fw: [Focus-on-Trade] Invitation to sign-on: Call of the World Social Movements 2003

Sat Feb 8 11:16:50 CET 2003

Dear Friends,

"CALL OF THE WORLD SOCIAL MOVEMENTS"

Again this year, during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre,
thousands of activists from social movements, trade unions, NGOs
and networks met over two days to debate and prepare a common
"Call for Action." The final statement is attached (English and Spanish)
and below (English only).

The main calls are to support, participate in and organize worldwide
protests on February 15th  2003 against the war on Iraq and to
"derail" the WTO and the FTAA.

There is also an initiative to start building a world "network of
movements".

All social and popular movements, networks and organisations are
invited to support and sign the Call -- whether or not you were in
Porto Alegre!

Please send your signatures to <movsoc at uol.com.br> by the end of
March. You are welcome to circulate widely.

In solidarity,

FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH

---------------------------------------

CALL OF THE WORLD SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Porto Alegre, Brazil - January  27th, 2003

We are meeting in Porto Alegre in the shadow of a global crisis. The
belligerent intentions of the United States government in its
determination to launch a war on Iraq pose a grave threat to us all,
and are a dramatic manifestation of the links between militarism and
economic domination.

At the same time, neo-liberal globalization itself is in crisis: the threat
of a global recession is ever present ; corporate corruption scandals
are daily news and expose the reality of capitalism.

Social and economic inequalities are growing, threatening the social
structures of our societies and cultures, our rights and our lives.

Bio diversity, air, water, forest, soil and sea are used like commodities
and are for sale.

All this threatens our common future.

We oppose this !

FOR OUR COMMON FUTURE
We are social movements that are fighting all around the world against
neo-liberal globalization, war, racism, castism, poverty, patriarchy and
all the forms of economical, ethnical, social, political, cultural, sexual
and gender discriminations and exclusions. We are all fighting for
social justice, citizenship, participatory democracy, universal rights
and for the right of peoples to decide their own future.

We stand for peace and international cooperation, for a sustainable
society answering the needs of people for food, housing, health,
education, information, water, energy, public transportation and
human rights.

We are in solidarity with the women engaged against social and
patriarchal violence. We support the struggle of the peasants,
workers, popular urban movements and all those who are urgently
threatened by being deprived of  homes,  jobs,  land and their rights.

We have demonstrated in millions to say that another world is
possible. This has never been more true and more urgent.

NO WAR!
The social movements are against militarization, the increase of military
bases and state repression that create countless refugees and the
criminalization of social movements and poor people.

We are against the war on Iraq, the attacks on the Palestinian,
Chechnya and Kurdish people, the wars on Afghanistan, Colombia, in
Africa and the growing threat of war on Korea. We oppose the
economic and political aggression against Venezuela and the political
and economic blockade by the US government  against Cuba, and
elsewhere. We are against all kinds of military and economic actions
designed to impose the neo-liberal model and undermine the
sovereignty and peace of peoples around the world.

War has become a structural and permanent part of global domination
using military force to control people and strategic resources such as
oil. The United States' government and its allies are imposing war as a
more and more common solution for resolving conflicts. We also
denounce the deliberate attempts made by imperialists to increase
religious, ethnic, racist, tribal and other tensions and strife all over the
world in order to pursue their selfish interests.

Majority public opinion around the world is opposed to the coming
war on Iraq. We call on all social movements and progressive forces
to support, participate in and organize worldwide protests on
February 15th  2003.  These protests are already planned and
coordinated by all those who oppose the war in over 30 major cities
around the world.

DERAIL WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Area of the
Americas (FTAA) and a proliferation of regional and bilateral trade
agreements, such as the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
and the proposed Central America free trade agreements, are used by
multinational corporations to promote their interests, to dominate and
control our economies and to impose a development model which
impoverishes our societies. In the name of trade liberalization, every
aspect of life and nature is for sale and people are denied their basic
rights. Agro-multinationals are trying to impose GMOs worldwide;
people suffering from HIV/AIDS and other pandemics in Africa and
elsewhere are denied access to cheap generic drugs. In addition,
countries of the South are trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt that
forces them to open up their markets and export their wealth.

In the coming year our campaigns, against the WTO, the FTAA and
trade liberalization, will grow in size and scope.

We will campaign to stop and reverse liberalization of agriculture,
water, energy, public services and investment, and to reassert peoples
sovereignty over their societies, their resources, their cultures and
knowledge and their economies.

We are in solidarity with the Mexican farmers who say "el campo no
aguanta mas" ('the farmers are fed up') and in the spirit of their
struggles we will mobilize locally, nationally and internationally to
derail the WTO and the FTAA. We support the worldwide
movement to fight for food sovereignty and against the neo-liberal
models of agriculture, food production and distribution.  In particular,
we will organize mass protests around the world during the 5th
ministerial meeting of the WTO in Cancun, Mexico, in September
2003 and during the ministerial meeting of the FTAA in Miami, USA,
in October.

CANCEL THE DEBT
The full and unconditional cancellation of Third World Debt
constitutes a prerequisite condition in order to fulfill even the most
basic human rights. We shall support any indebted country that would
stop its external debt payment and would break its agreements with
the IMF, especially the Structural Adjustment Programs.  Centuries of
exploitation of the Third World people, their resources and
environment have given them the right to reparations. We ask "who
owes whom"? These issues will be raised in the major campaigns
being held in 2003, G8 (Evian/June), WTO (Cancun/September) and
the IMF and Word Bank annual meeting (Washington/September).

OPPOSING THE G8
We call on all the social movements and progressive forces to be part
of the mobilization to denounce the illegitimacy and to also reject the
policies of the G8 that will be meeting in Evian, France, from 1-3 June
2003. This mobilization will also be organized all around the world
with an international gathering at Evian (France) that will include an
alternative summit, alternative camp and a huge international
demonstration.

WOMEN: PROMOTING EQUALITY
We are part of the actions promoted by women's movements on  8th
March which is the International Women's Day to fight against all
forms of violence and patriarchy and for social and political equality.

IN SOLIDARITY
We call for solidarity from all progressive social forces, movements
and organizations across the world for those peoples such as the
Palestinians, Venezuelans, Bolivians and others who are facing
extreme crisis and are fighting against imperialist hegemony at this very
moment in time.

WE CALL TO THE PEOPLE
As we strongly believe that another world is possible, that other
worlds are possible, because we have begun to build it in our
commitments, ours struggles and international meetings, we are
determined to go on and strengthen our unity, against the war, against
poverty and for peace and social justice.

ENHANCE OUR INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
Last year during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre we had
adopted a declaration that defines our aims, our struggles and the
ways we build our alliances. The spirit of this text is still living and will
inspire our coming mobilizations.

Since then, the world has been changing very quickly and we feel the
need to take a new step in our decision-making processes, in our
coordinations and alliances; the need to promote a broad, radical,
democratic, plural, internationalist, feminist, non-discriminatory and
anti-imperialist agenda.

We now want to build a framework articulating our analyses and
commitments to our mobilizations. This requires the active
participation of all the movements, keeping in mind that the social
forums are independent from governments and political parties (as
given in the WSF Charter of Principles) and keeping a respect for
their autonomy. This framework would be strengthened by all different
social actors contributing and sharing their experiences and concrete
social practices. Further, this would be in accordance with the
different forms of political expression and organization of the social
movements and with regard to the diversity of ideologies and cultures.

We feel the need to constitute a network of movements that is
responsive, flexible and sustainable ; yet is also broad and transparent.
Its responsibilities should be to enrich and feed the process, to
promote its diversity and to assume the necessary degree of
coordination.  The aims of the network will be to enhance the
engagement of movements around the world in a deeper political
debate, to facilitate common action and to strengthen the initiative of
concrete actors fighting for social interests. Its work should be both
horizontal and effective.

To this end we propose to build a contact group as a resource and
tool for our international mobilizations, including preparing meetings,
promoting debate and democracy by promoting a website and mailing
lists.  This contact group would be established for a period of
between six and twelve months and it will be drawn on the past
experience of the supporters of the network of social and popular
movements that are based in Brazil.

This arrangement is transitional and to ensure continuity. The main
task of this provisory group is to facilitate debate so that the social
movements around the world define concrete procedures to work
together. It is an ongoing process.  A first review of the new contact
group will take place at meetings of the network of social movements
during the mass mobilization against the WTO in Cancun in Sept
2003. A second review, again in assemblies of the network of social
movements, will follow during the WSF meeting that is expected to be
held in India in 2004.

Among other things, the reviews will consider the effectiveness of the
coordination and seek new ways to enhance it. It will also consider
how to proceed from one year to the next, and how to include
national, regional movements and thematic campaigns. In the
meantime, we need a large debate among organizations, campaigns
and networks to articulate the proposals for a more permanent and
representative structure.

In the months to come we will have many occasions to experiment,
improve and build this process through our campaigns and
mobilizations.

WE CALL FOR ALL NETWORKS, POPULAR AND SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS TO SIGN THIS STATEMENT WITHIN TWO
MONTHS.

We call for all networks, popular and social movements to sign this
statement within two months, and send your signatures to:
movsoc at uol.com.br within two months.

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 at focusweb.org
Web Page   http://www.focusweb.org

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