A report written by Antonio Martins (Attac Brasil and WSF Secretariat) to the Africa Commission of the WSF in Finland, after his attendance to a preparatory meeting of the polycentric WSF 2006 in Bamako, Mali (30 September – 3 October).
Translation by Ruby van der Wekken.

São Paulo, 12 October 2005

Dear Friends of the Finnish support committee to the WSF-Africa,

As I informed you earlier during our meeting in Helsinki, I participated last week in the preparatory meeting for WSF 2006, in Bamako, Mali. The meeting gathered several representatives of the three organising committees of the WSF events of next January (Venezuela, Pakistan and Mali), entities from various Africa countries, members of the WSF International Council (WSF IC) Commissions (Communication, Resources and Methodology) as well as the the “fascilitation group” (former International Secretariat ed.) of the WSF IC composed by Brasilian and Indian members. The complete report of the meeting will soon be out (The report fo the Bamako meetig is out. Please contact us if you are interested in receiving the report ed.). I would like to share some specific information and impressions with you on Africa. I am deviding my report in two parts :
a) The WSF 2006, the event in Bamako next January.z
b) The international efforts towards WSF 2007, in Nairobi, Kenya.

a) Bamako, starting point :

I left from the meeting all the more convinced of the proposal I made personally in Helsinki : to organise a strong presence of Fins in Bamako, in January. The African event of the WSF will occur in the capital Mali, from 18-23/1. The dates were altered. The WSF IC had the intention of the three events being held simultaenously from 24-29/1, at the same time as the WEF in Davos. Because of logistical reasons this is not possible in Bamako. There are other international events programmed in Bamako during the same period. The hotel capacity of the country would be seriously reduced.

The solution found can proove to be very positive. The kick off for WSF 2006 will take place in Africa, 18/1. From 23 or 24th January, the event continues to Caracas and Karachi. The three organising comitees of the events are studying the possibility of holding on one of these two dates a simultaneous celebration. It would be the closure of the event in Mali and the opening of the events in Venezuela and Pakistan. On each locality, images will be projected from the two other events. The events will be transmitted via internet all over the world.

The thematical spaces for the events have been defined. The concept is as introduced in Porto Alegre 2005. The activites will be physically distributed according to thematical proximity. The registration (for Bamako, as well as for Caracas and Karachi) is aready open, see www.wsf2006.org. I am copying in the below the thematical spaces as envisioned for Bamako.

We visited the place where the event will be held. There are three larger spaces. The self organised workshops and seminars will mostly occur on the campus of the university of Bamako. There are tens of classrooms and some ten large auditoriums. The campus is in an area where there is also free space available for meetings, discussion, eating fascilitaties, expositions of local art, etc. On a distance of about 2 kilometers, at the edge of the Niger river, there is an auditorium for about 3.000 people. Cultural activites should take place here. The green area around this auditorium is even nicer then the campus.

The river gives a feeling of tranquility and there are many trees. Lastly, at about 5 kilometers from these two places, there is a more modern confrence center, with large auditoriums and a press center. The center is being reformed for a conference of francophone heads of state in December. So this can be profitted from for the WSF, one month later. The organisers would want to hold the large debates here. I would not be in favour of this. Besdies the distance, the place to me seems hostile to popular presence. Its more suitable for authorities.

Bamako is a city of almost 2 million inhabitants, with precarious living conditions, very weak infastructure but a tremendous vitality and human warmth. Life expectation in the country is 45 years. On the contrary to what was seen in Mumbai, there are no beggars. Everybody, at all times, is involved in some kind of activity – almost always related to trade or services. There are shacks or tents to sell things spread out over all the city. Beyond this, thousands of people survive as “accompaniers” : on the corssing, on the streets, in the shops. The first impression is that all work is informal.

Consumption is basic. Grains are exposed on the streets, under cloth, and sold in cans without packaging. Same for meet and fish. Almost all streets are earth. In many parts of the city, the drainage circulates uncovered. Almost all constructions are of one floor, and very poor. The exception is the majestic building of the Central Bank... Public lighting often suffers from cuts. Trafic is chaotic : I have not seen one singly trafil ligth. The transport measn most common are vans, green, without glasses and almost alwqays without benches, in which about 15 people squeeze together. There are good busses, which are a bit more expensive.

There is no social apartheid. Rich and poor live in the same areas. It is possible to walk in the morning in the (dark) streets, as in a European city (contrary to the situation in Sao Paulo). We had not one single problem with friends carrying expensive filming equipment from one part of town to another. Everyone is black, except for the foreigners. The population is hospitable, happy and warm. If you ask for directions to a certain address, it is quite possible you will be accompanied up to your destiny. Maliens laugh with great fascility. You hardly see someone in the streets tense or melancholic.

There is no reliable prevision to give about the number of participants to the forum. The situation of social movements in Africa is very hard. Between 1960 and 68, Mali had leftist nationalist governments, committed to national independence and in a certain way influenced by marxism. But in the whole continent, the revolutions and hopes of the post WWW II years were neutraslied by neoliberalism. The force of the unions is almost zero. The most typical social organisations are associations : of rural workers, of solidarity economy, of inhabitants who are wanting for better living conditions...

The African Social Forum (already three editions) gathered maximum 600 people. These have been meetings of leaders. Besides political difficulties, there is the difficulty of resources. To go from one African country to another migth mean a fligth with a stop in Europe, and migth cost 3.000 USD. My estimate is that if it prooves to be possible to gather 3.000 people, we can celebrate.

Bamako is seen (also by the Malians themselves) as the start off towards Nairobi 2007. From next Januray, the spin of the WSF in direction towards Africa starts. I do not need to explain you the challenges that this move brings with it.

b) The international efforts towards WSF 2007, in Nairobi, Kenya.
I would like to say something on the political context. Africa is the prime victim of neoliberal globalisations – but, also, is the strongest testimony of the weakness of this project. The number is growing of people on the continent who are faced with hunger, survive with less than a dollar a day, and who die of diseases for which a cure already exists.

The scandal is so big, that people like Tony Blair, have tried to neutralise the facts, or, when possible, have tried to gain from them. Put in the spot ligth by the media, the action of Blair at the last G-8 meeting was an example. A huge propaganda was made on the “aid” for the continent. However in concrete terms, ambiguous steps have been taken, of which the execution is still unsure.

The worst is that this “assistence” in fact drags out the African drama. The few countries that have had their debts cancelled have been submitted to new processes of privatisation and structural adjustment – much more painful, in the long run, than the actual interests. In some African nations, the bruto national product has increased with vigor. But the prise is an insertion in the international economy that makes them still more dependent (since they are specialised in the production of certain primary materials) and which aggrevates social exclusion (as the search of “efficiency” presides over all).

By migrating to Africa, the WSF is putting itself in front of a huge unknown political challenge. Our sensibility will not allow us to see the continent as just one secenario, one location. We will be stimulated to think of global alternatives. How can we secure water provisions to all – inclusively for those that can not pay for this? How to create new international trade rules, alternative to those which condemned Africa to abandoment? Instead of patents, what mechanisms are to be set up in order to assure production and the distrubution of medecines that control AIDS?

These questions will be unavoidable, and will invite the WSF world to a make new efforts in reflecting and acting together – at all times preserving diversity and horizontalism. For this, however, it is necessary to garant Bamako and Nairobi. The material resources in Arica are not sufficient for a success of the forum. International solidarity will need to be amplified. We need to articulate this in all seriousness, and this, most importantly, without allowing that this will take away from the Africans the political and organizative leading role of the events.

Until Bamako, we are planning to formulate a concrete plan for this. I think that the plan should include, besides the traditional support of agencies and foundations, a mobilisation of societies. I am convinced we can propose then something much more creative and gratifying than the traditional “assistance/aid” campaigns. We should say : “Cherity is not enough. It is necessary to combat the causes of the African problems. It is necessary to support the actions conducive to alternatives for these problems”.

We should also work together to divulgate these ideas. I would like to hear your reaction to these proposals. We can remain in contact : for the moment, by exchanging messages via internet and constructing something together. In Bamako, during the WSF, we can talk face to face.

I hope to meet you soon again! I am sending a warm hug as you are going into the Finnish winter. But in January you should escape that winter : lets meet in Africa, the next destination of the WSF.

Antonio Martins

I. Vision developed by the African Social Forum Council, with regards to Bamako 2006 and Nairobi 2007 :

1. The Forum of Bamako is a World Social Forum organised in Africa

2.The polycentric forum is a step towards Nairobi 2007.

3.The World Social Forum in Africa should be an instrument for social and political change and not just a juxtaposition. From this point of view, there should be a past and a future to organising African WSFs.

4.The forum should be popular and visibilise the struggles on the African continent and in the world.

5.The WSF should be “feminised”

6. Culture should be importantly present in the WSF, as an instrument of criticism and of social and political reconstruction.

7. The WSF should permit to work on a redefinition of African Unity built on popular bases and diversity.

8. The WSF should contribute to a decolonising of the continent in defying the international institutions, and giving the floor back to the people to reconstitute their sovereignty regarding politicies and resources. This will come about via a massive presence of social and popular mouvements and by a critical mass allowing for real change.

9. The WSF should allow for African movements to work on the question of political and economic citizenship, taking into consideration that the majority of Africans are not in a situation to express their hopes and their worries without risking their lives.

10. The WSF should aim at redefining the concept of international solidarity. Solidarity should not be limited to charity, but should aim above all at working together on common concerns for another world.

11. The WSF should contribute to the defenition of popular and democratic initiatives that could constitute the basis for collective engagement to change the world.

II.Thematical and methodological proposals of the Malien Organising Committee and of the Arrican Social Forum council.

1.The Afrian commission note a convergence of the proposals concerning the themes and sub themes put forward throughout the WSF process and by the other polycentric committees.

2.The preparation should therefore rather be based on the manner to hold the debates than on the subject of the debate. In this spirit, we propose the organisation of a significant number of thematic round tables on top of the selforganised events led by the movements which will be present in Bamako.

At the heart of these round tables, we will awaken what is discussed about the struggles, analyse the challenges the struggles are confronted with and bring out the proposals for strategies that would deepend the struggles.

Themes for the Polycentric WSF of Bamako

1.War, security and peace

2.Globalised liberalisation : apartheid on a global scale and pauperisation

3.Marginalisation of the continent and marginalisation of the people, Migrations, Violation of the economic, social and cultural rigths

4.Aggression against peasant societies

5.Alliance between Patriarchy, and neo liberalism and marginalisation of the struggles of women

6. Culture, media and communication : critique and reconstruction, symbolic violence and exclusions

7.Destruction of eco systems, biological diversity and the control of resources

8.The International order : United Nations, the International Institutions, international law, reconstruction of the Southern front

9.International trade, debt and economic and social policies

10.The alternatives that allow for democratic advances, social progress and the respect for the sovereignty of the peoples and of international law.

These themes will be further developed in order to allow for the inclusion of all themes that will express the different social movements.