By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 26 2008 (IPS)

Brazil, the cradle of the World Social Forum (WSF), is hosting events in 19 cities Saturday for the Global Day of Action. The main participants will be young people, as they have always been at every meeting of the Forum.

Cándido Grzybowski, the head of the Brazilian Institute for Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE), says this fact “shows young people’s commitment” to social causes, when “many people are saying that the young are no longer interested in social and political issues.”

Ever since the first WSF, an international meeting of civil society organisations held in 2001 in the southern city of Porto Alegre, IBASE has carried out a series of surveys in order to establish the profile of WSF participants.

One of the studies showed that the proportion of people aged between 14 and 35 “has never been less than 56 percent.” In Porto Alegre, 70 percent of those who took part in the Forums were in this age range.

Grzybowski told IPS that the WSF reflects “the new political culture, which is more ‘horizontal’ and participative,” and finds expression through a plurality of social, cultural, student and women’s movements, among many others.

The WSF does not permit political parties to participate, Grzybowski said, although individuals who belong to them are welcome. Bolivian President Evo Morales was one of the first and most enthusiastic attendees, as spokesman for coca growers in his country.

“The Forum is bringing hope,” he said.

María Luisa Jucá, the head of the Circo Voador (Flying Circus) and the tent which is the main cultural events venue in Rio de Janeiro, agreed with Grzybowski about the commitment shown by young people. She said that when she took part in organising the main Brazilian WSF event, “Rio com vida!” (Rio Alive!), she felt part of “a wonderful new thing.”

Jucá said that over 1,000 young people and music bands have registered, as well as 70 organisations, for the open-air event Saturday at the Aterro do Flamengo park in the south of Rio de Janeiro.

Plans for the Day of Action in Rio include 90 concerts of different musical styles, debates, poetry readings, exhibitions of videos and photographs, theatrical plays, art exhibitions, and organic food fairs. The highlight will be a grand concert starring Brazilian samba singer Martinho da Vila.

“We are seeing a new phenomenon: a politically aware generation exists, and it’s strong. It’s the Internet generation. Young people are finally reacting,” said Jucá.

One of the tents at the Rio de Janeiro meeting will, in fact, be devoted to Internet use, with fast new programmes available to download image files, and to connect Brazilian WSF participants with those in other cities around the world via the Skype voice transmission system.

The organisers regard the Internet, used predominantly by young people, as a key tool for arranging the first Forum, and for its subsequent expansion at different meetings around the world.

According to Grzybowski, the Internet allows global actions to be planned at the last minute, and this year it is enabling a decentralised WSF to be held in some 800 cities in 72 countries. This year’s format has no “central meeting” and is “a trial run”, he said.

This idea arose from research on WSF participants, which showed that the majority of participants come from the country where the WSF meeting is held. In the case of Kenya, it was 69 percent, and in Venezuela, 92 percent.

This information, IBASE says, demonstrates the need to review past experiences and to improve people’s access to the Forum.

“The big advantage of the new decentralised format is that more voices can join in,” said Rosana Heringer of Action Aid Brazil, a non-governmental organisation which is contributing to the WSF Day of Action in Rio.

Decentralisation is also a key feature of the activities to be held within each country. In Brazil, global issues like the shortage of water will be addressed, from a local perspective, in 19 cities.

It’s a great march of ordinary citizens, and it’s expanding throughout the world, said Grzybowski.

The WSF Global Day of Action is being held, as usual, in parallel with the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, an annual meeting of political and economic elites aiming to shape the world agenda. According to Grzybowski, the dominant theme in Davos this year is the “terror of losing money on the stock markets.”

“This is not a problem for our Forum. On the contrary, it confirms what we’ve been saying all along, that another world is possible,” he concluded.

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