WORLD SOCIAL FORUM 2009 IN BELEM, BRAZIL
Bring human rights to life in Belem do Para, Brazil!
Equalinrights will be participating in the World Social Forum 2009 to be held in Belem, Brazil from the 27th of January to the 1st of February 2009. It is collaborating with a number of Human Rights and Development agencies to host the following thematic events and activities:
Budgeting Human Rights: A workshop entitled ‘Tools for Human Rights Budgeting’ will be jointly hosted by Social Watch, Global Policy Forum, Terre des Hommes and Equalinrights, at WSF 2009 Belem on 31 January, Session 2 (12:00 – 15:00h) in the Auditorium, UFRA, Medicina Veterinaria Building. This workshop will present strategies for analyzing budget and fiscal policies from a rights based perspective, as also cases of how civil society organizations have used these analyses as advocacy tools to pressure their governments to improve their records on ESC rights. This workshop is aimed at organizations already involved in Budget and Human Rights work. It also seeks to gauge the interest, capacities and needs of organisations.
If you are at the WSF 2009 in Belem and interested in costing and frontloading human rights in budgets and developing tools and advocacy strategies for the incorporation and implementation of human rights, then participate in this workshop. For more information, contact Cornelieke Keizer.
Transformative Learning for Human Rights: Equalinrights aims to support the efforts of national groups to dialogue, mobilise and take action to advance transformative learning for human rights in their context. We plan to organise an informal gathering at the World Social Forum itself and discussions on issues raised will be continued online if there is sufficient demand.
If you are working on innovative learning practices for human rights or if you would like to learn more about transformative learning and pushing boundaries for social transformation, then get in touch with either Cornelieke Keizer or Emma Sydenham.
Equalinrights is also one of the collaborating organisations within the Human Dignity and Human Rights Caucus (HDHRC). The HDHRC is a temporary facilitating device aimed at strengthening human rights debates and ensuringe human rights issues and values receive due attention in the framework of the WSF. The HDHRC is open to any organisation willing to work on Human Rights issues at the WSF and the Caucus’ Human Rights programme for the WSF is available here.
Enter the Caucus blog at http://hdhrc.over-blog.com/ or read more about equalinrights' contributions to WSF 2008 and WSF 2007.
For an overview of Human Rights Activities in 2009 WSF- Belem do Para, see in English or español
Any comments / questions / suggestions / critics about the Human Dignity and Human Rights Caucus refer to Rosa Sanchez (coordinationhdhrc(at)yahoo.com).
Messages from coordinator Rosa Sanchez, on behalf of the caucus
View Rosa Sanchez' letter of the 23th of June in English, español or français.
23th June 2008
Would you like to exchange on human rights issues during next WSF ?
If Yes, join the HDHRC !!!
Dear friends,
As in previous World Social Forum (WSF) editions, the Human Dignity and Human Rights Caucus (HDHRC) would like to contribute to the coordination and visibility of human rights activities within the Forum, to be held in Belem do Para (Brazilian amazonian region) in January 2009. More information on previous activities of the HDHRC, as well as about the organisations involved in Nairobi and in the 2008 Global Action Day is available on: hdhrc.over-blog.com
For next WSF edition, the HDHRC is focusing on facilitating alliance building, unprecedented links and a hosting human rights space as well as on advancing core Human Rights themes. Consequently, the HDHRC will not organise any specific activity on its own. In practical terms, your organisation can use the HDHRC as a platform for :
- Sharing information & ideas about Human Rights related activities. Some organisations may be planning activities with similar objectives than yours. The WSF is an excellent occasion for networking and cooperation. Publish your activity in our list (see attached list), which will be diffused as broadly as possible before and during the WSF.
- Contacting other organisations to organise joint activities. Read carefully our list and feel free to contact the persons in charge of any specific activity if you are interested / or willing to contribute.
- Participating in the Human Rights space. As in previous WSF, the HDHRC is trying to create a human rights space to host self-organised activities.
In particular, in order to ensure some continuity with past WSF editions, it would be useful to foster coordination and networking in particular on the following issues:
- Human rights and struggles for social and economic justice
- Human rights and struggles for gender equity
- Human rights and struggles over habitat, land and environment
- Human rights, mobility and citizenship gap
- Human rights and conflict, militarization and culture of impunity
- Human rights and faith and cultural diversity
If your organisation/movement would like to be in charge of one of these topics, to be associated to it or even suggest another human rights related topic within the framework of the caucus, please contact us as soon as possible. Some organisations have already expressed their will to take the responsibility to gather as many actors as possible around these issues and you can already join them (see attached list). Even if the process is open, to take the responsibility for an issue usually means to:
- Organise, in collaboration with a diverse set of actors at the WSF, a panel discussion, plenary, round-table, workshop or other type of cultural event on issues linking these human rights themes with the priority themes of the caucus.
- Support in linking people interested in the theme, to exchange, share and build contacts
These are only a few ideas about what the caucus could do and we welcome any kind of proposal / suggestion which would help us to reach our aims. Feel free to contact us and share your ideas !! (contact person: Rosa Sanchez, coordinationhdhrc(at)yahoo.com).
Looking forward to hearing from you, yours faithfully,
Rosa Sanchez
HDHRC coordinator
on behalf of HIC, ICCO, FIDH, FIAN, LWF, Equalinrights.
Read here the March 2008 letter of Coordinator Rosa Sanchez, on behalf of the Caucus, in English, español or français.
Useful links
Some brief information about WSF 2009 is already available on the Brazilian World Social Forum website www.forumsocialmundial.org.br, along with details about past WSFs.
WSF Process – Calendar of Mobilisations towards 2009
WSF 2009: Amazonia calls us to renew our commitment to another possible world
