties with Africa, their land of origin. Africans themselves are
aware of the need to deepen their ties with these Diasporas.
For the Diasporas themselves, these ties are
vital for recovering their identity and dignity, and for Africans, they belong
fully to the continent, given that African union would be inconceivable, and
the harmonious development of the continent could not be achieved without them.
Movements that represent old and recent
Diasporas will form an integral part of the 2011 WSF, and will be closely
associated with all the organisational phases. The struggles that these
Diasporas are engaged in to secure recognition of their rights and to fight
racial and political discrimination are a litmus test for the state of the
world, and they present mankind with essential alternatives.
Generally speaking, the struggles and
resistance by the African social movement, together with the influence of the
WSF, have succeeded in raising awareness, at the level of both ordinary
citizens and political powers, about the need to put an end to the neo-colonial
system and its dominant role, to take control of decision-making, to deepen
civic liberties and to guarantee institutional stability so that Africa can
grasp its destiny and explore another means of development, one that is proper
to itself.
Africa must put its mark on the 2011 WSF on
several levels. To start with, the fundamental questions about the continent’s
economic and social development, its security and its relations with the rest
of the world, must be central to the Forum’s debates. In this context, the
Forum must present a great opportunity to intensify the struggle against
neo-liberal policies, given that Africa illustrates one of the World
Bank’s and the IMF’s greatest failures during three decades of intervention by
them. Furthermore, since it is already the principal victim of capitalist
globalisation, Africa runs the risk of shouldering the heaviest burden of the
‘solutions’ that the Western nations and the institutions they control are preparing
in order to extricate themselves from the crisis of capitalism.
It is for these reasons, and others, that the
African social movements must increase their resistance and efforts at
mobilising against the neoliberal system as a whole. They must continue to
discredit its ideology, its concepts and its values. They must contribute to
aggravating its crisis of legitimacy and to consolidating the structural basis
for the post-capitalist transformation.
In this respect, the African social movements
have culture at their disposal, and can use it as a powerful weapon in their
struggle against neoliberal ideology. It is an instrument for promoting
the conscientisation, and the social and political mobilisation, of their
peoples. Thus, the process of preparing and holding the 2011 WSF must
present opportunities for mobilising the most talented and creative individuals
in every cultural area; writers, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors,
filmmakers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and among the Diaspora.
The WSF in 2011 must showcase one of the greatest cultural shows on the
continent.
III – THE ‘SOUTHS’ AT THE 2011 WSF
The 2011 WSF will also lay considerable
stress on South-South relations. Indeed, one of the striking features of the
waning twentieth century has been the rise of the South as a major player on
the world stage.
The last few years have seen some nations
modify their positions in the international division of labour within the
context of a new economic and political configuration, and a new extension of
global capitalism. Thus, we can see how hundreds of millions of individuals in
Asia, Latin America have enthusiastically adopted capitalist modes of
production and consumption, and are increasingly claiming a larger share of the
world’s wealth, and its economic opportunities.
Over and beyond the fact that by becoming
economic powers they now form an important part of world capitalism, these new
and visible nations are also ancient civilisations imbued with particular human
experiences, cultures and world visions. They are also powerful in
demographic terms, and will surely bring about a greater mingling of the
world’s populations than has ever been seen before.
However, this new development also conceals
new economic, social and political inequalities that have arisen within these
new nations, within the Southern Hemisphere and in the world. It
also harbours the risk of new conflicts, since neither the United States nor
Europe will consent to the loss of the hegemony they have exercised over the
planet for several centuries.
At the same time, the ties between Africa and
the other regions of the South have been strengthened. Africa has even become a
major stake in North-South relations, especially with regard to the acquisition
of markets, access to natural resources and international political relations.
As with all major evolutions, it is difficult
to grasp all the consequences for global economic and political relations. Some
social movements hope that it will constitute a new ‘Bandung’ and present a new
opportunity for removing the neoliberal and hegemonic deadweight which has
governed the planet for the last few decades, especially the peoples of the
South.
At the same time, though, the constitution of
the G20 and its various meetings has given rise to fears of a real risk of
marginalising those nations which are not members of the winner’s club,
according to the dominant system.
It is clear that this new and major
development contains contrasting trends and that the social movements need to
assess it, to ensure that it becomes a source of integration for all the
nations of the world, and does not merely present global capitalism with a new
opportunity to spread and regenerate itself.
Furthermore, these movements also need to re-think
their associations, in order to develop new strengths and envisage new
solidarities, and to develop communal ways of understanding the world and its
new complexities.
IV
– THE ORIENTATIONS OF THE 2011 WSF: Towards a new universality/new universalisms?
The 2011 WSF is being organised at a crucial
moment for humankind and for all social movements that are dedicated to
justice, liberty and solidarity. The orientations that have been chosen are
only pointers, to make it easier to address all the crucial questions, and to
favour convergences and the debate about alternatives.
1.
To better
understand the current crisis, not only as an economic and financial crisis but
also as a crisis of civilisation and of the values and rules which have
governed the planet for several centuries. By building on our experiences over
the last 10 years, the Dakar Forum will also be a space in which the critique
of capitalism can be developed and where the struggles and resistance against
hegemony and oppression can be strengthened, while also laying the foundations
for a transition to a more equitable post-capitalist world.
2.
To
understand recent geopolitical changes, both as components of the evolution of
global capitalism itself, and as a claim by a considerable proportion of
humanity to have a say in defining the rules of the game, and to inspire
universal values.
3.
In line with
various social and solidarity movements, to contribute to rebuilding relations
between humans, the environment and living beings on the basis of justice,
solidarity and diversity, by giving precedence to groups and social categories
which have suffered most from the dominant hegemonic model during the last five
centuries, that they may have a voice. The people involved are in
particular, workers, peasants, diasporas, migrants, women,
‘native/autochthonous’ peoples, peoples struggling for independence and
groups struggling for economic, social and cultural rights and for gender
equality.
4.
To make
visible and consolidate the struggles by social movements to be capable of
confronting the new challenges thrown up by the unprecedentedly deep crisis,
and to enable new convergences in these struggles and new solidarities to
develop.
5.
To enable a
broad debate on the question of rights and values in the new global context
with a view to opening up new ways for people to construct their rights and
values for themselves and to prevent these from being subjected to systematic
instrumentalization by hegemonic powers. This debate will also be an
opportunity to state that universal norms are established by and for all the
peoples on this planet.
6.
To
facilitate the expression and construction of democratic and popular
alternatives, and to link them in convergences that will give them a real
chance of success.
7.
The 2011 WSF
will assign a significant position to African and Diaspora movements, and to
the expression of their aspirations and struggles.
While stressing the history of the resistance
and struggles by African peoples against domination and oppression, the 2011
WSF will need to find a way of articulating the struggles and global strategies
that are common to Africa, to the other nations of the South, and to the rest
of the world.
V – THE FORUM’S WORKING AXES
Thematic axes should make it possible for
these movements to make themselves heard more easily, while ensuring the best
convergences. Furthermore, they should enable the Forum space to be organised
in a coherent way.
This first formulation of the axes was
produced by the preparatory seminar that the WSF held in Dakar in July
2010. It will be followed by an extensive international consultation
process.
Axis 1: For a human society founded on common principles and
values of dignity, diversity, justice, equality between all human beings,
regardless of gender, cultures, age, disabilities, religious beliefs, health
status, and for the elimination of all forms of oppression and discrimination
based on racism, xenophobia, caste system, sexual orientation and others.
Axis 2:
For an environmental justice, for a universal and sustainable access of
humanity to common goods, for the preservation of the planet as source of life,
and especially of land, water, seeds, forests, renewable energy sources and
biodiversity, guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous, original, traditional,
autochthonous, native, stateless, quilombola and riverain peoples and the
rights on their territories, resources, languages, cultures, identities and
knowledge.
Axis 3:
For the applicability and effectivity of human rights – economic, social,
cultural, environmental, civil and political rights, including children’s
rights – particularly the rights to land, food sovereignty, food, social
protection, health, education, housing, employment, decent work, communication,
cultural and political expression.
Axis 4:
For the freedom of movement and establishment of all, especially migrants and
asylum-seekers, trafficked people, refugees, Indigenous, original,
autochthonous, traditional and native peoples, minorities, for the respect of
their civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.
Axis 5:
For the inalienable right of people to the cultural patrimony of humanity, for
the democratization of knowledge, cultures, communication and technologies,
valuing common goods in order to make subjugated knowledge visible, for the
ending of private and hegemonic knowledge, and for a fundamental changes of the
system of intellectual property rights.
Axis 6:
For a world freed from the principles and structures of capitalism, of
patriarchal oppression, of all forms of domination from financial powers,
transnational corporations and unequal systems of trade, neocolonial and debt
domination.
Axis 7:
For the construction of a social, solidarity and emancipatory economy, with
sustainable modes of production and consumption and with a system of fair trade
that puts an end to productivism and putting at the heart of its priorities the
balance of all living beings, the fundamental needs of peoples and the respect
for nature, ensuring systems of global redistribution with global taxes and
with no tax havens, and for a mode of food production and consumption based on
food sovereignty that resists the industrial model, the monopolization of land
and the destruction of peasant seeds and local food markets.
Axis 8:
For the construction and expansion of democratic, political and economic
structures and institutions, at a local, national and international level, with
the participation of the peoples in decision-making and in the control of
public affairs and resources, respecting peoples’ diversity and dignity.
Axis 9:
For the construction of a global order based on peace, justice and human
security, the rule of law, ethics and sovereignty, condemning economic
sanctions and for the self-determination of peoples, specially peoples under
occupation and those in situation of war and conflict.
Axis 10:
For the valuing of the skills, histories and struggles of Africa and the
Diaspora and their contribution to humanity, and for the recognition of the
violence of colonialism and neocolonialism.
Axis 11:
For a collective reflection on social movements, on the World Social Forum
process and on the perspectives and strategies for the future, guaranteeing
their contribution to the effective achievement of another possible and urgent
World for all.
Axis 12:
For the inter-learning of alternative paradigms for the crisis of hegemonic
civilization of modernity / Eurocentric coloniality, through decoloniality and
socialization of power, especially in the relations between
State-Market-Society; the collective rights of peoples, the decommodification
of life and “development”; the emergence of alternative subjectivities and
epistemologies for racism, Eurocentrism, patriarchy and anthropocentrism.
VI – OUR METHODOLOGY
The methodology that we have adopted has
grown out of our achievements at the Nairobi and Belem Forums. It will combine
respect for the open space principle with the search for convergences and
themes that make an impact, which are the only things that will raise the WSF’s
visibility in political terms.
The 2011 Forum will thus be organised as a
cumulative process which will favour the search for convergences among the
movements and the emergence of communal actions and alternatives, while
continuing to grant extensive space to self-organised activities.
At the same time, just as happened in Belem
during the Amazonian Day, a day will dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas, to
be organised at the onset the Forum.
Consequently, in conformity with the
decisions taken at the last International Council in Mexico, the following
stages will be adhered to:
Day of 6 February 2011:
Organisation of the March
Day of 7 February 2011:
Day for Africa and the Diasporas
Day of 8 February 2011:
Self-organised activities
Day of 9 February 2011:
Self-organised activities
Day of 10 February 2011:
Convergences or thematic meetings
Day of 11 February 2011:
Continuation of the thematic convergences
Global convergences
1.
The day of 7
February dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas will be organised by the
Organising Committee.
2.
The 2011 WSF
will assign an extensive role to designated ‘marginalised’ groups, to give them
an opportunity to make themselves heard, and to enrich the ranks of the WSF. In
this respect, the criteria for assigning sites will keep this aim in mind, in
order to reserve places at the centre of the entire site for these groups, and
also to assign them the best working conditions.
3.
As for
activities sponsored by the Organising Committee, the African Council and the
International Council, these will be directly supervised by these bodies, which
will propose themes and speakers. These activities will take place under the
form of plenary assemblies, workshops, and seminars. Various formats will be
offered: proposed: debates; bearing witness; round tables; interviews; homage
paying ceremonies, among others.
4.
In addition,
debates between intellectuals and African social movements will be organised.
5.
Furthermore,
special ceremonies will be organised to honour the memory of emblematic figures
in Africa and the Disapora (political leaders, men & women of culture, of
the sciences, etc.)
6.
With a view
to strengthening solidarity between African social movements and those of the
Diaspora, seminars and round tables will be organised on an inclusive basis to
tackle major themes, such as Reparation, Politics & Resistance, Relations
between the Social Movements of the Diaspora, etc.
7.
A major
stake in the forthcoming Forum in Dakar will be the promotion of African and
International cultures in the service of the liberation of expression and
solidarity with peoples’ struggles. Culture should no longer be simply a
purveyor of folkloric entertainment but a real means of expression,
communication and liberation. Thus, the preparation and the occasion of the WSF
2011 will an opportunity to mobilize the best talents and creative individuals
in all cultural fields, authors, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors,
film-makers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and beyond. The
WSF 2011 must present one of the greatest displays of culture on the continent.
Among the new ideas which the organisers
would like to implement, we wish to include:
1.
Establish a
public open space where speech is free, where people can lead philosophical
debates, political, recitals, poetry, plays, etc.. This is in memory of
Alexandria in ancient Egypt, or Sankore in Timbuktu, time of the splendor of the
Mali Empirefair for African products under the responsibility of ROPPA
2.
A fair for
African products under the responsibility of ROPPA
3.
A space for
children
4.
A meeting
place for the African Diaspora in the form of a giant decorated tent.
5.
A permanent
exhibition salon for historical individuals from Africa and the Diaspora.
6.
Days devoted
to solidarity with peoples fighting on various fronts (Palestine, Haiti,
indigenous peoples / indigenous / first, etc..)
7.
Days
dedicated to a number of categories (farmers; artists/creative people; women;
young people; people with disability.
Forums held in parallel :
Finally, the WSF 2011 will include the
organization in parallel of various other forums :
The Science and
democracy Forum
The Liberation Theology
Forum
The Trades Unions Forum
The World Assembly of
Inhabitants
The Education Forum
The Progressive
Publishers’ Forum
The Local Authorities’
Forum
The Migrants’ Forum
The Caravan of Sport.
These Forums will be organised in an
autonomous way by various international social movements, and will take place
either prior to the WSF, or during the WSF. They will enable both the
enrichment of the debates in the WSF and to increase participation and
strengthen the convergences that the WSF will give rise to.
VII – THE PREPARATION PROCESS FOR WSF 2011
AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION
As soon as the International Council had
given the go-ahead at its meeting in May 2009 for the 2011 World Social Forum
to be organised in Africa, in Senegal, an African and National consultation
process was launched in a participatory spirit, to define the vision and
organisational strategy of the 2011 WSF.
1- The Day of 7 February dedicated to Africa
and the Diasporas will be organised by the Organising Committee. Its objectives
are as follows:
a- To prioritise African
concerns and to share them with the social movements coming from the rest of
the world.
b- To make visible the
struggles by African social movements, and the alternatives.
c- To consolidate the
solidarity between African social movements.
d- To communicate with
African Diasporas throughout the world and to provide them with extensive
opportunities for self-expression, to ensure that their concerns are included
in the Forum’s Agenda.
Alliances have already been set up with
Afro-Latino, American and Caribbean groups, to enable extensive participation
by the Diasporas.
Similarly, an extensive mobilisation of
networks that address the issue of migration is underway; to make sure this
issue is massively represented during the Forum.
2- Among the major innovations of the 2011
Forum, the ‘Dakar extended’ initiative will enable movements and citizens
around the world, who will not be able to attend in person, to participate in
the Forum in a substantial way. This involves setting up permanent links,
using the new IT technologies, between Dakar and various movements in Latin
America, Africa and Europe.
Resources will be made available (rooms,
computers, presenters…) to ensure the best conditions for carrying out this
initiative.
3- Communication and Press Centre
3-1 A great deal of thought has been given to
communications, both on the African and the International levels.
A meeting took place in July 2010 to
determine a joint strategy at the African and International levels (see Annexe
1). The main elements of this strategy envisage:
-
Facilitating, prior to the Forum, a move to mobilise social movements, to
enable them to express themselves, and to make their voices heard more clearly
by the Medias.
- Guaranteeing
regional coverage of the WSF 1011 from the African perspective.
-
Encouraging the creation of a place for expression for the peoples during the
Forum.
-
Contributing to setting up a memory process for African Social Movements and
the WSF 2011 itself.
-
Favouring cultural diversity in order to enable communication by all prior to
and during the Forum (using national, African and international languages).
Within the context of implementing this
strategy, Flamme d’Afrique écrit, audio et internet (Flame of Africa, the
written word, audio and Internet) will be produced prior to and during the
event.
The website has been up and running since
July 2010 with a mixed team (national committee, African secretariat, and
international secretariat) in place to develop it.
Furthermore, we are working to set up a press
centre in order to enable the big medias and the alternative medias to cover
the Forum under the optimum technical and political conditions.
For the moment, we have secured about 350
computers from OXFAM Solidarity which will enable us to guarantee the on-site
equipment. Finally, discussions are underway with a view to acquiring the
necessary translation support.
3-2 Since the WSF is an ‘open space’ it must
provide the means to secure the widest possible participation, especially of
groups and organisations representing the most marginalised sectors of the
population – in other words, the men and women who are exposed to the full
onslaught of financial, economic, social and ecological crises.
From this point of view, the WSF’s linguistic diversity is a crucial aspect. To
enable participants to express themselves in the language of their choice (and
to listen to debates in the languages of their choice) is essential. The alternative
is to restrict access to the WSF only to those activists who can speak several
languages, and to contribute toward the disappearance of local and regional
languages.
Thus, the regional linguistic wealth of
sub-Saharan Africa, and of the continent as a whole, will be central to
Dakar. By relying on professional and committed networks of interpreters,
the organising committee intends to open its debates to languages such as
Wolof, Bambara, Dioula, Swahili, etc., as well as ensuring plenty of space for
Arabic, rather than restricting access to the WSF to those who can speak
French, English, Spanish or Portuguese.
This challenge also has a material dimension,
since the interpretation equipment that is available on the market is expensive
and unwieldy, and not suitable for re-use by the participants. So, the Dakar
WSF will take steps to ensure the supply of equipment that has been produced
for and by social forums. Thanks to the simple and open technological choices
involved, interpretation should be available to all the participants.
4- Mobilisation and Participation: Both
on the national, African and international levels, the mobilisation of social
movements has reached an advanced stage.
4-1 At the national level, a Pilot Committee
and 9 Commissions were set up to ensure a democratic and participative
organisation. This National Committee includes more than 100 organisations and
social movements. The Commissions are as follows: Content and Methodology,
Mobilization, Women, Young people, Financial Resources, Communication, Culture,
Logistics, and Security. These Commissions have met up several times and have
defined more specific action plans.
After various discussions, it was decided to
site the Forum at the University of Dakar (Cheikh Anta Diop University).
Official meetings with the Rector have resulted in a formal agreement. The
period allotted for holding the WSF 2011 is 6-11 February 2011.
Similarly, official contacts have taken place
with representatives of the Dakar State and City Hall. Facilities will be
granted by various Ministries (Culture, Foreign Affairs, Interior Ministry),
and by the local civic authorities.
Two Coordination Seminars took place between
February and July 2010 at which the results of all the Commissions were pooled,
and the sharing and appropriation of the principles of the WSF Charter were
deepened.
Furthermore, the organisation of a Senegalese
Social Forum will take place at the end of 1010, which will constitute a major
stage in the local mobilisation process.
4-2 At the African level, mobilisation is
also underway via the national and sub-national forums and the meetings of the
African Council.
Two Council meetings of the African Social
Forum were held in November 2009 and July 2010, at which the vision and aspects
of mobilisation and the organisational strategy were discussed. An action plan
was adopted for the mobilisation of Africa and the WSF Budget was approved, as
was the Memorandum of Understanding which binds the African Secretariat to the
local Organisation Committee.
They also enabled :
- Setting
up an African facilitation committee.
- Setting up a Combined Secretariat
(national, continental, South and international).
- Launch of the mobilisation process by
actor, and also by national and sub-national Forums in Africa.
- Launch of the website.
- Composing a shared concept note.
- Endorsing the National Pilot Committee.
- Discussing a strategy for assigning the
organisation process at the African, national and international levels.
A mobilisation process, carried by the
members of the African Council, has already been launched. Accordingly, Forums
are planned for Nigeria (November 2010), Niger, Senegal, and South
Africa. A Forum for North Africa and the Maghreb, to prepare for Dakar,
was held in February 2010.
Within same order of ideas and with a view to
enabling extensive participation by movements on the continent, Caravans will
be organised, especially for West Africa. These Caravans will set out from
various countries and will provide opportunities for sharing the aims of the
Forum with local populations.
These Caravans will also enable a
considerable number of people to be involved, and will extend the Form
process and considerably reduce the costs of participating in it.
An African Mobilisation Council meeting will
take place in November 2010 at which we will share the preparation process and
refine our strategy for ensuring high African participation.
4-3 At the international level : Two Sharing
Seminars took place in November 2009 and July 2010 at Dakar. They enabled
dialogue between the Commissions of the International Council and the National
Pilot Committee about their vision and their organisational strategy. They also
enabled the members of the International Council to be involved both in
selecting the site for the Forum and in relations with local authorities.
Several Social Forums or specific meetings by
movements have been organised in various parts of the world and have included preparations
for Dakar in their programmes: The Mexico Forum in May 2010, The United States
Forum in June 2010 in Detroit, the CRID Summer University in Bordeaux, France,
in July 2010…
Similarly, a sharing and validation meeting
of the International Council took place in Mexico in May 2010.
Convergences are already underway to enable
shared platforms involving African, Asian and Latin American movements. This is
the case, for instance, with the movements of native people, including
Afro-Asian and Afro-Latin America initiatives. The same applies to
movements that promote the rights of migrants.
Likewise, it has been agreed to combine the
ecological movement which was at the heart of resistance efforts during the
2010 climate negotiations.
4-4 Towards Dakar :
The Health, Environment and Right to Land
Forum is an International Forum to be held in Cairo on 23-6 October 2010.
Forum on Education in Palestine : this
World Forum proposes meetings between organisations and movements that engage
with education. Given that it will be held in Palestine, the Forum on Education
is an opportunity for all the social movements to show solidarity with the
Palestinian people. Since we anticipate that the occupier will attempt to
prevent this forum from taking place, the plan is to hold it in various places
in Palestine and the Lebanon. It will take place on 28-30 October 2010.
Social Forum for Human Rights in the
Maghreb : this Forum will take place at Nouakchott, in Mauritania, on 5-7
November 2010.
International Council of the World Social
Forum: the main objective of this Council meeting will be to mobilise the
various components of the World Social Movement and to endorse the preparatory
process. It will take place in Dakar, on 9-11 November 2010.
International Seminar for sharing and
reflection on the new international context and its implications for the world
social movements and the alternatives that it presents. This Seminar will also
enable a deeper engagement with the concepts and orientations that were
prioritised for the organisation of the WSF 2011. It will take place on 9
November 2010, and will form an integral part of the International Council.
Council of the African Social Forum: this
African Council meeting will enable the sharing of the preparatory process at
continental level, to assess the progress of the organisation of the Dakar WSF
and to mobilise the different components of the African social movements within
the perspective of the 2011 WSF. It will take place on 8 November, in Dakar.
The Assembly of Social Movements : This
meeting involves the social movements that constitute the Assembly of Social
Movements. This movement forms an active part of the WSF. Its mission is to
mobilise social movements around the world and to be a place where social struggles
can be expressed throughout the world.
5- The Solidarity Fund : in order to
guarantee participation by all in the WSF a Solidarity Fund has been set up to
subsidise those men and women who cannot afford to travel to Dakar. This fund
will be used primarily to subsidise movements in Africa, the Diaspora and the
South. Of course, part of this fund is intended for national groups, especially
marginalised groups, to enable them to take part in the WSF.