UN Chief Adds Final Note to Upbeat World Social Forum
by Ruby van der Wekken

Published on Wednesday, February 6, 2002 by OneWorld.net

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan brought the second World Social
Forum (WSF) to a close Tuesday, following six days of heated debate among
50,000 activists and rights groups gathered to hammer out proposals for
economic policies that help close widening gaps between the world's rich
and poor nations.

"You have come together to voice deep concerns and convictions about the
direction in which globalization is taking our world and about what we
should do to remedy it...I respect wholeheartedly your commitment," said
Annan in a message to the forum which pledged to air these concerns among
business leaders and government officials attending the World Economic
Forum, held in New York at the same time as the WSF.

The WSF--which took place in the Southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre,
renowned for its innovative ways of managing its own public
finances--reached its conclusion amid widespread satisfaction that it had
built on recommendations made last year to work towards international
adoption of tighter
regulations on cross-border currency flows and on efforts by powerful
companies to extend
patents to cover living organisms.

British and Belgian academics won backing for a proposed treaty on global
currency transactions
which would levy a tax on currency markets to raise as much as US$300
billion in poverty-alleviation funds each year, if set within the proposed
range of between 10 and 25 cents per US$100 traded. And hundreds of
nongovernmental groups from more than 50 countries announced their support
for a treaty that would oppose the extension of intellectual property
rights to cover biological life.

After grappling with the an array of demands for peace and justice in the
wake of the post-September 11 "war on terrorism," Brazilian state
government officials, trade unionists, and rights activists signed up to a
declaration which stated that a world without war could be achieved if
finances were channeled into meeting the basic needs of impoverished people
around the world.

"A world without war will be a world without hegemonies, a
world with a democratized
world power, supported by regional integration processes,
expressing the interests of
humanity's great majority," according to the statement 'For
a World Without Wars.'

Delegates from Africa and Asia also reaffirmed the
important role of the WSF in amplifying
the voices of those who are often ignored by major
international forums, such as the World
Economic Forum, which attract closer media coverage.

"The WSF is a source of strength to those countries where
the movement is still trying to
build itself up," said Aasim Saijaad Akthar, from the
People's Rights Movements in
Pakistan. "It is a chance to tell the stories and exchange
experiences of people who suffer
from repression by highly authoritarian states."

However, Akthar pointed to low numbers of WSF delegates
from Asia and Africa as a
downside of the forum.

"Due to this under-representation, analysis on the specific
issues of our continents and
nations are sometimes...shallow. This is a serious
shortcoming for us," said Akthar

In an effort to increase the mix of delegates from outside
Europe and the Americas, the
WSF will be moved to India in 2004, although the 2003
gathering will again be in Porto
Alegre, which was the venue for the inaugural WSF last year.

In addition, delegates plan to set up regional meetings
throughout the year, including an
Asia-Africa World Social Forum in Kathmandu, Nepal, and a
Peace Forum in Jerusalem.

Copyright © 2002 OneWorld.net.