Global Survey Validates WSF

Ovations and Jeers at Inauguration

By Zarina Geloo

It wasn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill conference opening day. The governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul got booed, the flag-waving Iraqi delegation got a standing ovation, the Deputy-Mayor of Porto Alegre elicited cheers and great singing, and Israelis and Palestinians held hands.

The opening of the World Social Forum yesterday was a lot of things; it was part theatre, part politics and all exuberance.

Sometimes spirits got a bit too high. The opening session was almost derailed as protesters outside the hall clamoured to get in to tell Rio Grande do Sul Governor Germano Rigotto exactly what they thought of him, which wasn’t much. Rigotto belongs to the opposition PMDB (Party of the Brazilian Democratic Movement) and this is now PT (Workers Party) country.

The governor appeared unruffled by the commotion. In a speech accompanied by hissing and catcalls from the crowd, he exhorted Brazilians to learn to accept and live with differences. He was not going to be deterred by what was going on around him, he said.

It was a different story when Deputy Mayor Joao Verle got up to speak. His five-minute presentation was all but drowned out as the crowd broke out in song and praise of Brazil’s new president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Then there were the different delegations whose governments are currently engaged in hostilities showing their disdain for their leaders’ positions. The Israelis and the Palestinians held hands while listening to an impassioned plea for peace in the Middle East made by Kenya’s Njoiki Njehu. And the Iraqis, who proudly bore their flag into the conference hall, handed it over to US peace activists and then stood side by side with their American counterparts, to great applause from the audience.

World Survey

The main event of the opening ceremony, however, was the publication of a “Global Opinion Poll” which confirmed conference participants in their belief that the world’s population wanted the global agenda focused on social goals rather than just economic growth.

Forum organiser Marco Piva said the World Social Forum survey validated the mission of the WSF.

"This survey was conducted to check out whether another world is possible. The results show us that it is not just possible, but necessary."

Discussing the opinion poll, Rob Kerr, director of Environics International, the Canadian research institute that the conducted the survey, said it set out to determine:

"how people viewed the path to a better world for all

"should people focus on economic growth and hope that social problems solved as a consequence of growth

"did economic globalisation bring benefits to all

"did people believe that they controlled their destinies.

The survey revealed that the majority believed that globalisation made the rich richer and the poor poorer; that it was driven primarily by the interests of multinational conglomerates; that global society should focus on social goals first rather than economic growth and that the majority of people believed that their fate was decided by external forces beyond their control.

The survey was conducted in 20 countries between November and December 2002.