It’s all systems go as Nairobi gears up for World Social Forum

An estimated 100,000 social activists are expected to converge in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi for the World Social Forum which officially begins today saturday, January 20. The WSF will be officially open at a public rally in Nairobi’s Uhuru Park at 2pm (Kenya time). The official opening will be preceded by a peace march expected to draw thousands of participants. It kicks off from Uhuru park and ends in Kibera—Africa’s most populous slum.

The World Social Forum which runs for the next five days ending January 25th will be held at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, located 14 kms from Nairobi’s central business district. Numerous tents have been set up at the complex to serve as meeting venues for an average 200 seminars and events expected to be convened every day throughout the event.

The theme of the five-day convocation is Peoples Struggles, People’s Alternatives. The WSF, which was first convened in 1998, has become an important signpost for social mobilisation and resistance against neo-liberalism and a strong platform for advocating alternative models of development which affirm equity and respect for people’s rights.

Key themes due to be discussed at the Nairobi event include free trade agreements, HIV and AIDS, peace and security, women’s rights, social mobilisation among others. Some of the participants expected at the WSF include former South African president Nelson Mandela, his Zambian counterpart Kenneth Kaunda and nobel laureates Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai.

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