9 February, 2011Over 70,000 people are participating in this years' World Social Forum, taking place in Dakar, Senegal from February 6 to 11, where a debate on what kind of economic system is better to serve society globally is taking place.
SENEGAL: More than 50,000 people marched through the streets of Dakar on February 6 to mark the opening of the World Social Forum. Participants during the march varied from young soccer players calling for a fair system, to rural women who were calling for better response to climate change.
The labour movement was also well represented. About 200 delegates attended the first day briefing meeting organized by International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) at the national centre's offices. Among IMF affiliates who attend the Forum were NUMSA, FTM- CGT, and Kenya Engineering Workers' Union.
The World Social Forum is taking place on African soil from February 6 to 11, at a time everyone in the world is engaged in a debate about what kind of economic system is better to serve society globally.
Everyone, including champions of capitalism, has agreed that the pure capitalist system has failed and we therefore need to begin discussing alternatives. This year the World Social Forum is an important platform for the labour to discuss and engage with different social formation so as to develop an alternative positions and way forward to the current system.
On the first day a labour forum organized two activities where two topics were discussed: "The global financial and economic crisis, challenges and prospect for alternatives for trade union power" and "African integration and the Diaspora: building bridges for development".
In a speech at the Forum on February 7, former Brazilian President Lula stated that agricultural development is key for African countries as a condition to secure real sovereignty and a way to generate export revenues. Lula also criticized the subsidies to agriculture of rich countries and the prices of commodities only determined by speculation. Lula also noted that the building of a peace culture - traditionally a key issue at WSF debates - doesn't depend only on the end of the arms trade, but requires the effective fight against hunger, inequalities and unemployment.