4/7/2015
MS Mozambique - Social Forum: A platform for the civil society
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Social Forum: A platform for civil society in Mozambique One of the intentions behind the first Social Forum in Mozambique was to create a platform for the civil society in order to debate and coordinate activities. Time will show if the participants succeeded in laying the first stone. Fernando Menete is the executive secretary of the Mozabican Social Forum’s Organizing Committee. Photo: Per Bergholdt Jensen. Fernando Menete is the executive secretary of the Mozabican Social Forum’s Organizing Committee. Photo: Per Bergholdt Jensen. By Per Bergholdt Jensen, Information Officer http://web.archive.org/web/20070615215654/http://www.ms.dk/sw55684.asp
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MS Mozambique - Social Forum: A platform for the civil society
17. November 2006 The first ever Social Forum in Mozambique was held in Maputo between the 25th and 29th of October. The inspiration to make this whole event came from the World Social Forum that was held for the first time in Brazil in 2001. The day before the closure of the event, Fernando Menete, who is the executive secretary of the Social Forum’s Organizing Committee, has taken half an hour out of a busy schedule to talk about the background and the aspirations of the Social Forum. During the last couple of years Fernando has been planning this event along with members from several Mozambican NGOs, among them the MS Mozambique partner, AMOPROC. - What was the motive behind the Social Forum? “There were several motives behind this forum”, explains Fernando Menete. “First of all we wanted to secure a continuation of the World Social Forum and the African Social Forum here in Mozambique.” “Some of the organizations behind the forum in Mozambique had participated in these event and we felt the necessity to articulate and discuss global issues in a Mozambican context,” Fernando Menete says. “Subsequently the idea occurred of creating a national forum here, in order to create a national agenda we could take to the next WSF in Nairobi.” Common strategy The absence of a common focal point of the Mozambican NGOs also played a part in this context. There are a lot of associations, NGOs, local networks and forums in Mozambique, but not any real possibilities for them to interact across the whole country. The Mozambican civil society is generally speaking quite weak compared to other countries, especially outside the capital, Maputo. Therefore the Social Forum could be an important way of uniting and strengthening the Mozambican associations and organizations through interaction and dialogue. “We felt that there was a lack of a common strategy within the civil society when it came down to discussions on a national level. We thought that the Mozambican NGOs could benefit from sharing their experiences and points of views,” Fernando Menete explains. “We would like to coordinate and plan the activities of the civil society better in the future, so we can rationalize our efforts and avoid wasting resources and energy,” Fernando says. This year the organizers of the Social Forum had hoped to reach and motivate a lot of Mozambican organizations through the event. But at the same time they had been dreading a bit that the turn-out would be low, since it was the first time such a gathering had been held in Mozambique. The number of participants turned out to be far from overwhelming, considering the amount of NGOs and associations in the country. A lot of the meetings and discussions during the Social Forum only had a limited audience due to the organizers’ lack of distribution of information. Photo: Per Bergholdt Jensen. A lot of the meetings and discussions during the Social Forum only had a limited audience due to the organizers’ lack of distribution of information. Photo: Per Bergholdt Jensen. Creating space for the civil society The organizers also had the idea that most of the content of the Social Forum should not be planned too strictly beforehand, because they wanted to leave a space open for the participants in order to contribute with lectures, discussions, etc. This approach did not turn out to be overtly successful, since few took the lead. In general the forum suffered from a lack of planning, coordination and information about the different events. These flaws affected the number of participants. - Do you have any concrete goals you want to achieve with this Social Forum? “One of the goals was to create this space for the civil society in Mozambique, where we can meet to debate, exchange experiences and so forth. And based on this experience I believe we have succeeded in doing so,” Fernando Menete states. “We wanted to create a common ground for the civil society in order to get in dialogue with the government.” - Is it the intention of making some sort resolution or declaration on behalf of the Social Forum? http://web.archive.org/web/20070615215654/http://www.ms.dk/sw55684.asp
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MS Mozambique - Social Forum: A platform for the civil society
“No. The organizations will bring forward the results of their debates and discussions, and this will constitute the outcome of the forum,” Fernando Menete explains. He states that it would have been difficult to reach a consensus that could be turned into a resolution. On the other hand, the organizing committee behind the forum did not even try to come up with a declaration that could have been a stepping stone for the Mozambican civil society towards more political influence. The future of the Social Forum One of the most important tasks of this year’s social forum has been to establish the forum as a point of reference among Mozambican NGOs, so it will become an annual event. - Which expectations do you have to the Social Forum in the future? “We want to secure the participation of various groups in the future, such as academics and students, workers’ unions and syndicates, and possibly also “curandeiros”, who work with traditional medicine, because they represent an important group in the Mozambican society,” Fernando states. At the same time he recognizes that the planning of this year’s planning could probably improve. “One of the biggest challenges has been to dispense information to the different associations in the provinces, because it requires both money and other resources. We have certainly had difficulties,” Fernando admits. “But this has also been a learning process.” Despite the difficulties, the Social Forum has managed to pull off thanks to the good will and enthusiasm of the participants. The organizers are confident that this is only the beginning and that next year’s forum will improve and manage to unify the civil society to a greater degree. Send to a friend Send to a friend
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