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Is Brasilian President Lula taking the lead?
NIGD News and Notes October 2004
In this issue:
1. Is Brasilian President Lula taking the lead?
2. A Possible World
3. World Social Forum V in preparation
4. NIGD October month events
1. Update on the campaign for a Currency Transaction Tax
Is Brasilian President Lula taking the lead?
by Mika Böök and Katarina Sehm-Patomäki
At the initiative of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva 55
countries met in New York on 20 September to discuss further
international action to fight hunger, overcome poverty, and increase
financing for development. Is Brazilian President Lula becoming the
new global political leader?
Global Campaign for the CTT
by Heikki Patomäki
At the European Social Forum in London there seems to have been new energy among
organisations in furthering the issue of a tax on currency transactions.
Read the report on the CTT workshop organised by ATTAC Finland and NIGD, ATTAC Denmark and ATTAC Ireland.
NGOs push for global campaign for new sources of funding
By Thalif Deen, UN bureau chief inter press service (IPS) news agency
"Buoyed by successful global initiatives to ban landmines and create an
international criminal court, a coalition of NGOs plans to launch a
worldwide campaign seeking support for "new and innovative sources of
financing" to help eradicate hunger and poverty."
2. Reports/Publications :
A
new debt crisis around the corner?
by Katarina Sehm-Patomäki
According to UNCTAD's research a new debt crisis is on its way due.
The reason behind the new crisis is increasing debt burdens along with
falling commodity prices. Read what civil society organisations are proposing.
Multistakeholder dialogues and partnerships
by Katarina Sehm-Patomäki
Civil society organisations reflect concern that the increasingly
frequent and uncritical use of the concepts of "multistake holder
dialogues" and "partnership" have come to be seen as validating that
business is taking over politics.
Developing
International Democracy. For a Parliamentary Assembly at the United
Nations
In February this year a Committee for a Democratic UN (http://www.uno-
komitee.de/en) was founded in Germany. The CDU "deals with global
democracy issues" and their strategy paper on the establishment of a
United Nations Parliamentary Assembly adds thought for technical and
practical building blocks to the discussions on world parliaments or
assemblies."
"A Possible world. Democratic Transformation of Global
Institutions"
by Heikki Patomäki and Teivo Teivainen
Immanuel Wallerstein writes "Amidst all the cant about democracy and
globalisation, it is refreshing to have a book that takes a
democratization that is global seriously, as a objective and as a
process. This book adds substance to the slogan another world is
possible." about the recently published book of Heikki Patomaki and
Teivo Teivainen.
3. World Social Forum V in preparation
by Ruby van der Wekken
The new methodology of the World Social Forum had as a first step a
Thematic Consultation on the basis of which eleven thematic terrains
were defined. The eleven terrains organise the proposed activities for
the next forum and each activity is to be registered under one
thematic terrain. Read more on the eleven thematic terrains.
The new methodology of the forum aims at increasing collaboration and dialogue during the event, and a consolidation of activities on a voluntary basis is encouraged. This agglutinating of activities is fascilitated throughout the registration process which gives organisations the chance to view registered activities in the online database and subsequently consolidate. Registering is possible till November 10th. Read moreabout WSF V registration.
By way of another participative process, eleven fascilitating groups
for the eleven thematic terrains have been created. "The idea
is to encourage active dialogue among those involved on the terrain in
order to define sub-themes, their various dimensions, issues that
worry the range of movements and organizations engaged around it.
These thematic aggregations within a terrain will allow us to bypass
the fragmentation and juxtaposition of issues, proposing a more
organic thematic structure that better expresses our worries."(Candido
Grzybowski, IBASE). The Fascilitating groups will also find out,
within the registered organisations, if important movements that
struggle for another world are lacking, encouraging their
participation at WSF.
This month social forums are taking place in London (European Social Forum), Norway and New York City. Read more on these events and their reports on NIGD's Rendezvous page.