Towards the World Social Forum

East AFrica host in Nairobi January 2007

Text: Mussa S. Billegeya, the WSF coordinator at TANGO

14. september 2006

Tanzania is in the process of preparing and participating in the forthcoming World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi set to start on 20^th – 25^th January, 2007. The World Social Forum 2007 will be hosted by the East African Countries whereas Kenya will be the host country of the event. The theme of the WSF is “An Alternative and Better World is Possible”.
The World Social Forum is a space that offers an opportunity to civil society practitioners and the public at large to air out their concerns to the world, at a time when the whole world listens and watches, including the decision makers all around the world.
The World Social Forum also presents a platform for strengthening popular democracy and mobilization. It furthermore presents a chance for activists to challenge the status quo that, as is clearly seen, puts markets and profits at top of the agenda at the expense of the people. 
For the Tanzanian civil society and the public at large, the World Social Forum will furthermore offer an opportunity to be integrated in the global movement and build solidarity and linkages around social and economic justice issues with other like-minded activists around the world.

The current status in Tanzania:

Coordination

Currently, the center for coordination is at TANGO (Tanzanian Association of Non-governmental Organisations) office, where the two coordinators run the day-to-day functions. TANGO is the host organisation of the process.

Funding

Up to this moment, the process has received pledges for financial support for the preparation process from MS Tanzania of seven million TSH and Oxfam GB/NOVIB have pledged to offer 3000 UK Pounds to support a number of participants from Tanzania who will be going to Nairobi through the Global Campaign Against Poverty towards the Millennium Development Goals.

Mobilization

Currently, the steering committee, through the coordinators and TANGO are organizing sensitization and mobilization activities. Emphasis will be put in the regions where the Caravan from Southern Africa is expected to pass. The Caravan is the participants from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia coming together in busses or trucks to end up in Nairobi. These include Rukwa, Mbeya, Iringa, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, Arusha and Manyara. Participants from Tanzania going to Nairobi will join the caravan. Civil society organisations are encouraged to support their partners and target groups to attend and participate in the caravan and the Forum.

Content

The steering committee decided that there was a need for the Tanzanians to select some key issues/themes to be addressed by the Tanzanians in the Social Forum. They selected five themes: HIV/AIDS, Youth and Employment, Water, Mineral Resources and Income Poverty Reduction (for SMEs).
However, as the Charter of Principles of the WSF gives freedom for the participants to decide on what to address, participants from Tanzania can opt to prepare other messages.

Registration for the Event:

Registration for the WSF can be done through the Tanzania Steering Committee through the registration forms that can be obtained via the contacts below, or directly to Nairobi. However it is encouraged to register through the Tanzania Steering Committee to help coordination  of the participants from Tanzania.
Participants from Africa will register at the following costs: 

Individuals:                                                    450 KSh.       7 USD

Delegations from                                          2,250 KSh.    35 USD

Non commercial stalls from                        15,000 KSh.  200 USD

All costs for transport and accommodation must be arranged by the participants.