I do wish the World Social Forum had been invented when I was a student. It's a perfect environment for the young and socially aware especially, though also for everyone else with a cause to fight for, an injustice to highlight. And there are of course, among the tens of thousands here in Nairobi, plenty of youg people, along with a good number of people of a certain age, a few of whom look like they never quite left the hippie trail.
I hadn't quite appreciated the chaos that 150,000 extra people would cause Nairobi's already fragile transport and communications facilities, not to mention accommodation. Last week I met a mad Dutchman who'd scoured the city in search of somewhere to stay - even the red light district, he said - but without success. And the number of people taking the odd nap in and around the WSF meeting area suggess that many others may also have found nowhere to lay their heads.
Then today I chaired a two-hour session on climage change in an open-ended tent. Thankfully the amplification system worked well (it doesn't always). because we were regularly distracted by a variety of protest marches going past: democracy in Zimbabwe, Americans out of Somalia, and so on. None of them could have consisted of more than 40 or 50 marchers, but with their whistles and drums, songs and chants, they made enough noise for hundreds, albeit briefly. But nobody frowned at the interruption: this is what the World Social Forum is all about.
Our subject was 'Water, climate change and the environment', and as two of the three speakers were Kenyan the emphasis was very much a local one. The problem of conflict caused by water shortages, the impact on tourism, the need for responsible leadership and the call for an Adaptation Fund unique to Africa were among the issues raised.
The discussion was all very good natured - probably too much so. One Kenyan in the audience called for a return to what he called the 'banana roots' - raising awareness of the climate crisis at community level and encouraging everyone to do what they can. A number of others stressed the importance of water, but noone raised the difficult issues: carbon trading, offsetting and all that.
In fact there's relatively little here for those who are passionate about the climate. In general, debt and trade issues predominate. Surely next time the WSF meets (when and where is not yet clear) things will be very different.
Meanwhile, back to the dilemma about whether or not to bring back a T-shirt that's the ultimate in bad taste: that image of Saddam with the noose round his neck, but with a very worthy message about democracy beneath it. Watch my front.
Climate Scam: NGO credibility hit a new low. The shame much worse than their Rwandan Genocide culpability
NGOs have moved from back stage to centre stage in world politics, and are exerting their power and influence in every aspect of international relations and policy making. They have in most part, been a positive force in domestic and international affairs. However, in recent times, various global Climate Justice Networks have popped up. These are platforms mainly constituted and controlled by Northern NGOs.
We as member of the NGO fraternity or general public seldom research their record of accomplishment; or ask awkward questions on northern NGOs policies; or chase facts behind their claims and publicity spin. One of the most basic questions as we dig deeper is what kind of credentials do these northern NGOs possess to champion justice issues. Simply put - are they committed to principles of justice as portrayed in their carefully cultivated public image?
If we go back to history, what we find is that they have a chequered past in terms of justice credentials. Rwandan Genocide until now had been regarded as the worst shame of NGO behaviour. This was genocide where an estimated 800,000 were massacred. The nineties saw NGOs soul-searching on such behaviour even as today NGO workers remain mentally scarred of experiences such as Rwanda. Apparently lessons have not been learnt as we find that through their climate advocacy they have not repeating the mistakes of the past but the shame hit a new low.
Read more: http://devconsultancygroup.blogspot.com/2010/09/climate-scam-ngo-credibility-hit-new.html
Posted by: Rajan Alexander | October 03, 2010 at 03:31 PM