FW: GWENT PARTICIPANT LIST: Important information

[Erzsebet Szabo]

FYI,
Szabó Erzsébet

-----Original Message-----
From: wa2000-seoul at gn.apc.org [mailto:wa2000-seoul at gn.apc.org]On Behalf Of
palmieri at mire.net
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 1:27 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: GWENT PARTICIPANT LIST: Important information


Hi all,

I thought this information might find your interest.
I think it could be a good objective for the follow up of WA activities.

Let me know your feed back.

warmest
Joelle

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WORLD SOCIAL FORUM -- Porto Alegre, Brazil
The World Social Forum will be a new international arena for the
creation and exchange of social and economic projects that promote human
rights, socia l justice and sustainable development. It will take place
every year in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the same period
as the World Economic Forum, which happens in Davos, Switzerland, at the
end of January. Since 1971,  he World Economic Forum has played a key
role in formulating economic polici es throughout the world. It's
sponsored by a Swiss organization that serves as a consultant to the
United Nations and it's financed by more than one thous and corporations.
The World Social Forum will provide a space for building economic
alternatives, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening
South-Nort h alliances between NGOs, unions and social movements. It
will also be an opportunity for developing concrete projects, to educate
the public, and to mobilize civil society internationally. The World
Social Forum developed as a consequence of a growing international
movement that advocates for greate r participation of civil societies in
international financial institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World T rade Organization (WTO). For
decades, these institutions have been making deci sions that affect the
lives of people all over the world, without a clear syste m for
accountability and democratic participation.
Brazil is one of the countries that have been greatly affected by global
economic policies. At the same time, different sectors of Brazilian
socie ty are crating economic alternatives in rural and urban areas, in
shantytown s, factories, churches, schools, etc. The richness of
Brazilian grassroots organizations represents a source of inspiration
for the development of t he World Social Forum. The Brazilian Organizing
Committee is building allian ces with organizations in the Americas,
Africa, Asia and Europe to develop th e World Social Forum.
This will be a broad coalition of organizations working on issues such as
human rights, sustainable development, education, and environmental
protection. The World Social Forum will discuss topics such as:
building economic policies that promote human development;
creating international strategies for grassroots organizing;
building proposals to democratize international institutions, such as
the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank;
the influence of multinational corporations in local communities;
creating sustainable development proposals to eradicate poverty and
hunger, and to protect the environment;
organizing against gender and racial discrimination;
the protection and preservation of indigenous land and culture.
The World Social Forum will be a new international arena for the
creation and exchange of social and economic projects that promote human
rights, socia l justice and sustainable development. It will take place
every year in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the same period
as the World Economic For um, which happens in Davos, Switzerland, at
the end of January. Since 1971, The World Economic Forum has played a
key role in formulating economic polici es throughout the world. It's
sponsored by a Swiss organization that serves as a consultant to the
United Nations and it's financed by more than one thous and
corporations.
The World Social Forum will provide a space for building economic
alternatives, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening
South-Nort h alliances between NGOs, unions and social movements. It
will also be an opportunity for developing concrete projects, to educate
the public, and to mobilize civil society internationally. The World
Social Forum developed as a consequence of a growing international
movement that advocates for greate r participation of civil societies in
international financial institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World T rade Organization (WTO). For
decades, these institutions have been making deci sions that affect the
lives of people all over the world, without a clear syste m for
accountability and democratic participation.
Brazil is one of the countries that have been greatly affected by global
economic policies. At the same time, different sectors of Brazilian
socie ty are crating economic alternatives in rural and urban areas, in
shantytown s, factories, churches, schools, etc. The richness of
Brazilian grassroots organizations represents a source of inspiration
for the development of t he World Social Forum. The Brazilian Organizing
Committee is building allian ces with organizations in the Americas,
Africa, Asia and Europe to develop th e World Social Forum.
This will be a broad coalition of organizations working on issues such as
human rights, sustainable development, education, and environmental
protection. The World Social Forum will discuss topics such as:
building economic policies that promote human development;
creating international strategies for grassroots organizing;
building proposals to democratize international institutions, such as
the WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank;
the influence of multinational corporations in local communities;
creating sustainable development proposals to eradicate poverty and
hunger, and to protect the environment;
organizing against gender and racial discrimination;
the protection and preservation of indigenous land and culture.
World Social Forum Organizational Issues
1) The World Social Forum (WSF) will take place in Porto Alegre, Rio
Gran de do Sul state, Brazil, between January 25-30, 2001, the same
period in which the World Economic Forum occurs in Davos, Switzerland.
2) It will take place in the Events Center of the Catholic University of
Porto Alegre (PontifEDcia Universidade CatF3lica de Porto Alegre, PUC),
with the capacity for 2,500 people in a single auditorium. The PUC
Events Center i s a modern facility with up-to-date technological
resources. The Center also has several smaller auditoriums.
3) The WSF will consist of three types of activities: a) A series of
dail y plenary sessions with several invited speakers; b) presentations
of curre nt initiatives and exchange of experiences; c) meetings to
develop networks and to strengthen ties among groups that engage in
similar forms of organizat ion. The plenary sessions will be scheduled
by the organizers of the WSF in accordance with suggestions by
participants. The other meetings will be organized based on the
interests and requests of the participants.
4) The Events Center also has a large space for information tables and
ar t exhibits.
5) The International Committee of the World Social Forum will organize
it s first meeting between June 22 and 24, 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland
at the same time as the Social Summit of the United Nations' Copenhagen
+ 5, which wi ll bring together organizations and activists from all
over the world.
6) Our priorities until then will be:
To invite networks of NGOs, unions and social movements to form the
International Committee of the World Social Forum, with the
responsibilit y of organizing the event at the international level;
to establish topics for speeches and presentations to be given during
the WSF, in common agreement with the International Committee;
to invite speakers to the WSF;
to invite Brazilian organizations for the National Support Committee of
t he WSF;
7) The Brazilian Committee and the International Committee will be
respon sible for guaranteeing the presence of Third World organizations,
in particular from Africa, Asia and Latin America. We will establish
quotas for different se ctors and geographic areas.
8) Parallel events involving the WSF speakers can be organized in
coordination with the Brazilian Committee.
9) The World Social Forum is not a decision-making body. Participants,
however, can disseminate proposals and positions resulted from
organizing meetings.
10) At the Forum's closure, we will organize a large public event. We
will also evaluate our organizing process and make decisions for the
following year.