March 23, 2006

World Social Forum is a getting together of social activists, young people, academics, community organisers and human rights workers from all over the world to debate proposals and launch campaigns and actions in accordance with the universal themes of social justice and equality, writes Madiha Waris

It’s a hot, Saturday afternoon and it’s chaos as usual at the World Social Forum (WSF) Secretariat on Tariq Road, Karachi. About a dozen young men and women run around, making phone calls, printing out letters, carrying out correspondence with agitated foreigners yet unable to get their visas to Karachi. Two of them have just gotten back from one fruitful, and one very unsuccessful meeting with two girls’ college principals for arranging student volunteers for the event. In the centre of the coordinator’s office, a boy and a girl sit on the floor finalizing lists of designated volunteers. Everybody digs into a bag of samosas every once in a while –– that’s going to do for lunch today. Welcome to just another day in WSF. The countdown has begun.

One more week remains in the extravaganza that’s going to take place in the city of lights and mad traffic –– also known as the new designated danger zone in the international media for its unfortunate history of terror attacks. What it means to the city for hosting one of the polycentric events of World Social Forum this year, the third in a series of venues that includes Venezuela and Mali, is hard to summarize in a few words.

Delegates from about 58 countries are frantically completing tortuous visa processes in their countries. Volunteers, in the meanwhile, have started to pour in. So the once-bare and dull offices of the secretariat are finally bustling with the kind of last-minute, chaotic activity that has become a specialty of temporary secretariats set up for the WSF events all around the world.

Until now, 400 volunteers have signed up to help out in the five-day event that will host about 400 activities, including workshops, conferences, rallies, exhibitions, documentary and film screenings, musical, literary and other cultural events. A majority of these volunteers are university students, some of them recent graduates. Students from NUST (Karachi), Karachi University, IBA, CBM, PECHS college, etc are among the ones participating. Everyday, volunteers spend morning to evening at the office as well as visiting scores of educational institutions to register new volunteers for the main event. Nobody is getting paid, only a certificate of participation. So what’s in it for the hundreds of young people enthusiastically signing up for the five-day drill, knowing the hard work in store for them? A lot, actually.

World Social Forum is, for those yet unaware of it, a getting together of social activists, young people, academics, community organisers and human rights workers from all over the world to debate proposals and launch campaigns and actions in accordance with the universal themes of social justice and equality.

From its humble beginnings as a meeting of anti-globalisation trade unionists and human rights workers in Porto Alegro, Brazil as the answer to the elitist World Economic Forum, WSF has evolved into the world’s largest civil meeting of society. Every year, WSF takes a greater political meaning for the world, and even more so for the socio-political mobilization of the societies hosting its venues.

Pakistan, with its history of military rule and depoliticization, is an ideal choice for a venue this year. Karachi, its sole metropolis has been repeatedly maligned in international media as the hub of violent extremist elements, will hopefully wash off that image with housing thousands of foreign development workers, journalists and students for the event.

For the young volunteers, the mere opportunity to meet and interact with people from five continents, with diverse experiences and from various schools of thought, is an extremely rare and mind-opening one. A youth assembly discussing youth rights and issues in context of globalisation will be held, discussing topics ranging from child labour, basic education and health issues to student unionisation. Late night cultural activities such as theatre and concerts will be held in the youth camp set up at the venue to keep the young participants hooked. n

 

A colourful interaction The organising committee of WSF recently invited artists from different backgrounds for a discussion on a variety of issues. The crowd comprised a diverse mix of people ranging from TV and theatre actors, to designers and journalists. Raania Durrani and Yousuf’s Commune Artist Colony hosted the gathering that was modest in number, but had no dearth of colours. In fact, the venue was an ideal location for a gathering such as this, as it represents Pakistani culture in its varied manifestations. n

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