Dear comrades
Greetings from Nepal Social Forum Secretariat

We are writing this email after an encouraging 'preparatory' meeting of
Nepal Social Forum which was held at NGO Federation with the participation
of more than 60 organisations working for alternatives. The meeting had
decided:
A.  to request event organisers to pay 3000.
B. It had also suggested to add the following themes for the event:
       1. Defined development indicators and implications in Nepal
       2. Education, employment and migration
      3. New political structures: Prospects and Challenges

C. Requested the participants/interesting comrades to voluntarily propose
names for various committees including fund raising committee, organising
committee, media mobilisation committee, venue management committee, etc.

The following are the process as of now:


*Events/participation confirmed from abroad*

1. Päivi Ahonen (Finland) Multilingual Education Program for mother tongue
education in 2008-2009

2. Samuday, Rosera, Samastipur, Bihar: Seeing the future of  education and
gender equality, land Gift (Bhoodan)  movement; Title of the event:  New
ways to revolutionize education and gender equality; Name(s) of Resource
Person: Adv. Kashu Shubhamoorty (LLM, University of Glasgow. UK), Er. Tina
Shubhamoorty (BE, MBA from University of Birmingham, UK)

3. Christian Aid UK: Title of the event: Illicit Financial Flows and Tax
Justice in South Asia:  Lessons Learned: Name(s) of Resource Person:
Towfiqul Islam Khan (Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh), Attiya Waris
(University of Nairobi), Sakshi Rai (Centre for Budget and Governance
Accountability, India), Matti Kohonen (Christian Aid UK), Sargon Nissan

TCI Foundation, Dr Munish Chander

4. Knowledge Steez: Ashish Badoni, Ankita Upadhyay and Ashish Badini

5. Universal Versatile Society:Narayan Solanke

6. Bhuvan Pathak, Uttarakhanada, india


*Events/participation registered from within Nepal*

1.NGO Federation of Nepal

2. friendly society club Nepal

3. Youth For Positive Change

4. palhi maitri samaj

5. Tax Justice Network & SADED

6. MOD: Pradarsan

7. Yanadi Education Society

8. SWAROJGAR LAGHUBITTA BIKAS BANK , BANEPA

9. Shantisamaj Nepal

10. Team NEPO

*11. JEEVANI NEPAL*

12. AYON - Nepal

13. Dalit Rights Association Nepal

14. Universal Versatile Society

15. National Forum for Advocacy Nepal-NAFAN

16. LIterary Academy for Dalit of Nepal (LAD-Nepal)

17. Youth for Social Welfare

18. RESCUE NEPALGUNJ

19. Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre (KIRDARC)

20. idf nepal

21. Nepalese Women Voice

22. Y-PEER Nepal

23. Centre for Educational Policies and Practices

24. Dalit Welfare Association

25. Knowledge Steez

26. Harpur Youth Club

*stall booking*

1. NITC

2. Jeevani Nepal

*food stall*

1. Ram Thapa


Balmiki Vidhyapith, Pradarsani Marg, Kathmandu has been booked as main
venue of the events and advance payment has already been used for the
purpose. We now need to speed up other activities including fund
collections. We have received commitments form SADED-Nepal, NAFAN,
ActionAid International NGO Federation, FES, INSEC, etc. for the
partnership with financial support. Please inform us if your organisation,
apart of your own event during the forum, is also willing to
contribute financially to the main committee?


It seems that many comrades have not filled up registration form. We wish
your support not only to fill up by you and your organisation, but also
forward others so that many others who were not aware about the event can
also do so. Registration is very easy if you click the following weblink:

http://nepalsocialforum.org/dynamic/orgevent



with warm regards




On Tue, Jan 30, 2018 at 9:02 AM, World Social Forum Nepal <
wsfnepal2013@...> wrote:

>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: YouthAdvocacy Nepal <youthadvocacynepal@...>
> Date: Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 1:50 PM
> Subject: Invitation for Nepal Social Forum-2018 process
>
>
> Dear Sir/ Madam,
>
> Namaskar!
>
>
>
>
>
>                   Subject: Invitation for Nepal Social Forum-2018 process
>
>
>
>
>
> The World Social Forum is an open meeting place where social movements,
> networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to
> neo-liberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of
> imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas
> democratically, for formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and
> network for effective action. The WSF is also characterized by plurality
> and diversity, is non-confessional, non-governmental and non-party. It
> proposes to facilitate decentralized coordination and networking among
> organizations engaged in concrete action towards building another world, at
> any level from the local to the international, but it does not intend to be
> a body representing world civil society. The WSF is neither a group nor an
> organization. It is neither an organization nor a united front platform.
>
>
>
>  As part of the world social forum, in Nepal, we are planning to organize
> a three days Nepal Social Forum on 8, 9 and 10 March 2018.  The major
> objective of Nepal Social Forum is to contribute to strengthen the idea of
> true federal democratic republican constitution that promotes
> participation, equality thorough equity, social justice and, sustainable
> peace.  In order to organize this forum, various round of meeting have been
> being held. As part of the process, we would like to invite you to the
> broader meeting of Nepal Social Forum organizing committee on following
> date, time, venue and agendas.
>
>
>
> Meeting details
>
> Date: 30th January 2018, Tuesday
>
> Time: 2-4 PM
>
> Venue: NGO Federation, Buddanagar, Kathmandu, Nepal.
>
> Agendas:
>
> 1.      Progress sharing
>
> 2.      Formation of various committees
>
> 3.      General/ event registration
>
> 4.      Fund raising
>
> 5.      Venue finalization
>
> 6.      Vivid
>
>
>
> We look forward to seeing you in the meeting
>
>
>
> With best regards
>
> Naren Khatiwada
>
> President
>
> Youth Advocacy Nepal (YAN)
>
> Cell: 9849006100 <984-9006100>
>
>
> For more details : Please find the concept paper hereafter.
>
> On Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 3:10 PM, Uddhab Pyakurel <upyakurel@...>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear Comrades
>>
>> I find a very good write-up to understand what is Social Forum and where
>> is it heading today. Please feel free to read and share your thoughts.
>>
>> Regards
>> Uddhab
>> [image: Home] <https://www.opendemocracy.net/>
>>
>>    - openDemocracy <https://www.opendemocracy.net/>
>>    - oD UK <https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk>
>>    - oDR <https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia>
>>    - oD 50.50 <https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050>
>>    - democraciaAdddbierta
>>    - TranDeesformation
>>    - ourBeeb <https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb>
>>    - About us <https://www.opendemocracy.net/about>
>>    - Support us→
>>
>> Reinventing the World Social Forum: how powerful an idea can be
>> FRANCINE MESTRUM <https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/francine-mestrum> 18
>> November 2017
>>
>> The collective in Salvador has succeeded in bringing together thousands
>> of organisations for preparing the Forum: the slogan is ‘to resist is to
>> create, to resist is to transform’.
>>
>> [image: open Movements] <https://opendemocracy.net/openmovements>
>> *The openMovements <https://opendemocracy.net/openmovements> series
>> invites leading social scientists to share their research results and
>> perspectives on contemporary social struggles.*
>>
>> *
>> <https://cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/wysiwyg_imageupload_lightbox_preset/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/corebranco-783x274.png>*It
>> was in 2001. Almost a generation ago now! The first World Social Forum
>> (WSF) was organised in Porto Alegre, Brazil, the city of the Workers’ Party
>> of future president Lula da Silva and the city of the participatory budget.
>> There was hope, much hope, and a belief that ‘another world’ was possible
>> and that we could shape it. This became the slogan of all future WSFs.
>>
>> There were not that many people at this first meeting, though the fact
>> that almost 15,000 people from all over the world gathered at short notice
>> was a real surprise. Those who had taken the initiative included people
>> from the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT), intellectuals from Latin America,
>> Africa, Europe and Asia, such as François Houtart, people from the French
>> monthly Le Monde Diplomatique… It was a real success and one year later
>> there were 50,000 making the trip to Brazil, with more than 1000
>> journalists! The World Social Forum was the reply to the World Economic
>> Forum in Davos and wanted to propose an alternative to neoliberal
>> globalisation.
>>
>> An ‘International Council’ was created in order to strengthen the process
>> and a ‘Charter of Principles’ was written containing the main rules for the
>> events.
>> Not in the name of the Forum
>>
>> One of the most important of these principles is that no one can ever
>> speak ‘in the name of’ the Forum. Participants can speak for their
>> organisations, possibly together with others, but not ‘as Forum’.
>> Organisations involved in the armed struggle are not welcome. The Forum
>> wants to be an ‘open space’, something that can be interpreted in different
>> ways and at the same time needs to be seen as a guarantee for
>> ‘horizontality’ – no hierarchies, self-management and the democratic
>> participation of all.
>>
>> [image: lead]
>> <https://cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/wysiwyg_imageupload_lightbox_preset/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/773806570_c9d2c0e39d_z.jpg>Opening
>> march of the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela in January 2006.
>> Flickr/Brooke Anderson. Some rights reserved.Initially, the
>> international council was a closed gathering of intellectuals who jealously
>> guarded their privilege, tried to control the Forum process and discussed
>> world political matters.[i]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_edn1>
>>
>> *Big crowds*
>>
>> After three very successful forums in Brazil, the event left for Mumbai,
>> India, with as much success. Nevertheless, the first small cracks came to
>> light when the anti-capitalists, refusing to envisage even the slightest
>> compromise, organised their own anti-imperialist forum, parallel to the
>> official WSF.
>>
>> Afterwards, we had a ‘polycentric’ Forum in Caracas, Venezuela, Bamako,
>> Mali and Karachi, Pakistan. One year later we moved to Nairobi, Kenya,
>> which was not a success because of failing organisation and a lack of
>> resources. We went back to Brazil with a gigantic Forum (150,000 people!)
>> in Belem and the focus on the Amazon region and its indigenous people. We
>> tried Africa once more but again the organisation was below zero.
>>
>> The rules which were set up to guarantee democracy and horizontality were
>> not as solid as expected. At each meeting of the international council –
>> twice a year – a new commission, a new working-party or another liaison
>> committee was necessary to mend the cracks.
>>
>> But the cracks kept emerging and the global left appeared to be as weak
>> as its national counterparts: bickering egos, divergent philosophies … the
>> European forums did not survive the endless squabbling.
>>
>> The belief in ‘another world’ came under threat after the events of 11
>> September 2001, and almost disappeared with the financial crisis of
>> 2007-2008. The WSF continued to gather, but became less dynamic.
>>
>> The Arab spring gave new hope and we organised an excellent Forum in
>> Tunis in 2013 and another one in 2015.
>>
>> The Canadians proposed a new formula for the WSF and organised one in
>> Montreal in the summer of 2016. It was fine, but there were hardly any
>> organisations involved. As is the case for many young people today, its
>> philosophy was focused on individuals, with little vision of the global
>> world.
>>
>> *Bursting cracks*
>>
>> The Brazilians were fed up. They were no longer keen to organise
>> international council meetings and had doubts on future world social
>> forums. A couple of times, there were real clashes at meetings and one had
>> to be an expert with lots of empathy to understand what was being said
>> during the debates. What was meant was hidden under several layers of
>> newspeak and empty concepts.[ii]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_edn2>
>>
>> It has often been said that the main problem of the WSF is the opposition
>> between NGOs and social movements. NGOs are said to be reformist with
>> little or no contact with their social base, whereas social movements are
>> supposed to be revolutionary and very popular. I do not believe this. Some
>> NGOs are very revolutionary and some social movements know perfectly well
>> how to keep their members in line.
>>
>> *So what’s up?*
>>
>> A first real problem is the failing and vague definition of the ‘open
>> space’, including its intrinsic ‘horizontality’. These are attractive
>> principles but they do need a concrete meaning. In any place where people
>> are gathering, in small or less small groups, power relations will exist
>> and these have to be monitored in a democratic way.
>>
>> If the ‘horizontality’ means that the really existing hierarchy remains
>> hidden behind a non-defined principle, problems with accountability and
>> transparency will necessarily arise. If structures are so complex that no
>> one knows who has to do what, misunderstandings are inevitable. A small
>> group within the international council continued to request a light
>> structure with clear responsibilities and transparency, to no avail. Those
>> who have power, especially if it remains invisible, will not accept any
>> changes.In Europe as well as in Latin America, Asia and Africa,
>> democracy is threatened. The differences are often smaller than they seem
>> to be at first sight.
>>
>> A second problem is that some of the Brazilian ‘fathers’ of the Forum
>> fear political positions.[iii]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_edn3> Even
>> if the first Forum was organised just before the elections that made Lula
>> president of the country – and promoting his candidacy – today, there is a
>> tremendous fear of touching anything political. This obviously is very
>> absurd when one wants to shape ‘another world’, but it does lead to a
>> permanent struggle between a small club of ‘fathers’ and the many dynamic
>> and younger members of the international council. The former do not want to
>> organise general forums any more and instead focus on thematic forums, such
>> as on water, migration or nuclear matters. They keep focusing on diversity
>> and the idea of ‘convergence’ makes them shiver.
>>
>>
>> <https://cdn.opendemocracy.net/files/imagecache/wysiwyg_imageupload_lightbox_preset/wysiwyg_imageupload/500209/Opening_walk_of_2002_World_Social_Forum.jpg>Opening
>> walk of the World Social Forum, 2002. Wikicommons/Passeata de Abertura.
>> Some rights reserved.The third problem, finally, is purely material: a
>> lack of resources. A meeting of the international council will easily cost
>> around 100,000 euros, except if all pay their own ticket. The budget for
>> the forum in Salvador is around 2.5 million Euro, a very modest amount
>> compared to previous forums. The fact that the international council paid
>> tickets for many of its members made it very easy to make alliances. Now
>> that this has stopped, it is only the more autonomous members who remain
>> and can put the ‘old guard’ in a minority position.
>>
>> Financial constraints, all over the world, make it very difficult for
>> many movements to make long trips. It explains why the last forums may have
>> been a success but were not really ‘global’ forums any more. The
>> participation of Africa has dwindled, Asian participation has almost
>> disappeared.
>> A new beginning
>>
>> The international council meeting in Porto Alegre in January 2017 was a
>> real turning point. Two and a half days long, discussions were serious and
>> calm, everyone fearing to repeat the clash of Montreal, where even in spite
>> of a consensus, it was not possible to condemn the ‘coup’ in Brazil. But
>> the last half day, the old guard flatly refused to envisage a next Forum in
>> Salvador in spring 2018. They were defeated …
>>
>> Now, in October 2017, another meeting of the international council took
>> place in Salvador in order to concretely prepare the Forum. It was a very
>> positive and constructive meeting, without any conflicts. The movements in
>> Salvador are very dynamic, all are very optimistic about the chances for
>> the next Forum.We have to act as adults, forget all egocentricity and
>> learn to search for what we have in common.
>>
>> A very interesting cooperation with the Federal University of Bahia, a
>> public establishment with more than 200,000 students, is very promising.
>> After the international council meeting, we had an international conference
>> with activists and academics, with very good results. For the rector of the
>> University, this is a unique opportunity for reaching out to society. The
>> opening ceremony was particularly moving, with, obviously, many discourses,
>> but also lots of music, theatre and poetry, and lots, lots of politics.
>>
>> These are politically difficult times for Brazil, the memory of the
>> military dictatorship remains vivid and moreover, in the same way as in
>> other parts of the world, a struggle needs to be organised against
>> budgetary cuts in education and research.
>>
>> The collective in Salvador has succeeded in bringing together thousands
>> of organisations for preparing the Forum, trade unions will be massively
>> participating, the slogan is ‘to resist is to create, to resist is to
>> transform’. In the same way as in the past, the Forums offered an
>> opportunity to directly listen to Chavez, Lula, Correa and Morales, the
>> proposal now is to invite Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders.
>>
>> All are very optimistic about the chances of the next Forum. The
>> movements are very dynamic and the international council can also take a
>> new start. From the one hundred and fifty movements on the list, fifty have
>> confirmed they believe in its future.
>> A global transversal gathering
>>
>> The WSF is not the only global Forum. Thanks to the many initiatives that
>> were taken from the 1990s onwards, many thematic networks have been created
>> and they continue their very useful work. But the WSF is the only global
>> transversal gathering where different groups can discuss their objectives,
>> their strategies and their campaigns. There is now a general understanding
>> that climate justice is not possible without social justice, that peace is
>> not possible without climate and social justice and that media play a very
>> important role in all these sectors. It therefore is urgent to sit and plan
>> together. In Mexico, a major Forum on migration will be organised in
>> November 2018 and we all know that labour law, climate change and peace
>> will have to be discussed there.In Mexico, a major Forum on migration
>> will be organised in November 2018 and we all know that labour law, climate
>> change and peace will have to be discussed there.
>>
>> Too many movements have now withdrawn to the local level and have
>> forgotten that local and global levels are not opposed or hierarchical.
>> They need to go hand in hand. Moreover, in Europe a new tendency to put up
>> more barriers is growing, whereas we need the opposite. The WSF can make an
>> important contribution to this.
>>
>> This Forum can be a new start. The old guard of the opponents has
>> certainly not disappeared and one may expect it will make itself heard once
>> again after March 2018. That is why major mobilisations in Latin America,
>> Europe, Africa and Asia are very important, because yes, another world is
>> possible. Does anyone believe the world today is in a better shape than
>> fifteen years ago? That the demands of the alter-globalist movement are now
>> irrelevant? We should not be afraid of politics, on the contrary. But we
>> have to act as adults, forget all egocentricity and learn to search for
>> what we have in common.
>>
>> Today, some global initiatives are worth defending, such as the social
>> protection ‘floors’ of the ILO, or the Sustainable Development Goals of the
>> United Nations. But these certainly deserve a boost from social movements
>> in order to make them really transformative. We have to act as adults,
>> forget all egocentricity and learn to search for what we have in common.
>>
>> Hopefully, many movements and people will participate in the Forum,
>> directly, in Salvador, or at a distance, thanks to the new technologies.
>> The very interesting local initiatives, in Europe, Africa or Asia can learn
>> from what is happening in Latin America, and vice versa. Working together,
>> movements are strengthened and better able to tackle the dominant system.
>> If the World Social Forum succeeds in giving a voice to many different
>> voices, in helping movements search for their commonalities, respecting
>> their diversity, this Forum can play a major role.
>>
>> In Europe as well as in Latin America, Asia and Africa, democracy is
>> threatened. The differences are often smaller than they seem to be at first
>> sight. By working together, we are stronger and have more chances to win.
>> We do not need new borders but have to build new bridges.
>>
>> The fathers of the World Social Forum have created a very powerful idea
>> <http://fsm2018.org/en/>!
>>
>>
>>
>> [i]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_ednref1> An
>> extensive literature now exists on the World Social Forum. Here are
>> mentioned some of the first and most important books : Fisher, W.F. &
>> Poniah, T., *Another World is Possible, *London, Zed Books, 2003; Polet,
>> F. (ed.), *Globalizing Resistance, *London, Pluto Press, 2004; Pleyers,
>> G., *Alter-Globalization. Becoming Actors in the Global Age, *Cambridge,
>> Polity Press, 2010.
>>
>> [ii]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_ednref2> For
>> a kind of overview, see Boaventura de Sousa Santos, ‘Indispensável
>> Reinvençao’ in *Carta Capital, *18 Outubro de 2017, p. 40.
>>
>> [iii]
>> <https://www.opendemocracy.net/francine-mestrum/reinventing-world-social-forum-how-powerful-idea-can-be#_ednref3> To
>> better understand the origins of the WSF, read Milcíades Pena, A. & Davies,
>> T.R., ‘Globalisation from Above? Corporate Social Responsibility, the
>> Workers’ Party and the Origins of the World Social Forum’ in *New
>> Political Economy, *2013.
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 8:07 PM, Uddhab Pyakurel <upyakurel@...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear WSF comrades
>>>
>>> I wish to inform you about the bi-lateral/multi-lateral consultation to
>>> revive Nepal WSF process. Some of our friends are for the national level
>>> Social Forum to be organised in Kathmandu in the first week of March 2018.
>>> If we feel like we can do it, we need to sit together and finalise the
>>> themes, registration process and deadline, etc.
>>>
>>> We expect your constructive suggestions shortly so that we can move
>>> ahead....
>>>
>>> regards
>>> Uddhab
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Uddhab Pyakurel, PhD
>> School of Arts, KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY, NEPAL.
>> +977-9841566932 <+977%20984-1566932> (Nepal)/+977-15535628
>> <+977%201-5535628>
>> Skype: uddhab.pyakurel1
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> *Nepal WSF Secretariat, **SADED-Nepal Office*
>
> *Sanepa, Lalitpur, **Nepal*
>
> *Email - wsfnepal2013@... <wsfnepal2013@...>*
>
> *Telephone - 977-1- 5542323*
>



-- 

*Nepal WSF Secretariat, **SADED-Nepal Office*

*Sanepa, Lalitpur, **Nepal*

*Email - wsfnepal2013@... <wsfnepal2013@...>*

*Telephone - 977-1- 5542323*

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