Concept Note

THE WORLD SOCIAL FORUM
DAKAR, SENEGAL, 6 – 11 FEBRUARY 2011 

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE

The WSF was born in 2001 at Porto Alegre (Brazil) and celebrated its tenth birthday recently on January last.  This tenth birthday was an opportunity to evaluate its progress up to this point, to analyse the movement’s achievements and weak points, and to consider the challenges to the World Social Forum in the light of the systemic crisis that is affecting the whole world, including its economic, environmental and political dimensions.

The World Forum in Africa will constitute a unique opportunity for global social movements to develop their critique of world capitalism in the light of the crisis, to achieve a better understanding of the new issues at work in today’s world, to prepare democratic and popular alternatives and to reflect on the future of the World Social Forum itself, as an open space.

This event will also be extremely important for African peoples. For them, it will constitute an unprecedented opportunity for collective democratic expression and will enable them to move towards a way out of the political, institutional and economic deadlock that has been imposed on them by their ruling classes, by the great powers, and by the international financial institutions.

After organising the polycentric Forum at Bamako in 2006 and the WSF at Nairobi in 2007, the Dakar Forum will be an opportunity to consolidate the achievements of the African social movements and the forces of progress on the continent and to compile a striking and visible record of their struggles and alternative solutions in the global search for a just world.

I - THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: crisis of capitalism and crisis of civilisation...
The 2011 Forum will be organised within a global context that has been marked by the growing discreditation of neoliberal ideology, symbolised above all by the international financial crisis and its consequences for the entire planet.  The financial and economic crisis was preceded by a world food crisis which added millions more to the already lengthy list of those who no longer have enough to eat, and by the energy crisis which has exposed the limits of a model that was founded on the pillage and wastage of non-renewable resources.  All these crises are a reflection of the last throes of capitalism and its hegemonic claims, which are caught up in a crisis of legitimacy that deepens with every day that passes. Nowadays, all the founding myths of capitalism are being challenged: the ‘free market’; ‘free trade’; the ‘self-regulating’ economy; the minimalist state; the ‘mastery’ of nature; the individual as the basis of society, and the marketisation of property that is held in common and of livelihoods...

In this context, climate change is but one indicator that reveals the depth of the crisis and the fundamental inability of the dominant modes of production and consumption to adapt. Furthermore, the failure of Copenhagen shows, if this were necessary, that the world is governed by a combination of force and injustice, and that certain economic and political forces are prepared to sacrifice the planet in order to safeguard their own interests.

However, the current crisis has a further dimension, one that is far more dramatic: the evocation of new threats, the maintenance of a permanent state of war, and the continuing violation of the rights of peoples to dispose of themselves.  A state of war as a strategy for emerging from this crisis, or simply as a means of sustaining a political and economic hegemony that is strongly challenged, is the ultimate aim of the great world powers, and one which they are pursuing instead of presenting alternatives to a system and a model that have run out of steam.

The crisis is accompanied by a systematic attrition of rights: the rights of workers, whose situation has grown extremely vulnerable; of migrants, who are being increasingly criminalised and are losing the protection due to them, and of women who pay a heavy price on the economic, social and cultural levels...

More and more social and intellectual movements round the world are interpreting this crisis, not simply as a financial crisis or a dysfunctional aspect of capitalism, but in more profound terms as a true crisis of civilisation, given the extent to which the very foundations of the dominant economic, social, environmental, cultural and political system have been challenged by a large section of humanity that views them as the source of the economic, social and political injustice in the world, and as the source of the damage that has been done to the earth.

Protests and resistance are no longer being directed simply at the economic system, but more broadly at the whole set of rules and values which have determined human relations for several centuries, and certainly since the fifteenth century, when capitalism first emerged and spread.

The forceful entrance of certain nations onto the international division of labour and the political management of the world, the ongoing de-colonisation process in Latin America and the struggles of autochthonous peoples, together with Africa’s aspirations to escape from its head-on confrontation with Europe and to control its own resources and decisions, could also be interpreted as calling into question the hegemonic order that has ruled the planet for several centuries.

Likewise, demands for climate justice, and furthermore, for environment justice, are simply ways of calling into question a system of production and consumption that has no future and is based on mankind’s predatory relationship with the environment.

The current world crisis has shown that humanity desperately needs to re-define fundamental aspects of the contract that binds its members together, and the nature of the essential bond between living beings and the earth.  In the same way, it reveals the fundamental limits of hegemonic values and dogmas that were imposed through violence, slavery and oppression in the course of many centuries.

II – CONTEXT FOR AFRICA
The WSF’s return to Africa is an expression of the international social movement’s powerful and active solidarity with the struggles and resistance engaged in by African social movements and peoples.

This return takes place within a significant political moment: on the one hand Africa is one of the last bastions of neo-liberal policies, as defined by the Washington Consensus, on the other hand, this continent is a place of confrontation between traditional hegemonic powers that seek to maintain their economic, political and military influence, and emergent powers in the Southern hemisphere.

Likewise, Africa is the place where the crisis has given rise to very severe economic and social hardship, and where global competition for raw materials has given rise to the bloodiest conflicts.

Thus, a challenge has been launched to indicate that the social movements are ready to confront the dominant model wherever the last bastions of neo-liberal policies persist.

One area of engagement for these movements is provided by the Economic Partnership Agreements that the European Union wishes to impose on the African continent. EPAs are ‘free-exchange’ agreements which contain grave threats to African economies. This is why the African social movements have responded with a dogged resistance that has contributed towards strengthening the opposition in some countries and to delaying the conclusion of negotiations in many regions. This opposition to the EPAs forms part of the general context of struggle against the neo-liberal policies that are advocated by the international financial institutions and the WTO, and for which the African continent has paid dearly.

The African ruling classes have generally been complicit in the fate that neoliberal economics and the hegemonic powers have inflicted on the continent.  They are also responsible for the state of civil liberties and for the institutional instability, as well as for the predatory economies that operate in just about the whole of Africa.

Elsewhere, everywhere in the world, old and recent Diasporas are asserting their particular cultural, political and affective ties with Africa, their land of origin.  Africans themselves are aware of the need to deepen their ties with these Diasporas.

For the Diasporas themselves, these ties are vital for recovering their identity and dignity, and for Africans, they belong fully to the continent, given that African union would be inconceivable, and the harmonious development of the continent could not be achieved without them.

 Movements that represent old and recent Diasporas will form an integral part of the 2011 WSF, and will be closely associated with all the organisational phases. The struggles that these Diasporas are engaged in to secure recognition of their rights and to fight racial and political discrimination are a litmus test for the state of the world, and they present mankind with essential alternatives.

Generally speaking, the struggles and resistance by the African social movement, together with the influence of the WSF, have succeeded in raising awareness, at the level of both ordinary citizens and political powers, about the need to put an end to the neo-colonial system and its dominant role, to take control of decision-making, to deepen civic liberties and to guarantee institutional stability so that Africa can grasp its destiny and explore another means of development, one that is proper to itself.  

Africa must put its mark on the 2011 WSF on several levels. To start with, the fundamental questions about the continent’s economic and social development, its security and its relations with the rest of the world, must be central to the Forum’s debates. In this context, the Forum must present a great opportunity to intensify the struggle against neo-liberal policies,  given that Africa illustrates one of the World Bank’s and the IMF’s greatest failures during three decades of intervention by them. Furthermore, since it is already the principal victim of capitalist globalisation, Africa runs the risk of shouldering the heaviest burden of the ‘solutions’ that the Western nations and the institutions they control are preparing in order to extricate themselves from the crisis of capitalism.

It is for these reasons, and others, that the African social movements must increase their resistance and efforts at mobilising against the neoliberal system as a whole. They must continue to discredit its ideology, its concepts and its values. They must contribute to aggravating its crisis of legitimacy and to consolidating the structural basis for the post-capitalist transformation.

In this respect, the African social movements have culture at their disposal, and can use it as a powerful weapon in their struggle against neoliberal ideology.  It is an instrument for promoting the conscientisation, and the social and political mobilisation, of their peoples.  Thus, the process of preparing and holding the 2011 WSF must present opportunities for mobilising the most talented and creative individuals in every cultural area; writers, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and among the Diaspora.  The WSF in 2011 must showcase one of the greatest cultural shows on the continent.

III – THE ‘SOUTHS’ AT THE 2011 WSF
The 2011 WSF will also lay considerable stress on South-South relations. Indeed, one of the striking features of the waning twentieth century has been the rise of the South as a major player on the world stage.

The last few years have seen some nations modify their positions in the international division of labour within the context of a new economic and political configuration, and a new extension of global capitalism. Thus, we can see how hundreds of millions of individuals in Asia, Latin America have enthusiastically adopted capitalist modes of production and consumption, and are increasingly claiming a larger share of the world’s wealth, and its economic opportunities.

Over and beyond the fact that by becoming economic powers they now form an important part of world capitalism, these new and visible nations are also ancient civilisations imbued with particular human experiences, cultures and world visions.  They are also powerful in demographic terms, and will surely bring about a greater mingling of the world’s populations than has ever been seen before.

However, this new development also conceals new economic, social and political inequalities that have arisen within these new nations, within the Southern Hemisphere and in the world.   It also harbours the risk of new conflicts, since neither the United States nor Europe will consent to the loss of the hegemony they have exercised over the planet for several centuries.

At the same time, the ties between Africa and the other regions of the South have been strengthened. Africa has even become a major stake in North-South relations, especially with regard to the acquisition of markets, access to natural resources and international political relations.

As with all major evolutions, it is difficult to grasp all the consequences for global economic and political relations. Some social movements hope that it will constitute a new ‘Bandung’ and present a new opportunity for removing the neoliberal and hegemonic deadweight which has governed the planet for the last few decades, especially the peoples of the South.

At the same time, though, the constitution of the G20 and its various meetings has given rise to fears of a real risk of marginalising those nations which are not members of the winner’s club, according to the dominant system. 

It is clear that this new and major development contains contrasting trends and that the social movements need to assess it, to ensure that it becomes a source of integration for all the nations of the world, and does not merely present global capitalism with a new opportunity to spread and regenerate itself.

Furthermore, these movements also need to re-think their associations, in order to develop new strengths and envisage new solidarities, and to develop communal ways of understanding the world and its new complexities.

 

IV – THE ORIENTATIONS OF THE 2011 WSF: Towards a new universality/new universalisms?

The 2011 WSF is being organised at a crucial moment for humankind and for all social movements that are dedicated to justice, liberty and solidarity. The orientations that have been chosen are only pointers, to make it easier to address all the crucial questions, and to favour convergences and the debate about alternatives.

1. To better understand the current crisis, not only as an economic and financial crisis but also as a crisis of civilisation and of the values and rules which have governed the planet for several centuries. By building on our experiences over the last 10 years, the Dakar Forum will also be a space in which the critique of capitalism can be developed and where the struggles and resistance against hegemony and oppression can be strengthened, while also laying the foundations for a transition to a more equitable post-capitalist world.

2. To understand recent geopolitical changes, both as components of the evolution of global capitalism itself, and as a claim by a considerable proportion of humanity to have a say in defining the rules of the game, and to inspire universal values.

3. In line with various social and solidarity movements, to contribute to rebuilding relations between humans, the environment and living beings on the basis of justice, solidarity and diversity, by giving precedence to groups and social categories which have suffered most from the dominant hegemonic model during the last five centuries, that they may have a voice. The  people involved are in particular, workers, peasants, diasporas, migrants, women, ‘native/autochthonous’ peoples,  peoples struggling for independence and groups struggling for economic, social and cultural rights and for gender equality.

4. To make visible and consolidate the struggles by social movements to be capable of confronting the new challenges thrown up by the unprecedentedly deep crisis, and to enable new convergences in these struggles and new solidarities to develop.

5. To enable a broad debate on the question of rights and values in the new global context with a view to opening up new ways for people to construct their rights and values for themselves and to prevent these from being subjected to systematic instrumentalization by hegemonic powers. This debate will also be an opportunity to state that universal norms are established by and for all the peoples on this planet.

6. To facilitate the expression and construction of democratic and popular alternatives, and to link them in convergences that will give them a real chance of success.

7. The 2011 WSF will assign a significant position to African and Diaspora movements, and to the expression of their aspirations and struggles.

While stressing the history of the resistance and struggles by African peoples against domination and oppression, the 2011 WSF will need to find a way of articulating the struggles and global strategies that are common to Africa, to the other nations of the South, and to the rest of the world.  

 

V – THE FORUM’S WORKING AXES

Thematic axes should make it possible for these movements to make themselves heard more easily, while ensuring the best convergences. Furthermore, they should enable the Forum space to be organised in a coherent way.

This first formulation of the axes was produced by the preparatory seminar that the WSF held in Dakar in July 2010.  It will be followed by an extensive international consultation process.

Axis 1: For a human society founded on common principles and values of dignity, diversity, justice, equality between all human beings, regardless of gender, cultures, age, disabilities, religious beliefs, health status, and for the elimination of all forms of oppression and discrimination based on racism, xenophobia, caste system, sexual orientation and others.

Axis 2: For an environmental justice, for a universal and sustainable access of humanity to common goods, for the preservation of the planet as source of life, and especially of land, water, seeds, forests, renewable energy sources and biodiversity, guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous, original, traditional, autochthonous, native, stateless, quilombola and riverain peoples and the rights on their territories, resources, languages, cultures, identities and knowledge.

Axis 3: For the applicability and effectivity of human rights – economic, social, cultural, environmental, civil and political rights, including children’s rights – particularly the rights to land, food sovereignty, food, social protection, health, education, housing, employment, decent work, communication, cultural and political expression.

Axis 4: For the freedom of movement and establishment of all, especially migrants and asylum-seekers, trafficked people, refugees, Indigenous, original, autochthonous, traditional and native peoples, minorities, for the respect of their civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.

Axis 5: For the inalienable right of people to the cultural patrimony of humanity, for the democratization of knowledge, cultures, communication and technologies, valuing common goods in order to make subjugated knowledge visible, for the ending of private and hegemonic knowledge, and for a fundamental changes of the system of intellectual property rights.

Axis 6: For a world freed from the principles and structures of capitalism, of patriarchal oppression, of all forms of domination from financial powers, transnational corporations and unequal systems of trade, neocolonial and debt domination.

Axis 7: For the construction of a social, solidarity and emancipatory economy, with sustainable modes of production and consumption and with a system of fair trade that puts an end to productivism and putting at the heart of its priorities the balance of all living beings, the fundamental needs of peoples and the respect for nature, ensuring systems of global redistribution with global taxes and with no tax havens, and for a mode of food production and consumption based on food sovereignty that resists the industrial model, the monopolization of land and the destruction of peasant seeds and local food markets.

Axis 8: For the construction and expansion of democratic, political and economic structures and institutions, at a local, national and international level, with the participation of the peoples in decision-making and in the control of public affairs and resources, respecting peoples’ diversity and dignity.

Axis 9: For the construction of a global order based on peace, justice and human security, the rule of law, ethics and sovereignty, condemning economic sanctions and for the self-determination of peoples, specially peoples under occupation and those in situation of war and conflict.

Axis 10: For the valuing of the skills, histories and struggles of Africa and the Diaspora and their contribution to humanity, and for the recognition of the violence of colonialism and neocolonialism.

Axis 11: For a collective reflection on social movements, on the World Social Forum process and on the perspectives and strategies for the future, guaranteeing their contribution to the effective achievement of another possible and urgent World for all.

Axis 12: For the inter-learning of alternative paradigms for the crisis of hegemonic civilization of modernity / Eurocentric coloniality, through decoloniality and socialization of power, especially in the relations between State-Market-Society; the collective rights of peoples, the decommodification of life and “development”; the emergence of alternative subjectivities and epistemologies for racism, Eurocentrism, patriarchy and anthropocentrism.

VI – OUR METHODOLOGY

The methodology that we have adopted has grown out of our achievements at the Nairobi and Belem Forums. It will combine respect for the open space principle with the search for convergences and themes that make an impact, which are the only things that will raise the WSF’s visibility in political terms.

The 2011 Forum will thus be organised as a cumulative process which will favour the search for convergences among the movements and the emergence of communal actions and alternatives, while continuing to grant extensive space to self-organised activities.

At the same time, just as happened in Belem during the Amazonian Day, a day will dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas, to be organised at the onset the Forum. 

Consequently, in conformity with the decisions taken at the last International Council in Mexico, the following stages will be adhered to: 

Day of 6 February 2011:       Organisation of the March
Day of 7 February 2011:       Day for Africa and the Diasporas
Day of 8 February 2011:       Self-organised activities
Day of 9 February 2011:       Self-organised activities
Day of 10 February 2011:     Convergences or thematic meetings
Day of 11 February 2011:     Continuation of the thematic convergences
                                              Global convergences 

1. The day of 7 February dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas will be organised by the Organising Committee.

2. The 2011 WSF will assign an extensive role to designated ‘marginalised’ groups, to give them an opportunity to make themselves heard, and to enrich the ranks of the WSF. In this respect, the criteria for assigning sites will keep this aim in mind, in order to reserve places at the centre of the entire site for these groups, and also to assign them the best working conditions.

3. As for activities sponsored by the Organising Committee, the African Council and the International Council, these will be directly supervised by these bodies, which will propose themes and speakers. These activities will take place under the form of plenary assemblies, workshops, and seminars. Various formats will be offered: proposed: debates; bearing witness; round tables; interviews; homage paying ceremonies, among others.

4. In addition, debates between intellectuals and African social movements will be organised.

5. Furthermore, special ceremonies will be organised to honour the memory of emblematic figures in Africa and the Disapora (political leaders, men & women of culture, of the sciences, etc.)

6. With a view to strengthening solidarity between African social movements and those of the Diaspora, seminars and round tables will be organised on an inclusive basis to tackle major themes, such as Reparation, Politics & Resistance, Relations between the Social Movements of the Diaspora, etc.

7. A major stake in the forthcoming Forum in Dakar will be the promotion of African and International cultures in the service of the liberation of expression and solidarity with peoples’ struggles.  Culture should no longer be simply a purveyor of folkloric entertainment but a real means of expression, communication and liberation. Thus, the preparation and the occasion of the WSF 2011 will an opportunity to mobilize the best talents and creative individuals in all cultural fields, authors, musicians, artists, painters, sculptors, film-makers, dancers and designers, both on the continent and beyond.  The WSF 2011 must present one of the greatest displays of culture on the continent.

Among the new ideas which the organisers would like to implement, we wish to include:

1. Establish a public open space where speech is free, where people can lead philosophical debates, political, recitals, poetry, plays, etc.. This is in memory of Alexandria in ancient Egypt, or Sankore in Timbuktu, time of the splendor of the Mali Empirefair for African products under the responsibility  of ROPPA

2. A fair for African products under the responsibility  of ROPPA

3. A space for children

4. A meeting place for the African Diaspora in the form of a giant decorated tent.

5. A permanent exhibition salon for historical individuals from Africa and the Diaspora.

6. Days devoted to solidarity with peoples fighting on various fronts (Palestine, Haiti, indigenous peoples / indigenous / first, etc..) 

7. Days dedicated to a number of categories (farmers; artists/creative people; women; young people; people with disability. 

    

Forums held in parallel :

Finally, the WSF 2011 will include the organization in parallel of various other forums :

The Science and democracy Forum  

The Liberation Theology Forum

The Trades Unions Forum

The World Assembly of Inhabitants

The Education Forum

The Progressive Publishers’ Forum  

The Local Authorities’ Forum

The Migrants’ Forum

The Caravan of Sport.

These Forums will be organised in an autonomous way by various international social movements, and will take place either prior to the WSF, or during the WSF. They will enable both the enrichment of the debates in the WSF and to increase participation and strengthen the convergences that the WSF will give rise to.

 

VII – THE PREPARATION PROCESS FOR WSF 2011 AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

As soon as the International Council had given the go-ahead at its meeting in May 2009 for the 2011 World Social Forum to be organised in Africa, in Senegal, an African and National consultation process was launched in a participatory spirit, to define the vision and organisational strategy of the 2011 WSF.

1- The Day of 7 February dedicated to Africa and the Diasporas will be organised by the Organising Committee. Its objectives are as follows:

a-    To prioritise African concerns and to share them with the social movements coming from the rest of the world.

b-    To make visible the struggles by African social movements, and the alternatives.

c-    To consolidate the solidarity between African social movements.

d-    To communicate with African Diasporas throughout the world and to provide them with extensive opportunities for self-expression, to ensure that their concerns are included in the Forum’s Agenda. 

Alliances have already been set up with Afro-Latino, American and Caribbean groups, to enable extensive participation by the Diasporas.

Similarly, an extensive mobilisation of networks that address the issue of migration is underway; to make sure this issue is massively represented during the Forum.

2- Among the major innovations of the 2011 Forum, the ‘Dakar extended’ initiative will enable movements and citizens around the world, who will not be able to attend in person, to participate in the Forum in a substantial way.  This involves setting up permanent links, using the new IT technologies, between Dakar and various movements in Latin America, Africa and Europe. 

Resources will be made available (rooms, computers, presenters…) to ensure the best conditions for carrying out this initiative.

3- Communication and Press Centre

3-1 A great deal of thought has been given to communications, both on the African and the International levels.

A meeting took place in July 2010 to determine a joint strategy at the African and International levels (see Annexe 1). The main elements of this strategy envisage:

-       Facilitating, prior to the Forum, a move to mobilise social movements, to enable them to express themselves, and to make their voices heard more clearly by the Medias.

-       Guaranteeing regional coverage of the WSF 1011 from the African perspective.

-       Encouraging the creation of a place for expression for the peoples during the Forum.

-       Contributing to setting up a memory process for African Social Movements and the WSF 2011 itself.  

-       Favouring cultural diversity in order to enable communication by all prior to and during the Forum (using national, African and international languages).

 

Within the context of implementing this strategy, Flamme d’Afrique écrit, audio et internet (Flame of Africa, the written word, audio and Internet) will be produced prior to and during the event.

The website has been up and running since July 2010 with a mixed team (national committee, African secretariat, and international secretariat) in place to develop it. 

Furthermore, we are working to set up a press centre in order to enable the big medias and the alternative medias to cover the Forum under the optimum technical and political conditions.

For the moment, we have secured about 350 computers from OXFAM Solidarity which will enable us to guarantee the on-site equipment. Finally, discussions are underway with a view to acquiring the necessary translation support.

3-2 Since the WSF is an ‘open space’ it must provide the means to secure the widest possible participation, especially of groups and organisations representing the most marginalised sectors of the population – in other words, the men and women who are exposed to the full onslaught of financial, economic, social and ecological crises.

From this point of view, the WSF’s linguistic diversity is a crucial aspect. To enable participants to express themselves in the language of their choice (and to listen to debates in the languages of their choice) is essential. The alternative is to restrict access to the WSF only to those activists who can speak several languages, and to contribute toward the disappearance of local and regional languages.

 

Thus, the regional linguistic wealth of sub-Saharan Africa, and of the continent as a whole, will be central to Dakar.  By relying on professional and committed networks of interpreters, the organising committee intends to open its debates to languages such as Wolof, Bambara, Dioula, Swahili, etc., as well as ensuring plenty of space for Arabic, rather than restricting access to the WSF to those who can speak French, English, Spanish or Portuguese.

 

This challenge also has a material dimension, since the interpretation equipment that is available on the market is expensive and unwieldy, and not suitable for re-use by the participants. So, the Dakar WSF will take steps to ensure the supply of equipment that has been produced for and by social forums. Thanks to the simple and open technological choices involved, interpretation should be available to all the participants.

 

4- Mobilisation and Participation: Both on the national, African and international levels, the mobilisation of social movements has reached an advanced stage.

 

4-1 At the national level, a Pilot Committee and 9 Commissions were set up to ensure a democratic and participative organisation. This National Committee includes more than 100 organisations and social movements. The Commissions are as follows: Content and Methodology, Mobilization, Women, Young people, Financial Resources, Communication, Culture, Logistics, and Security. These Commissions have met up several times and have defined more specific action plans.

After various discussions, it was decided to site the Forum at the University of Dakar (Cheikh Anta Diop University). Official meetings with the Rector have resulted in a formal agreement. The period allotted for holding the WSF 2011 is 6-11 February 2011. 

Similarly, official contacts have taken place with representatives of the Dakar State and City Hall. Facilities will be granted by various Ministries (Culture, Foreign Affairs, Interior Ministry), and by the local civic authorities.

Two Coordination Seminars took place between February and July 2010 at which the results of all the Commissions were pooled, and the sharing and appropriation of the principles of the WSF Charter were deepened.

Furthermore, the organisation of a Senegalese Social Forum will take place at the end of 1010, which will constitute a major stage in the local mobilisation process.

4-2 At the African level, mobilisation is also underway via the national and sub-national forums and the meetings of the African Council.

Two Council meetings of the African Social Forum were held in November 2009 and July 2010, at which the vision and aspects of mobilisation and the organisational strategy were discussed. An action plan was adopted for the mobilisation of Africa and the WSF Budget was approved, as was the Memorandum of Understanding which binds the African Secretariat to the local Organisation Committee.

They also enabled :

-       Setting up an African facilitation committee.
-       Setting up a Combined Secretariat (national, continental, South and international).
-       Launch of the mobilisation process by actor, and also by national and sub-national Forums in Africa.
-       Launch of the website.
-       Composing a shared concept note.
-       Endorsing the National Pilot Committee.
-       Discussing a strategy for assigning the organisation process at the African, national and international levels.

A mobilisation process, carried by the members of the African Council, has already been launched. Accordingly, Forums are planned for Nigeria (November 2010), Niger, Senegal, and South Africa.  A Forum for North Africa and the Maghreb, to prepare for Dakar, was held in February 2010.

Within same order of ideas and with a view to enabling extensive participation by movements on the continent, Caravans will be organised, especially for West Africa. These Caravans will set out from various countries and will provide opportunities for sharing the aims of the Forum with local populations.

These Caravans will also enable a considerable number of people to be involved, and will  extend the Form process and considerably reduce the costs of participating in it.

An African Mobilisation Council meeting will take place in November 2010 at which we will share the preparation process and refine our strategy for ensuring high African participation.  

4-3 At the international level : Two Sharing Seminars took place in November 2009 and July 2010 at Dakar. They enabled dialogue between the Commissions of the International Council and the National Pilot Committee about their vision and their organisational strategy. They also enabled the members of the International Council to be involved both in selecting the site for the Forum and in relations with local authorities. 

Several Social Forums or specific meetings by movements have been organised in various parts of the world and have included preparations for Dakar in their programmes: The Mexico Forum in May 2010, The United States Forum in June 2010 in Detroit, the CRID Summer University in Bordeaux, France, in July 2010…

Similarly, a sharing and validation meeting of the International Council took place in Mexico in May 2010.

Convergences are already underway to enable shared platforms involving African, Asian and Latin American movements. This is the case, for instance, with the movements of native people, including Afro-Asian and Afro-Latin America initiatives.  The same applies to movements that promote the rights of migrants.

Likewise, it has been agreed to combine the ecological movement which was at the heart of resistance efforts during the 2010 climate negotiations.

4-4 Towards Dakar :

The Health, Environment and Right to Land Forum is an International Forum to be held in Cairo on 23-6 October 2010.  

Forum on Education in Palestine : this World Forum proposes meetings between organisations and movements that engage with education. Given that it will be held in Palestine, the Forum on Education is an opportunity for all the social movements to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. Since we anticipate that the occupier will attempt to prevent this forum from taking place, the plan is to hold it in various places in Palestine and the Lebanon. It will take place on 28-30 October 2010.

Social Forum for Human Rights in the Maghreb : this Forum will take place at Nouakchott, in Mauritania, on 5-7 November 2010.

International Council of the World Social Forum: the main objective of this Council meeting will be to mobilise the various components of the World Social Movement and to endorse the preparatory process. It will take place in Dakar, on 9-11 November 2010.

International Seminar for sharing and reflection on the new international context and its implications for the world social movements and the alternatives that it presents. This Seminar will also enable a deeper engagement with the concepts and orientations that were prioritised for the organisation of the WSF 2011. It will take place on 9 November 2010, and will form an integral part of the International Council.

Council of the African Social Forum: this African Council meeting will enable the sharing of the preparatory process at continental level, to assess the progress of the organisation of the Dakar WSF and to mobilise the different components of the African social movements within the perspective of the 2011 WSF. It will take place on 8 November, in Dakar.

The Assembly of Social Movements : This meeting involves the social movements that constitute the Assembly of Social Movements. This movement forms an active part of the WSF. Its mission is to mobilise social movements around the world and to be a place where social struggles can be expressed throughout the world.

5- The Solidarity Fund : in order to guarantee participation by all in the WSF a Solidarity Fund has been set up to subsidise those men and women who cannot afford to travel to Dakar. This fund will be used primarily to subsidise movements in Africa, the Diaspora and the South. Of course, part of this fund is intended for national groups, especially marginalised groups, to enable them to take part in the WSF.

6- Registration of the activities and “agglutination process”: during the preparatory seminar in Dakar, a calendar was established for organising the process for registering the activities, the organisations, and individuals. It includes :

-          A registration questionnaire : this has already been compiled by a working group composed of members of the African Council, the National Committee and the International Council.
-          Setting up a financial procedure for establishing inscription costs and means of payment :

 

 

	Registration fee	Registration fee	Registration fee	Registration fee
	Organisations	Organisations	Additional Persons	Additinal Activities
	Five individuals	Five individuals	ans Single individuals	(maximum 5)
	Three activities	Without activities
	In euro	In euro	In euro	In euro
North	250	150	25	100
South (excluding Africa)	130	50	10	50
Africa (excluding Senegal)	50	25	5	20
SENEGAL
Associations	20	10	2	10
Students and Young People			0,5
Members of the Popular Classes			0,25

 

-         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting up registration webpages : these were installed by the group in charge of the website (African Secretariat, International Secretariat and National Communication Committee).
Registration transactions will start after the next meeting of the International Council, at the beginning of November 2010.

The collection of African and International registration fees will be effected via a bank account opened with the Banca Etica in Italy. The collection of national registration fees will be effected via the WSF account held by the National Organisation Committee.

7- Organisation of the WSF 2011 site:
7-1 The accessibility of the Forum site will be guaranteed for all citizens and all organisations. The registration fees have been determined in such a way that no one can be excluded on account of inadequate resources.

7-2 In conformity with the guidelines for organising the WSF, the WSF at Dakar will be conducted in such a way as to respect the principles of sustainability and justice.
Catering services will be provided by groups from the popular economic classes, by involving groups of farmers and fishermen, who will supply local produce. International brands of drinks will be banned from the WSF site. 
The catering service and the provision of water will take care to minimise the use of non bio-degradable waste materials. The waste materials will be gathered up and recycled by groups of ‘recuperators’ who also work in the Dakar waste collection service.

THE BUDGET FOR THE FORUM AND MANAGEMENT
The Budget of the WSF 2011 has been determined by the Financial Commission of the National Organisation Committee and by the Secretariat of the African Social Forum. It has been approved by the African Council and the National Committee.
The Budget has been worked out to take account of the needs of the process at the African and National level, while keeping the Southern dimension in mind.

A Memorandum of Understanding that sets out the roles and responsibilities of the African and National levels has been approved by African Council and the National Committee (See Annexe 2). It has been signed by the parties that give it legal value: ENDA Tiers –Monde for the African level and CONGAD for the National level.  

These two entities have been mandated to sign contracts with financial partners in conformity with their specific roles as set out in the Memorandum of Understanding.

The Finance Commission is composed of four organisations and coordinated by the Secretariat of the African Social Forum and will ensure the transparent execution of the Budget and provide the necessary arbitration services.

The financial audit will take place at the end of the Forum to assure the movements that take part and the Forum partners that the use of resources conformed to the rules of accounting  and the rules of transparency.