NEWS: 30/11/02

ACMICA TO SEND DELEGATE TO ACSF AND ASF

ACMICA works at the grassroots level but is also part of a worldwide movement committed to the production of an organic, more inclusive vision of creation and to bear witness to Christ before the world. Whenever we can, we seek to participate in regional or international forums and projects as a mean of engaging in intercultural dialogue and sharing. Three such opportunities have arisen and at the open meeting on 23 November, the Committee endorsed our participation at the upcoming Asian Civil Society Forum in Bangkok in December, the Asian Social Forum in Hydrabad in January, and a 6 months Cross-Cultural Volunteer Program in Sri Lanka.

The Asian Civil Society Forum (ACSF): December 9-13, Bangkok

UN-NGO Partnerships for Democratic Governance in Asia
"Building Capacities and Networks for Human Rights and Sustainable Development"

In the past decade there has been a rapid growth of NGOs in consultative relationship with the UN as many NGOs and civil society organisations joined forces with the UN in its efforts to address the challenges of corporate globalisation.

In recent years there has been an increasingly felt need to address the issues relating to UN/NGO partnership, as well as cooperation among NGOs. A key issue has been the empowerment of civil society in the Global South; a lack of resources and training has seriously inhibited the effectiveness of NGOs and civil society organisations.

Organised by the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), this conference will examine the diverse needs and challenges facing NGOs in Asia, and their role in promoting democratic governance and sustainable development.

Minh Nguyen will attend this forum as an Australian observer on the invitation of Anselmo Lee, the Secretary General of Pax Romana-ICMICA and Convener of the CONGO Working Group on Outreach to Asia. Minh's role will not only be to bring back lessons from other NGOs, but also to forge networks and contribute to a discussion on forming a Catholic civil society forum for the Asia Pacific.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.acsf.net/
http://www.ngocongo.org/

The Asian Social Forum (ASF): Hydrabad, India

If you recall, a few months ago we participated in the Sydney Social Forum, one of many local initiative inspired by the World Social Forum (WSF). The WSF is not an organisation or a united front platform but, according to its Charter of Principles:

an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and inter-linking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neoliberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a building society centred on the human person.

Thus, the WSF's human-centred, bottom-up project stands in direct opposition to the corporate-centred, top-down agenda of the World Economic Forum (WEF) held annually in Davos. Despite current organisational and strategic shortcomings, the WSF is still one of the most exciting anti-corporatist development in recent years, representing the "coming of age" of a movement. As Emir Sader argues, it marks "the shift from a period of fragmented, defensive resistance to a phase of accumulating forces, while looking towards the stage at which an international articulation of political, social and cultural movements can confront neoliberalism and overcome it." (Sader, "Beyond Civil Society" New Left Review 17, Sept-Oct 2002, 99).

There are regional counterparts of the WSF, part of a process of "construction and universalisation of the WSF." The most recent of these was in Europe (Florence). The next regional forum is in Africa (Addis Ababa), followed by the Asian Social Forum (Hydrabad).

ACMICA member Rachel Galea were invited to attend the Asian forum as the Australian Pax Romana representative, part of her 6 months long ACMICA overseas volunteer project in Sri Lanka at the Colombo Centre for Religion and Culture.

For more information:
http://www.wsfindia.org
http://www.worldsocialforum.org

Cross Cultural Education Project in Sri Lanka: January-July 2003

For information on this project, please click: Sri Lanka project.