*{ http://www.attac.org/geneve2000/textes/doc/fsmen.htm 16 aout 2002 World Social Forum - ES - PT - FR WORLD SOCIAL FORUM fsm2001@uol.com.br Porto Alegre, Brazil January 25-30, 2001 } The World Social Forum will be a new international arena for organizing against neoliberal policies and for building economic alternatives that prioritize social justice. 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, The World Economic Forum has played a key role in formulating neoliberal policies 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 thousand corporations. The World Social Forum will provide a space for building economic alternatives, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening South-North alliances between NGOs, unions and social movements. It will also be an opportunity for developing concrete actions, to educate the public, and to mobilize civil society internationally. The World Social Forum developed as a consequence of a growing international movement that has gained greater visibility since the mobilizations against the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI), which happened in Europe in 1998, the demonstrations in Seattle, during the WTO meeting in 1999, and the recent protests against the IMF and the World Bank in Washington, DC, among others. For decades, these international financial institutions have been making decisions that affect the lives of people all over the world, without being subject to any sort of democratic control. People in Third World countries, as well as the poor and excluded sectors of industrialized countries suffer the devastating effects of economic globalization and the dictatorship of international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO and the governments that serve their interests. We need to continue pressuring these institutions to be accountable to our societies. Similarly, our governments must be made aware that this oversight will be exercised with increasing intensity over their actions. Many of us have struggled in our own countries, regions, or cities, thinking that we were isolated. Recently, we have begun to realize that together we can constitute a planetary archipelago of resistance. The World Social Forum represents a new opportunity toward the construction of an international counter-power. Brazil is one the countries that has been greatly affected by neoliberal policies. At the same time, different sectors of Brazilian society are resisting these policies, in rural and urban areas, in shantytowns, factories, political parties, churches, schools, etc. The richness of Brazilian grassroots organizations represents a source of inspiration for the development of the World Social Forum. The Brazilian Organizing Committee invites international networks of NGOs, unions and social movements to help us build the World Social Forum. We hope to receive support from organizations in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe with a commitment to contribute with this organizing process and to send delegations to Porto Alegre in January. We are asking for a special commitment from organizations in the First World to help funding delegations from their partner organizations in Third World countries, in order to guarantee diversity within the World Social Forum. The World Social Forum will represent a historic moment for organizing and social change. Let's build it together! Brazilian Organizing Committee: The Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (Associação Brasileira de Organizações Não Governamentais, ABONG) Action for the Taxation of International Financial Transaction in Support of Citizens (Ação pela Tributação das Transações Financeiras em Apoio aos Cidadãos, ATTAC-BR) The Brazilian Commission of Justice and Peace (Comissão Brasileira de Justiça e Paz) CIVES - Brazilian Association of Businesses for Citizenry The Central Union Federation (Central Única dos Trabalhadores, CUT) IBASE - Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis Global Justice Center (Centro de Justiça Global) The Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) - Organizational Issues Regarding the World Social Forum 1) The World Social Forum (WSF) will take place in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, from 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 (Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Porto Alegre, PUC), with the capacity for 2,500 people in a single auditorium. The PUC Events Center is 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 daily plenary sessions with several invited speakers; b) presentations of current initiatives and exchange of experiences; c) strategy meetings to develop networks and to strengthen ties among groups that engage in similar forms of organization. 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 art exhibits. 5) The Rio Grande do Sul state government and the Porto Alegre city government (both are Workers Party administrations) officially support the World Social Forum. 6) The International Committee of the World Social Forum will organize its first meeting on June 24, 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland at the same time as the Social Summit of the United Nations' Copenhagen + 5, which will bring together organizations and activists from all over the world. 7) 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 responsibility 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 prepare the first meeting of the International Committee in Geneva, Switzerland. - to invite Brazilian organizations for the National Support Committee of the WSF; - to organize logistical issues, such as the communications systems, in conjunction with the support committee in Porto Alegre, 7) We expect to attract 2,500 representatives of NGOs, unions and social movements, as well as elected representatives. Participants must be registered by their organizations. We will establish quotas for different sectors and geographic areas. 8) The Brazilian Committee and the International Committee will be responsible for guaranteeing the presence of Third World organizations, in particular from Africa, Asia and Latin America. 9) Parallel events involving the WSF speakers can be organized in coordination with the Brazilian Committee. 10) The World Social Forum is not a decision-making body. Participants, however, can disseminate proposals and positions resulted from organizing meetings. 11) 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. *{ To get involved or to request further information, please write to: fsm2001@uol.com.br Carlos Tibúrcio (ATTAC-BR / GTNM-SP) tiburcio@uol.com.br }