A WOW! e-Brief

Work of Women program @ World Neighbors

February 2007

Introduction

Overview of the World Social Forum

World Neighbors at the World Social Forum

Learn More

We recommend the following as good resources for further learning on the subject of the World Social Forum.

 Photo by Anthony Barnett/OpenDemocracy.net

Kathambi Kinoti, The 2007 World Social Forum. Resource Net Friday File, Issue 310. Montreal: Association for Women’s Rights in Development, January 26, 2007.

Kinoti discusses some of the critiques of the forum and notes some of the accomplishments of the 2007 event.

 

Wikipedia – The Free Encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum

This online, free encyclopedia begun in 2001, in which entries are created collaboratively and are rarely finalized, has a good entry on the World Social Forum, providing some history and evolution.

 

Zarina Geloo, Gender Platform: Women’s Voice Was Strong and Clear. Nairobi: Terraviva, January 24, 2007.

http://www.ipsterraviva.net/TV/Nairobi/en/viewstory.asp?idnews=836

Geloo compares the 2007 Nairobi forum with previous World Social Forums and notes the greater presence of women and gender across the board.

 

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World Social Forum 2007

http://wsf2007.org/

http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=

These two Web sites are mainly used during the forum’s planning stages and to communicate logistical information. They provide some interesting information about how the forum is planned, as well as the events projected.

 

Although traditional press coverage of the 2007 World Social Forum was minimal, especially in English, the power of grassroots use of new technologies to share news and perspectives on the event was seen in full force. Blogs and videos posted to YouTube provide an excellent opportunity for outside observers to get a taste of events in Nairobi. A sample of very personal perspectives on the forum is provided below.

 

Eldis News Weblog

http://community.eldis.org/webx?14@755.paIGapQ0m32.0@.ee9593d!discloc=.eed41a1

Alyson Brody posted a blog entry worth reading on the British Eldis News Weblog, touching on critiques like the increased corporatization and the underrepresentation of attendees from developing countries.

 

Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative

http://www.realizingrights.org/pdf/WSF_2007_Weblog.pdf

Mary Robinson, founder of Realizing Rights, and former president of Ireland, as well as former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, provides a substantive blog while attending the World Social Forum.

http://www.realizingrights.org/pdf/World_Economic_Forum_2007_Weblog.pdf

After flying from Nairobi to Davos, Robinson then participates in the World Economic Forum, and blogs to point out a number of concerns, linking some of the issues to discussion and work done at the World Social Forum.

 

OpenDemocracy.net

http://womenwsf.wordpress.com/

Patricia Daniel, a lecturer at the Centre for International Development and Training of the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, blogged the World Social Forum from, in her words, “a woman’s perspective.”

 

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ActionAid International

http://www.actionaid.org/index.asp?page_id=1547

The international organization ActionAid posted daily updates during the forum, highlighting selections from the events they attended.

 

OpenDemocracy.net

http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-institutions_government/wsf_faces_4297.jsp

Anthony Barnett, founder and editor-in-chief of openDemocracy.net offers a thoughtful critique of the role of the World Social Forum, as well as links to their coverage of previous forums.

Google Video includes a video conclusion to the 2007 forum from Odour Ong’wen, a member of the organizing committee.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7913771768810331968

 

YouTube also offers a wealth of personal takes on the World Social Forum.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gANtmDFVeZA (noticiasnl)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhSeTLYdsMA (lokaalmondiaal)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c8CeEG65u0 (fundacionquepo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV9L30A1gM8 (aruntis)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5BbQqgrc1o (atilaroque)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-HrgacBbr4 (Nairobivlog)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LUxLMdmfzo (owukori)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3OQ1rrixko (pieroconzo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPEpFo2_uuY (COAnews)

 

Web TV provided good coverage of some of the issues discussed, interviews with movement and civil society leaders and events during the four days.

 

Civil Society TV

http://www.cs-tv.tv/tele.php?channel=wsf

This Web television group covers international events where civil society is active, including this year’s World Social Forum. It provides a day-by-day view, with interesting interviews in multiple languages.

 

World Social Forum TV

http://wsf.ifl.it/en/pages/home

Produced by the Italian Provencia Autonoma di Trento, this Web TV provides additional video of the forum’s events.

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For information on the International Feminist Dialogues, which were held in Nairobi prior to the opening of the World Social Forum, the following URL provides a program of events and some information on the proceedings:

 

International Feminist Dialogues

http://feministdialogues.isiswomen.org/

 

Finally, a paper by the national coordinator of the Kenya Social Forum, Onyango Oloo, which was presented in 2006, prior to the forum, describes some of the gender issues past forum have been criticized about, and recommends strategies to improve gender equality.

 

Onyango Oloo, “Gendering the WSF Process.” Paper presented at a public forum at Ufungamano House in Nairobi on Thursday, May 25, 2006.

http://wsf2007.org/calls/gendering-the-wsf-nairobi-2007-process-1

 

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