Friday 11 January 2008
At the end of January 2008, thousands of people all over the world will march, speak, celebrate, and dialogue in villages, rural zones, and urban centres, in the context of hundreds of decentralized self-organized actions. They will mobilize over a one-week period, culminating in a Global Day of Mobilisation and Action on the 26 January 2008 to show that another world is possible.
At the same time, the ‘old’ world will meet in Davos for the World Economic Forum, bringing together its economists, experts, ideologies and techniques that produce violence, exploitation, exclusion, poverty, hunger and ecological disaster, depriving people of human rights and our Earth of its resources.
The World Social Forum (WSF) is an open space where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organisations come together to raise issues, debate ideas, formulate proposals, share experiences, and build networks for effective action. With all the richness of their plurality and diversity, they still struggle against the neo-liberalism, war, colonialism, racism and patriarchy that deprive people of human rights.
World Social Forums have taken place at the end of January at different sites throughout the world every year for the past seven years, and this spirit of diversity is reflected in the activities planned for the Global Day of Mobilisation and Action in 2008. The website www.wsf2008.net is the main connection tool for all participants.
In preparation for the WSF Global Day of Action, WACC calls on its members and on communicators throughout the world to advance and strengthen communication rights!
Journalists, photographers, video-makers, writers, radio or other media producers can join the alternative media coverage of WSF 2008 to build the story of this global journey towards a better world. Participants in actions can use the WSF website to inform the world about their activities.
And communicators can look for stories about communication rights failures and successes and contact organisers and participants to set up media coverage or to increasing awareness by uploading articles, pictures, audio or video files, relating the events of the Global Day of Action.
Report by Philip Lee, Deputy Director of Programmes, WACC