This year the World Social Forum brought the world to Africa as activists, social movements, networks, coalitions and other progressive forces from all corners of the globe converged on Nairobi, Kenya for five days of cultural resistance and celebration.
20th - 25th Jan Nairobi, Kenya

Nessa Ní Chasaide's report from the World Social Forum 2007

Day 1 - Saturday 20th January 2007

The World Social Forum Comes to Africa!

The World Social Forum 2007 kicked off today in an energetic and inspiring mixture of events. This year is a major precedent for the WSF as it has come for the first time to Africa, to Nairobi, Kenya. The African cultural vibe was felt throughout all of the days events in a unique moment for African activists, and for all of us, who long to see the liberation of this continent.

Marching From Kibera

The day started early, in Kibera - one of the largest slums in Kenya, and unfortunately, in Africa today. Masses of activists gathered to march to the main park in Nairobi city - Uhuru Park (Freedom Park) - for the opening ceremony of the WSF. We were a huge, eclectic group with representatives from all over the globe. It was fantastic to see, meet, and talk with so many other groups - Kenya Land Alliance, the Anti-War Coalition in the UK, Kenya Women's Guild, Anti-privatisation Forum South Africa, religious congregations, amongst many others. One of the notable groups receiving loads of greetings and messages of solidarity were the Iraqi activists in particular.

Kenyan activists were out in force, especially women, marching with signs demanding free education for their children, access to anti-retroviral medicines, free and clean water, peace in their communities and freedom from debts. Activists fighting for shelter as a basic right chanted the slogan 'homeless but not hopeless'.

Activists in Kenya are currently facing an uphill struggle against their own government, and all the foreign governments and institutions controlling their future. However, there was a sense of some small progress amongst us as we marched, with grudging support from the Kenyan police along the way, who in previous political eras have violently suppressed public dissent.

Many of the Kenyans of Kibera joined in. Some stood with a look a puzzlement at the colourful and noisy scene - a strong reminder of the urgent need to expand political participation beyond the realm of privileged groups of people.

Uhuru Park

We converged on Uhuru Park and were treated to African music and dancing (whole hearted participation was a must). The crowd were addressed by social movement leaders from each continent stressing messages of unity, solidarity and determination in our struggles. The African and African American Women who were leading the facilitation of the occasion provided a strong and principled message of racial and gender equality. Particularly strong messages from African activists was the need to politicise African struggles, and relationships with the North, away from charitable perspectives, to exposing the relationship of abuse between African countries and enriched countries.

The keynote speech was given by ex-Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda. (Some of us were puzzled at the absence of Bishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson who spoke at parallel events at the same time). Kaunda communicated some important messages, especially regarding African relations with the World Bank and IMF and the need for Southern unity in the face of manipulation from these institutions.

WSF at Kasarani, Nairobi

The 2007 WSF began in earnest today as hundreds of meetings were held simultaneously at the huge Kasarani Sports Stadium outside of Nairobi. The venue itself, while not as close to the city centre as delegates would like, is an ideal size and layout for the forum. The organisers have surrounded the stadium with hundreds of tented booths for groups to set up stalls and share their literature. The meetings themselves are held in the bleachers of the stadium which have been covered in and divided up to cater for a myriad of groups discussing a mind boggling range of issues.
As the discussions take place, vibrant musical and dance performances are also taking place all over the venue.

Getting down to business….

The key meetings today for the debt cancellation movement were: an intensive session on the three interlinked issues of illegitimate debts, responsible lending and debt and conditionality; and a major discussion on a proposed campaign to demand that governments cut their funding to the World Bank.

The Debates …..

- Illegitimate Debts & Responsible Finance

We held a session on defining our understanding of illegitimate debts. There was consensus around what constitutes specific examples of illegitimate debts (like loans for dodgy projects and loans given to illegitimate governments). Norwegian Church Aid differentiated between loans which are clearly illegitimate and loans which may potentially be illegitimate and require further investigation.

Jubilee Latin America was brilliant in stressing the importance of talking of 'systems of illegitimacy' to our publics so that we do not describe the issue only in financial terms but as rooted in perpetuating the historical power relations between North and South.

There was much consensus in the responsible finance discussion around the need for transparent contractual agreements based on clear principles of mutual responsibility. The need for clear differentiation between contractual agreements and conditionalities was also stressed. A Jubilee South activist from India stressed that better standards of lending should be pursued by civil society activists through demanding critical examination from governments on the source of funds, their terms and conditions and who will be the arbiter in the case of non-repayment.

Again, the strength of the Southern analysis was apparent as Marcus Arruda from Jubilee Brazil explained the need for questioning the 'logic of over-indebtedness' in the first place, by mapping out how the financial institutions have historically constructed the concept of debt as a legitimate form of development finance.

- Debts and Conditionality

The discussion on conditionality focused on exposing the fundamental problem that creditors assume that it is their right and role to dictate conditions to impoverished countries. The topic of whether conditions can ever be 'positive' was discussed at length. This a critical area of concern, especially for Southern movements who feel that Northern activists have compromised far too much on this issue. The issue relates to whether campaigners should support the imposition of conditions by donors or creditors relating to anti-corruption or human rights standards in the South. Alexandro from the debt cancellation movement in Nicaragua presented the argument that this question must always be tackled on the principle of Southern countries fundamental right to self-determination. He pointed out that a condition can never be positive, only negative, due to its imposed nature. Jubilee Latin America presented a crucial challenge to Northern groups to deepen our education approaches at home so that we cultivate an form of activism which accommodates a more political and deeper analysis and that is clear on our role in respect to Southern movements.

- What to do with the World Bank…..?

On day 2 of the forum activists working on World Bank reform held a lengthy discussion on how to approach our campaigning against the World Bank. Central to the discussion was the recent decision of the UK government to temporarily delay disbursement of some funding to the World Bank in September 2006. The UK campaign groups have built on this by demanding further funding cuts to UK contributions to the World Bank.

This was a critical discussion as it focused on what future we actually see for this institution. The debate focused on the potential impact of proposing withdrawal of funds from the World Bank - would this hurt African countries who are key recipients of concessional funding from the International Development Agency (IDA) arm of the World Bank for example? Martin Gordon of Christian Aid stressed that the UK call for cutting of funding to the Bank is not demanding an overall cut in aid, but a re-channelling of aid. Charles Abugre from Christian Aid added that this debate raises more crucial questions about building campaigns which challenge aid dependency and open up debate on alternative sources of finance from within the South. Lidy Nacpil, co-ordinator of Jubilee South argued that South countries may need to be prepared to suffer in the short term (i.e. - be prepared for reductions in the funding they receive from the Bank) in order to achieve more strategic political goals regarding the Bank's disempowerment.

Leading lights from Southern struggles such as South Africa based Patrick Bond and anti-apartheid veteran Dennis Brutus also highlighted previous campaigns against the Bank such as the 'World Bank Bonds Boycott' and called for a re-engagement with this type of approach, of involving people in the North and South in ensuring that personal finance, such as pensions, are not invested in the World Bank Group.

Debt cancellation campaigners rounded off the day with a solidarity night of music and poetry hosted by Jubilee South.

The Issue of Inclusion - Is the WSF a Forum for the Rich?

Some frustrations had become very apparent before the first day due to the decision of the WSF to charge Euro 5 per Kenyan for entry to the forum. This is out of reach for the majority of Kenyans, in addition to the transport costs of getting to the venue. So grassroots groups protested about this yesterday - many of whom had planned to bring hundreds of their people to the forum. Some groups decided to plan parallel events in public places in town that would be more accessible to people on very limited incomes. The problem has been compounded by the provision of mostly highly priced food at the forum. A demonstration was held outside the main restaurant demanding reductions in food prices to cater for all participants. The question of how inclusive the WSF really is will certainly need further reflection in the future.

- Shrink or Sink the IMF ….

Part of our Day 3 focused on discussing the current crisis within the IMF in terms of its role (the devastating impact of its policies in the South) and its current financial crisis (due to many South countries now clearing their debts owed to the IMF in advance). Much discussion was held regarding the motivation of South countries on this issue which is not fully clear, or necessarily coherent, and the way in which Southern countries are repaying their IMF loans (sometimes resulting in greater indebtedness depending on where the funds are sourced to frontload the repayments). Further mapping out of this discussion was agreed. We also acknowledged that the 10th anniversary of the Asian financial crisis this year provides an important moment to expand on our analysis and plans.

Day 4 of the forum was the final chance for meetings and discussions. I managed to briefly attend some meetings covering issues other than debt and IFIs - on trade and feminist movement building - in addition to final planning with the debt networks.

Feminist Movement Building ….

Feminists from all around the world used the opportunity of the WSF to hold a 'Feminist Dialogues' conference in advance of the WSF.
(Reports can be found at: http://feministdialogue.isiswomen.org). The co-ordinating group for the Feminist Dialogues held a planning session on day 4 of the WSF, in order to pull some of these discussions together into plans for the year. I imagine that more concrete plans were formulated at a subsequent meeting in addition to the one I attended. The key themes prioritised by the group included:

• Action against neo-liberal globalisation, highlighting the need to fight corporate control over women's bodies, labour power and sexualities.
  
  
• Action on democracy building, calling for equal political representation of women in political movements and formal electoral politics (through supporting of women candidates).
  
  
• Action against militarization, war and violence against women. The group resolved to ensure stronger feminist participation in the global anti-war movement and to support one another in context specific struggles against sexual violence, female genital mutilation practices, amongst others.

For more information in Ireland on how to get involved in linking feminist struggles in the North and South you can contact Banulacht at www.banulacht.org.

Stop the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)!

Activists campaigning against the proposed Economic Partnership Agreements were very visible and vocal through out the period of the WSF. The EPAs are proposed trade agreements between the European Union and African Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP). The agreements are based on the principle of 'reciprocity' requiring ACP countries to open their markets to duty free and tariff free goods from Europe. Trade justice activists are arguing that the EPAs will have disastrous impacts on producers, consumers, women and governments in the ACP countries. This is because of anticipated losses of producers' livelihoods due to increased competition, higher costs of consumer goods, loss of government funds for social supports, resulting in increased pressure on women especially, and a destruction of African regional integration projects that African governments have been building over decades.

Third World Network Africa held a session to explain what is wrong with the EPAs and to discuss the progress of the campaign against them. The key points in the discussion included highlighting of tactical demands which include: rejecting the timetable of the negotiations which is too rushed; calling for impact studies to highlight the implications of EPAs; rejecting the expansion of the discussion to include non-trade issues or the co-called 'Singapore issues' in the negotiations (ie - investment, competition, procurement and 'trade facilitation' issues).

TWN activists stressed that while it is important to highlight these demands, the fundamental aim of the campaign is to achieve a complete stop to the EPAs negotiations. A TWN activist stressed that if we can't stop EPAs outright, once the agreements come into being, the focus will move to domestic mobilisations in the South which will aim to block the approval of EPAs in the respective parliaments of the ACP countries. He argued, causing much applause from the group, 'For us there is no ambiguity. We must stop EPAs. The degree of progress in the negotiations does not legitimise the EPAs. We intend to stop EPAs in their tracks.'

Yao Graham from TWN argued that the 'Stop EPAs' campaign had highlighted serious difficulties that the global campaign is experiencing due to the many issues involved in the negotiations and the lack of a culture of sustained 'sign on'/ 'petition type' campaigns in places like Ghana (in Ghana, he said, campaigns tend to have high points of mobilisations over short time periods and then a lull in activity). He stressed that mass based organisations such as the churches could be very helpful to the campaign in this respect.

Yao also highlighted that a big problem has been the fragmentation of the message of the campaign, through some organisations arguing for a stop to the negotiations, and others (mainly larger organisations), focusing on calling for 'alternatives' to EPAs. He argued that those calling for alternatives should first put their energies into the halting of the negotiations. He called for a strategic focus on certain African countries (such as Nigeria, South Africa) who, if they take a more critical stance, may affect the wider position of the continent on EPAs.

During the period of the forum the anti-EPAs campaigners marched from Uhuru Park to the offices of the European Commission. The head of the mission addressed the crowd stating that EPAs are pro-development and pro- African integration (!). The papers here reported that he was virtually drowned out due to heckling of the activists.

For more information on how to get involved in campaigning against EPAs in Ireland you can contact Comhlamh www.comhlamh.org.

Proposals coming from the WSF '07

The principles of the WSF state that it functions as an 'open space' for dialogue and joint planning between activists. Therefore, the WSF is not supposed to issue political statements or conclusions related to the discussions held during the WSF period. The WSF secretariat instead arranged for sessions on the final day to be held so that activists could propose our own conclusions, in groups or individually. There were 21 different sessions held on crucial structural issues such as water, women, land, debt, trade, etc…

To prepare for this, the debt networks worked together in the evenings to propose a draft declaration and joint actions for 2007. At two public sessions, this document was discussed and adjusted based on the debate. The declaration highlights the progress of the campaign against illegitimate debts. It highlights the historical context of the debt as the starting point for analysis - ie: that South countries are the creditors and not the North. Joint actions are called for including: a week of action on debt from 15th Oct - 21st Oct 07; a global focus on carrying out debt audits; proposed initiatives to achieve parliamentarians support, among others. The full text will be available from our website in the next few days. So keep in touch with us to see how you can be involved in putting the plans into practice!

Cultural Resistance …

It is important to note that brilliant cultural activities were held throughout the forum. Poets, Musicians, film makers, photographers, dancers from all over the globe performed and met and discussed the role of art in justice struggles. Very memorable, was poet Dennis Brutus, reading his poetry invoking the ghosts of all the great anti-apartheid fighters like Steve Biko. He encouraged us to 'listen' to their howls of anger at the new global apartheid (which he literally voiced on their behalf inviting the audience to participate).

Overall Reflections on the WSF '07 …….

Attending the WSF 07 has been a fascinating experience. The key lesson which I will take out of it is to strive to contextualise our work on debt cancellation within wider historical analyses of power imbalances between North and South, and the importance of rooting our work ever more strongly in activist orientated / bottom up approaches.

I was struck by Brazilian Marcus Arruda's comment that 'there are many horizons of struggle'. Often, in Ireland, we can become stuck at one level of quite narrow policy debates with politically powerful people. The need for comprehensive and fundamental transformation of North-South social and economic relationships is just not on the table for discussion with these groups.

This may be causing us, as activists, to narrow our own analysis accordingly. This may be dangerous in the longer term to building more critical constituencies in Ireland who are working for fundamental changes in North-South relationships.

From the debt perspective a lesson I take away from the WSF is the importance for us to work on greater articulation among activists of the historical injustice of the debt, in understanding debt as a tool of domination, and exploring the issue of reparations more concretely, which seems to be little discussed in the North, but yet is so strongly felt by our Southern counterparts.

This 'bigger' analysis is not easy to articulate to the powerful (our ministers and the WB / IMF), not least because the reparations argument, for example, suffers from the difficulty of pinning down who is responsible for a myriad of abuses within complex global power relationships. However, I think it is important to strengthen these debates among ourselves and then fit our more medium term strategies within this wider kind of analysis and planning. There were examples all over the WSF of groups who are combining this kind of 'big picture' analysis, with bottom-up, self-organised action.

On the negative side of the WSF, some of the practical elements of the forum have given cause for discomfort. The exclusion of slum dwellers and rural poor people due to the high costs of getting here (even from Nairobi and from within Kenya), and entry fees, has been very problematic. This is a scandal as the WSF is meant to be a space for the powerless and dispossessed to unify their struggles, along with support and solidarity from those of us who are not suffering directly to the same degree. Instead, it was easy for the rich groups to participate in the WSF but impossible for some of the poor.

On another practical issue, the debt movement utilised the opportunity to hold several meetings each day which was very useful for our ongoing work. However, due to this it was also difficult to find time to delve into other issues beyond debt and IFIs (but obviously linked to these issues) in a substantive way.

I also imagine that individuals attending the WSF who do not belong to any specific networks may find the experience overwhelming or alienating. It would have been useful to have had a number of facilitated and well publicised reflection sessions on the process before the end of the WSF.

This is my final update as the WSF will close today in Uhuru park.

Nessa

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You can visit the World Social Forum 2007 website at: www.wsf2007.org