Kathmandu (KNA) The World Social Forum (WSF) began in Nepal on Thursday under the motto “Another world is possible”. 30,000 participants from 1,200 social movements and 100 countries will be discussing topics such as human rights, climate justice, food and democratisation in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu until Monday. “In fact, humanity is on the brink of multiple catastrophes leading to the destruction of its own survival,” says the website of the WSF, which is being held in Asia for the first time in 20 years. In the face of a real and urgent threat, the ideals of a new world order based on sustainability, dignity, coexistence, equality and justice must be realised.
The Catholic aid organisation Caritas Nepal is one of the participating organisations. “In cooperation with the Indian Social Institute from Bangalore and the Forum for Religious Justice and Peace, we are co-organisers of the event “Safe and Dignified Migration”, Caritas coordinator Sylvia Rai told the Catholic News Agency (KNA).
The Protestant German aid organisation Bread for the World wants to evaluate experiences in the fight against hunger at the WSF. It also wants to analyse the participation of smallholder producers on the basis of the “Guidelines on the Human Right to Adequate Food” adopted by the World Food Organisation. “After Nepal included the ‘right to food’ in its new constitution, many projects were undertaken between the government and civil society to improve the food situation in the long term,” says Francisco Mari, expert on global nutrition at Bread for the World. “We and our partners want to learn from these experiences so that we can finally get closer to the goal of ending hunger by 2030.”
Originally, the WSF was to be held in India, as in 2004. However, increasing restrictions on the work of non-governmental organisations in the country made the organisation more difficult, which is why neighbouring Nepal is now the venue. “The country has made great democratic progress in recent years,” says Mari.
The World Social Forum was launched in 2001 as a counter-event to the summits of the World Trade Organisation, the World Economic Forum in Davos and the World Economic Summits of the G8 countries. Bread for the World is a founding member of the World Social Forum.
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