World Social Forum 2007: Nairobi

The 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi is the first to be held in Africa. Arranging a one-off conference for around 100,000 delegates from campaigns and social movements around the world - there to discuss econmic justice, peace and conflict, human rights, women's rights, land, HIV/AIDS, etc etc - is obviously always going to be a monumental task. And the spirit of the WSF means that it is largely ‘self-organised’ by participants – that is, the organising committee provides the space and the staff and the volunteers and the security and the technology and all the rest, but the participants themselves register and organise the events. There are understandably hiccups along the way (the meetings start at 8.30am tomorrow morning, Sunday, and it still seems to be impossible to get our hands on a programme) but there is a huge amount of energy and people are finding their own way around it (little programmes of a few events, printed by the event organisers, are everywhere).

This afternoon we were with colleagues from Jubilee South, Jubilee USA, Jubilee France and others at the opening rally at Uhuru Park. (‘Uhuru’ being the Swahili word for independence / freedom.) There were speeches, songs, dances, poems – and a promising array of slogans and calls to action, on banners, t-shirts, badges, etc. Many were variations on the official WSF slogan of ‘Another world is possible’. (‘Another Kenya is possible’; ‘A world without AIDS is possible’.) Or some just went their own way. (‘When Bush comes to shove, resist!’)

There was also a special address from Zambia’s former president Kenneth Kaunda. He spoke of how, when Zambia was experiencing debt problems and trying to escape IMF control (thus bringing down the wrath of creditors), it was not so much other governments that stood in solidarity with his country, but the individuals who make up the debt movement worldwide. He spoke of how the debt campaign has taught us that individual campaigners from the countries of the South and the North, working together, can have an amazing impact. And he called for further action: “Being here at the World Social Forum 2007 must inspire us to do more and liberate ourselves from the burden of debt. We have achieved, and we can achieve still more.”