WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: What They’ll Talk About in 2007

With dozens, if not hundreds of organisations likely to attend next year's World Social Forum (WSF) - and almost as many issues clamouring to be addressed there - nailing down a programme for the Jan. 20-25 event promises to be a daunting task.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: China Has Issues Aplenty, None to Share

For a country in the middle of a huge urbanisation process, involving the movement of hundreds of millions of peasants to the cities, China had surprisingly little to share with its developing counterparts at the World Social Forum, that concluded in the Pakistani city of Karachi on Wednesday.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Not Enough for Regime Change

As the polycentric sixth World Social Forum (WSF) drew to a close in Pakistan's principal port city, on Wednesday, participants were left wondering what kind of impact it would have on the military dictatorship that hosted the five-day event

DEVELOPMENT-INDIA: Last Ditch Try at Saving the Narmada River

For 20 years, thousands of people living on the banks of the Narmada river have kept their faith in India's independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, and used non-violence to protest the building of a mammoth dam that will submerge their homes.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Different Continents, Similar Problems

There is much that separates Africa and Asia, not least ethnicity, culture and language. But, as the third and final leg of this year’s World Social Forum (WSF) gathers momentum in the Pakistani financial centre of Karachi, the hope is that civic groups will build on common aspirations for the two continents.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Nepalis Take Two-pronged Approach

Expect to see Nepal's unique two-pronged flag fluttering often at the World Social Forum (WSF) in Karachi until Tuesday. Groups based here that are attending the meet say they will both lead and hop aboard protests against King Gyanendra's rule as well as push their own unique social agendas.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Polycentric and Losing Focus

While a buzz of excitement surrounds the World Social Forum, now underway in the Pakistani city of Karachi, veteran activists and political scientists here are having reservations over the regional approach to the global event, with some even unaware it was taking place.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: A Chance to Reach ‘Missing’ Persons

Of several local issues bound to get an international airing during the World Social Forum that opens here on Friday, most deserving is the case of persons gone 'missing' as a result of this country's deep involvement in the 'war on terror' prosecuted by the United States, in neighbouring Afghanistan.

PAKISTAN: Old Railway in the Running for Rapid Transit Plan

Transport authorities in this port city, that will host the Asian chapter of this year's polycentric World Social Forum (WSF) in March, are looking at reviving a disused railway system, rather than building more concrete flyovers and underpasses, to ease congestion on the roads that has reduced traffic to a permanent crawl.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Spirit of Bandung Alive and Well in Bamako

As the sixth World Social Forum (WSF) got underway in the Malian capital of Bamako, Thursday, memories of another landmark meeting were in the air – namely the Bandung Conference, held in the Indonesian city of the same name in 1955.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Cynicism and Hope Ahead of the Bamako Gathering

With just a day to go before Africa's first-ever World Social Forum (WSF) gets underway in Mali, attitudes towards the meeting appear somewhat mixed in the West African country.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Lack of Sponsorship Undermines Mali Gathering

Plans to send a large contingent of Kenyan campaigners to the African leg of the World Social Forum (WSF) may be undermined by a lack of funding.

DEVELOPMENT: An “Award” Corporations Don’t Want to Win

The annual meeting at Davos, Switzerland organised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) usually brings juicy benefits for transnational corporations, except for a handful that are singled out for a dubious distinction by civil society groups: the Public Eye Awards for irresponsible corporate behaviour.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Global Protest with a Caribbean Twist

Venezuela, under the leftist government of President Hugo Chávez, has placed itself squarely in the centre of the political debate in Latin America, which the World Social Forum (WSF) has recognised by moving one portion of its annual meeting to this South American nation.

UNITED NATIONS: Veteran Official Defends World Body

''We need the UN more than ever,'' says Nafis Sadik, an eminent member of the high-level panel on threats and challenges faced by the world body.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Are Better Communications Possible?

Next year, when the World Social Forum (WSF) is "decentralised" and held in a number of different and still undetermined venues around the globe, the need to remedy the event's ongoing deficiencies in communications, both internal and external, will be even more pressing.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: ‘Globalising’ Porto Alegre

An anti-FTAA march and a series of concerts marked the culmination this Monday of the fifth World Social Forum (WSF), which will be divided from this point forward into a number of simultaneous meetings around the globe.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Risks Posed by Success

The World Social Forum could become a victim of its own success, as loud calls for translating ideas and talk into action and practical results threaten to generate divisions and frustration.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: The Consensus of Porto Alegre?

In a bold break with the concept of the World Social Forum as a horizontal, open space, a group of personalities draft a programme and urge participants to approve it

RIGHTS-INDIA: Tsunami-Like Devastation Hits Mumbai Slum Dwellers

The scene left behind once the bulldozers had plowed through the slums, here, resembled the devastation wrought by last month's Indian Ocean tsunami. The slum dwellers were not forewarned and they just ran, grabbing anything they could save from the destruction - a schoolbag here, a cooking pot there.

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: Starring Role for the Doha Round

The World Economic Forum's 2005 meeting will be remembered more for having served as the scenario for the reinvigoration of the Doha Round of trade talks than for the statesmen and celebrities who visited this Swiss mountain resort this week.