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America's Social Forum Report |
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by Rights&Democracy via Scott Edwards
Email: scottisimo (nospam) hotmail.com (verified) |
13 Aug 2004
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Americas Social Forum's Report
Quito , July 30 th , 2004 - Over 10,000 people from more than 45 countries took part in the First Americas Social Forum (ASF) that took place in Quito from July 25 to 30, 2004 .
Intended as a regional counterpart to the World Social Forum, the ASF brought together representatives of nearly 700 NGOs, social organizations and coalitions, with the aim of engaging in a shared dialogue and reflection on the following themes: “International economic order,” “The violent face of the neoliberal project,” “Diversity and democracy,” “Cultures and communications” and “Indigenous peoples and African descendants.”
Participants from Canada included delegates from Common Frontiers, the Quebec Network on Continental Integration (RQIC) and several unions and human rights organizations (including Rights and Democracy). Hundreds of public events, conferences, workshops and seminars had been organized with a view to addressing the key issues dominating the hemispheric agenda, including current processes of economic integration, recent national and international security measures, the weakness of democratic institutions, poverty and exclusion.
A number of country-specific issues were thus also addressed during the Forum (increasing violence and violations of human rights in Colombia , Bolivian social movements, etc.). However, the principal aim of the Forum was to focus on certain core topics of general concern, such as the progressive militarization of certain regions on the continent and the effects of the multiplication of sub-regional free-trade agreements that are judged socially unacceptable.
With regard to this last point, participants denounced the negative impact of existing north-south agreements (NAFTA, the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement) on the environment, human rights, democracy and national sovereignty, and voiced their concern at the impending implementation of the Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Central America (undergoing approval) as well as that between the United States and certain Andean countries (under negotiation).
In the view of these participants, social movements must not let down their guard in the face of the recent deadlock in multilateral (WTO) and hemispheric (FTAA) trade negotiations, as this situation merely heralds a return to the formula of bilateral negotiations. By exacerbating the uneven balance of power between the parties, the danger is that such negotiations will lead to even more pernicious trade agreements.
Designed as a space for exchange and for the development of action strategies for the promotion of alternative integration policies under the slogan “Another America is possible,” the Social Forum provided a valuable opportunity to take stock of the various current social movements and to reinforce networks active in specific sectors (groups promoting women's rights, workers' rights, indigenous rights, etc.).
During workshops organized by Rights & Democracy and its Latin American partners*, this issue was addressed in terms of the possibilities offered by UN instruments of the international human rights systems: the Interamerican Court and the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights. These events allowed over thirty organizations to document recent human rights violations related to rampant trade and financial liberalization and to draw up a joint action plan, the next step of which will be to request that the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights investigate the impact of recent economic integration trends.
Finally, a huge march through the streets of Quito last Wednesday attracted 10,000 participants and constituted one of the most inspiring highlights of the event.
The various declarations issued during the Forum can be consulted on-line in the original Spanish version at the following address: http://movimientos.org .
For more information on Rights & Democracy's involvement with the Americas Social Forum, please contact Louis Moubarak or Steve Smith at 514-283-6073.
Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan organization with an international mandate. It was created by Canada 's Parliament in 1988 to encourage and support the universal values of human rights and the promotion of democratic institutions and practices around the world. |
This work is in the public domain |
