Dear Friends,
Greetings from Bangkok.
Attached is a letter of invitation from the Central Unica dos
Trabalalhadores (CUT) Brazil inviting trade unions to join the World
Social Forum in Porto Alegre Brazil in January 2001.
We have been asked to help disseminate the invitation to trade unions
and workers organisations in Asia. Unfortunately, our networks are
not very good in the labour sector, so we would be really grateful for your
help in spreading the word.
If you would like more information about the WSF, their website is
www.worldsocialforum.org.
We think that Porto Alegre could be a very important moment for
building international solidarity for social justice and peoples
democracy and we hope that the workers from Asia will be well
represented.
Thanks for your help.
in solidarity,
Nicola Bullard
Focus on the Global South (FOCUS)
c/o CUSRI, Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok 10330 THAILAND
Tel: 662 218 7363/7364/7365/7383
Fax: 662 255 9976
E-mail: N.Bullard@focusweb.org
Web Page http://www.focusweb.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1th World Social Forum
January 25 to 30, 2001
Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Invitation for Trade Unions
We write to you now on behalf of the Brazilian Organizing Committee of the
World Social Forum, a consortium of institutions dedicated to social change
in Brazil. The World Social Forum will take place in Porto Alegre, Brazil,
from January 25-30, 2001. It will provide a space for building economic
alternatives, for exchanging experiences and for strengthening South-North
alliances between NGOs, unions and social movements. It will also be an
opportunity for developing concrete projects, to educate the public, and to
mobilize civil society internationally. It will take place every year during
the same period as the World Economic Forum, which happens in Davos,
Switzerland, at the end of January. Since 1971, The World Economic Forum has
played a key role in formulating economic policies throughout the world. It's
sponsored by a Swiss organization that serves as a consultant to the United
Nations and it's financed by more than one thousand corporations.
The World Social Forum will will also be an opportunity for developing
concrete projects, to educate the public, and to mobilize civil society
internationally. The World Social Forum developed as a consequence of a
growing international movement that advocates for greater participation of
civil societies in international financial institutions such as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade
Organization (WTO). For decades, these institutions have been making
decisions that affect the lives of people all over the world, without a clear
system for accountability and democratic participation.
Brazil is one of the countries that have been greatly affected by global
economic policies. At the same time, different sectors of Brazilian society
are creating economic alternatives in rural and urban areas, in shantytowns,
factories, churches, schools, etc. The richness of Brazilian grassroots
organizations represents a source of inspiration for the development of the
World Social Forum. The Brazilian Organizing Committee is building alliances
with organizations in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe to develop the
World Social Forum.
This will be a broad coalition of organizations working on issues such as
human rights, sustainable development, education, and environmental
protection. The World Social Forum will discuss topics such as:
building economic policies that promote human development;
creating international strategies for grassroots organizing;
building proposals to democratize international institutions, such as the
WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank;
the influence of multinational corporations in local communities;
creating sustainable development proposals to eradicate poverty and hunger,
and to protect the environment;
organizing against gender and racial discrimination;
the protection and preservation of indigenous land and culture.
We would be delighted to be able to count on your participation!
ABONG -- Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations
ATTAC-Brasil -- Action for the Taxation of Financial Transactions in Support
of Citizens
CBJP -- The Brazilian Comission of Justice and Peace, division of the
National Conference of Bishops of Brazil
CIVES -- Brazilian Association of Entrepreneurs for Citizenry
CUT -- Unified Workers Union
IBASE -- Brazilian Institute of Socio-Economic Analysis
JUSTI? GLOBAL -- Global Justice - Human Rights Action and Training
MST -- Landless Workers' Movement
For further informations send messages to sri@cut.org.br or visit the web
site http://www.worldsocialforum.org/
(* This mail was sent to KoPA's email address.)
|
