Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The 16th World Social Forum, which started in Kathmandu on February 15 with the slogan ‘Another World is Possible’, concluded on Monday.
The annual meeting of civil society organizations, first held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2001, saw participation from more than 1,400 social organizations and activists from 98 countries across six continents, according to Netra Timilsina, a member of the organizing committee of the 2024 World Social Forum, Kathmandu. The participants held discussions on a wide range of issues such as crises brought by the neoliberal system, war, inequality, discrimination, poverty, immigration, and climate change, among others.
The event began last Thursday with a colorful procession participated in by nearly 30,000 people. Workers, farmers, peasants, trade unions, women’s organizations, LGBTQI organizations, indigenous groups, ethnic organizations, civil society organizations, and social movements from across the globe participated in the march.
Over 400 presentations, workshops, discussions, and interactions were held on 13 themes – Economic Inequality and Economic Justice; Labour, Migration, Modern Slavery and Trafficking; Race, Caste, Ethnicity, Xenophobia, Gender, Sexuality, and Gender-Based Violence; Land, Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Natural Resources; Peace, Conflict and Security; Migration and Displacement; Education, Art and Culture; Media and Digital Equity; Democracy, Human Rights and Authoritarianism; Climate Justice, Ecology and Just Transitions; Social Movements, Civic Space and the Future of World Social Forum; and Women, Children, Youth, Adolescents, Aging People and Persons with Disabilities.
Cuban political and human rights activist Aleida Guevara, Indian human rights activist Medha Patkar, politician and activist Thomas Wallgren, Human rights activist Tala Nasir, economist and activist Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Dalit rights activist Ashok Bharti, farmers’ rights activist Wen Tiejun, and others addressed the Forum. Likewise, Shoya Yoshida, Secretary-General of the International Trade Union Federation, Asia Pacific, expressed her views at the Labor Forum.
According to the organizers, various social movements issued more than 60 declarations, pledging to continue to work towards the realization of another, fairer, and more just world. “Approximately 50,000 participants attended the live and webcast sessions with mixed participation in four sessions per day for three days on war, inequality, and contemporary issues,” the organizer said in a statement.
