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The Lutheran World Federation
Lutheran World Information |
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| 28.01.2005 |
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| FEATURE: Contextualizing Lessons Learnt at World Social Forum |
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LWF Delegation Focused on Economic Justice, HIV/AIDS, Rights-based Issues
PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil/GENEVA, 28 January 2005 (LWI) – Lutheran pastor Augustine Jeyakumar participated in a World Social Forum (WSF) for the first time in January 2004 in Mumbai, India. It was also the first time that the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI) was taking part in the global gathering of civil society groups and movements. “The experience was so positive that in August 2004, the UELCI held a Lutheran World Social Forum, bringing together 80 participants from different levels of church leadership,” remarks Jeyakumar, executive secretary of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) National Committee in India.
This year Jeyakumar is a member of the 60-person LWF delegation at the January 26-31 WSF in Porto Alegre. “We learnt a lot the first time. The objective of participating in this event is to interpret and contextualize the information one gains here,” he says. The LWF team includes member churches’ representatives drawn from 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and North America, as well as staff from the Geneva secretariat and from the Department for World Service (DWS) field programs.
Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, LWF/DWS program officer for sustainable development and environment sees the WSF as a great opportunity to gather different people and ideas and foster global strategy to encounter common concerns. “With its unique diversity, the WSF is an excellent space for understanding the problems and issues faced by civil society today,” he notes.
The LWF is part of a global ecumenical coalition that includes the World Council of Churches (WCC), Association of WCC-related Development Organizations in Europe (APRODEV), Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, Caritas Internationalis, International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity, Young Men’s Christian Association, Young Women’s Christian Association, World Student Christian Federation, National Children’s Alliance, Ecumenical Forum in Brazil, and a host of other world-wide ecumenical organizations.
Under the overarching ecumenical theme, “Affirming Life in Dignity: Enhancing Justice and Rights in a Globalized World,” the LWF is organizing and cooperating with other ecumenical organizations in seminars, workshops and other discussion forums on interfaith dialogue and cooperation for peace and reconciliation; illegitimate debt; human rights and economic globalization; global governance; indigenous people and the right to food; violence against women; children in armed conflict; and HIV/AIDS.
Célia Medrano from the LWF/DWS Central America regional office is participating in the WSF for the first time, but has very clear expectations of the event: “The WSF must have effective results and continuous actions,” she says. She is concerned that the enthusiasm among WSF advocates does not “end up like a big party without concrete results.” But Medrano is also aware that the “enemies” of organized civil society movements are wary of actions that can arise from a meeting such as this one. “They fear that words can become actions,” she adds.
This year’s is the first WSF for Akberet Fre, LWF/DWS Eritrea program. She plans to take part in workshops and seminars that focus on human rights, equality and justice. “Independent since 1993, Eritrea is a young country that has only recently [begun to talk openly about] the rights of women and children," she says. Her goal “is to meet many people here in Porto Alegre, discuss different ideas and return home with new knowledge and experiences that can be applied locally.” She applauds the LWF’s initiative to organize such a diverse delegation to Porto Alegre.
The WSF is an open meeting where civil society groups and social movements engaged in building a people-centered civil society come together to share experiences, debate ideas, build networks and create possibilities. It was first held in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001 and is an ongoing process under the theme “Another World is Possible.” An estimated 120,000 people are expected to take part in 2,500 events scheduled by some 4,000 non-governmental organizations from 112 countries. (642 words)
(Reported for LWI by Porto Alegre-based journalist Susanne Buchweitz.)
(Photos from the WSF available free of charge at http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/photo-galleries/meetings/possibleworldtheology.html
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