SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2007
GLOBALISING FROM BELOW
Aye Aye Win (Burma)
Tens of thousands of social activists from all corners of the world will soon descend upon Nairobi for the 7th edition of the World Social Forum the first time for Africa to host this global gathering. In its heydays, the WSF was a place to which most faithful social activists must journey, an experience which they must undergo. However, 7 years on, there has been much talk of the WSF losing steam and much talk of the global gathering becoming irrelevant. Whereever these discussions may go, one thing is clear. The original rallying call of the Forum Another World is Possible is still very much relevant today. The time has come to place the global process for change under the leadership of the very people - billions of women, men and young people around the world - who are in the frontline of the struggle for survival. |
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We have spent the past years letting off steam on the corporate-led neo-liberal globalization process and the widespread suffering caused by the unjust global political and economic system. There have been a lot of talk and also some joint action.
The time has now come not only to focus on the external actors and the power imbalances out there, but also have an honest reflection on the way we work and the way the NGO community is organized and the power imbalances therein. It is not simply about power imbalances at a global level between the northern and southern NGOs, and not even about the power imbalances at the national level between NGOs and Community Based Organisations (CBOs). We have to go beyond and reflect on the way we work and whether as social activists we are doing enough for the empowerment of the affected communities. When we talk of empowerment, are we also prepared to be disempowered ourselves? When we talk of participation of the poor in our work are we really listening to and learning from them? Is our work genuinely guided by their experiences and concerns?
No one knows better about poverty than the billions of women, men, boys and girls living in the most deprived conditions, not knowing where the next meal will come from, or how long they will be living in a shed they call their home. No one knows better about exclusion than those who are constantly marginalized because of the social or physical status. No one knows better about injustice than those who are daily facing injustice. No one has greater self-interest to transform the situation than the affected communities themselves.
Social injustice in Nairobi like in many other places in the world is clear for all to see. A visit to the Kibera Peoples Settlement should be enough. With your own eyes you will see, with your own ears you will hear and have every sensation sore through your body on the extent of poverty - the most demeaning conditions in which human beings have been subjected to live. Why is it that the poor have the worst of everything? The most hazardous places either next to railway lines or under power lines, highly cramped conditions, without proper drinking water or basic human necessities like toilets? Yet in Kibera across the railway line that divides the poor and the rich, there were acres of well-kept green for an exclusive golf course benefited only by the elite. Yes, right here in Nairobi, you can see poverty in such inhuman conditions; yes you can see social injustice in such stark visual terms.
Why is it that the rules governing our lives are always written in favor of the already rich and powerful? This is true at the global level. It is true also at the local level. It is clear that the deep rooted structures of discrimination, the structures that continually marginalize the already weak and vulnerable, must be tackled. Vicious cycles of humiliation must be stopped.
What we need is nothing less than a local-global social transformation.
As an optimist, I am quite hopeful that such a transformation can happen. It can happen through use of a compelling moral and legal framework like that provided by human rights which can help tackle these deep rooted structures of discrimination. It can happen through leadership of the affected communities who are in the front line of the human rights struggle.
I have seen from my first visit in Kibera in May 2004 how amidst such material deprivation and injustice, there is a wealth of wisdom a wealth of energy and unfaltering determination for change. This has proved time and again with our work in the communities through the Get Up Stand Up Stand Up for your Human Rights projects in the settlements of Nairobi. Community groups like Ms. Koch in Korogocho and Voksnet in Kiambiu are doing amazing work to organize the communities and bring about change. Interaction with people like our brave and energy-abound women from the Women of Hope gives inspiration. Yes there is h
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