WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Pulling Together for a New Brazil

A different approach to politics, with mechanisms for society to define the kind of country it wants to build through the exercise of direct democracy, is the common purpose driving the social movements participating in the "Mutirao for a New Brazil."

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Small Ways to Solve Big Problems

"We were told to come for this celebration because it is a celebration to end poverty," Edward Njeru, driver of a tuktuk (a three-wheel vehicle used as a taxi in urban areas), said about the World Social Forum (WSF) that opened here Saturday.

SCIENCE: Group Seeks Ban on “Living Machines”

Anyone with a laptop and a mailbox could create their own bacteria or virus, for good or ill, thanks to a rapidly evolving new technology called synthetic biology, activists warn.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Venezuela Seeks to “Politicise” Meet

World Social Forum (WSF) participants from Venezuela associate left-wing politics with the struggles of social movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, but do not think that Africa is experiencing the same process.

NIGER: “The Capital Does Not Only Belong to the Rich”

The new year is looking much like the old for certain residents of the "Pays-Bas" shantytown in Niger's capital, Niamey. Four months after seeing their homes demolished in the name of safety and security, they are still waiting for resettlement at an alternative, developed site promised by authorities.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Latin America Longing for Another World

The presidential swearing-in ceremonies of former guerrilla Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua and left-winger Rafael Correa in Ecuador in the run-up to the 7th World Social Forum (WSF) are a graphic illustration of profound political changes in a Latin America that longs to see another world.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: A Tale of Budget Crunches and Midnight Oil

With just days to go before the seventh World Social Forum (WSF) kicks off in Nairobi it’s all systems go amongst the organisers, who are preparing to welcome thousands of delegates to the Kenyan capital for the Jan. 20-25 gathering.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Importance of Giving the WSF an African Flavour

This year will mark the first occasion on which an African country, Kenya, is serving as sole host of the World Social Forum (WSF) - a gathering which had its beginnings in the Brazilian town of Porto Alegre seven years ago.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: “We at the WSF Don’t Have an Agenda”

As many as 150,000 delegates from more than a hundred countries are expected to attend the upcoming World Social Forum (WSF), to be held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, from Jan. 20-25. And, expectations for the meeting appear as varied as the nationalities that will pass through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport en route to the Moi International Sports Centre.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Still a Stranger to the Public Eye

Defending human rights, democracy and diversity are its strongest point, but its "main defect" is lack of public visibility. That is how most participants viewed last year's World Social Forum (WSF), held in Caracas and Bamako, according to a survey.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: From the Burkinabe Countryside to Italian Tomato Fields

For Mady Daboné, Europe beckons. "Staying here...is misery," the 30-year-old from the village of Begdo in eastern Burkina Faso told IPS, adding that several of his friends were already abroad. "I have about twenty of them in Italy and Spain. They have all done well, even though they suffered at the beginning."

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-EL SALVADOR: Multinational Capital on the Offensive

International financial consortia have already squeezed local shareholders out of banks in El Salvador, and now they are expected to sideline the state, all of which will contribute to widening the gap between rich and poor.

NEPAL: Civil Society Protests Laggard Gov’t

Civil society activists who led the fight against the former royal regime are now risking jail to protest against the government they helped push to power.

COMMUNICATIONS: Developing Countries Set the Standards

Developing countries led by India, China, Brazil are now taking the lead in setting global standards in the rapidly transforming telecommunications sector due to convergence of hitherto separate communications and entertainment services, says Hamadoun Toure, the new secretary general of the Geneva-based International Telecommunications Union.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: On the Eve of the Nairobi Gathering, a Glance Back

Almost a year ago, IPS interviewed a cross-section of people in Mali to gauge expectations for the African leg of the 2006 World Social Forum (WSF), held in Bamako. Certain interviewees were sceptical about whether the meeting could effect political and economic change; others proved more hopeful. So, were their expectations realised?

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-CAMEROON: NGOs Long on Vision, Short on Detail?

As the countdown to the 2007 World Social Forum gains momentum, anti-globalisation activists from around the world are no doubt rolling up their sleeves for spirited debates on the flaws in the current economic order. In Cameroon, however, such debates are already underway.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM-KENYA: A Race to Leave Informal Settlements Behind

Come the 2007 World Social Forum (WSF), to be held in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi next month, many delegates will doubtless be seen running to and from various events. Some may also be running for an event, however: the 'Marathon for Basic Rights: Another World is Possible Even for Slum Dwellers'.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: “What Is WSF? Something That Will Bring Me Medicine?”

In just two months time the World Social Forum (WSF) will get underway in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, marking the first instance in which Africa is acting as sole host of the event.

DEVELOPMENT: India Social Forum Turns Focus on New Issues

What do you call a five-day-long gathering of 50,000 people, which features more than 350 panels, conferences, seminars and workshops on a range of social, political and cultural issues, along with film festivals, musical and dramatic events, and colourful marches by diverse groups dancing for different causes?

POLITICS: Thai Social Forum – Chance for the Voiceless Poor

When grassroots activists and academics gather this weekend for the first Thai Social Forum (TSF), they will have to thank the mid-September coup for giving this meeting extra political weight.

RIGHTS: Alternative Nobel for Man Behind WSF

Chico Whitaker Ferreira, a driving force behind the creation of the World Social Forum was announced winner of an 'alternative' Nobel Prize in Stockholm Thursday.