U.S. and Funder Participation in the World Social Forum

Different types of organizations from the United States have participated in the WSF: U.S.-based organizations that work internationally on issues ranging from development to the environment; domestic organizations whose economic justice work implicates cross-border policies, especially in the arena of trade and labor rights; labor organizations; and grassroots community organizations that focus on economic or environmental justice.

The WSF provides environmental activists, trade policy reform networks, human rights and gender rights organizations and others an important opportunity for coordinating with global allies to push for more humane and sustainable policies. Domestic federations like the AFL-CIO and their international counterparts have a prominent presence in the WSF advocating for workers’ rights and solidarity. International development and advocacy organizations such as Oxfam and Action Aid support and are deeply involved in the WSF as well. 

These and other participating organizations benefit by gaining a deeper and broader analysis, a stronger network, and a chance to develop new strategies in concert with others.

Under the auspices of the Funders Network on Trade and Globalization over 160 U.S.-based funders have participated in the WSF since 2002.  Foundation officers, individual donors and other funders participate in the WSF for a variety of reasons.

Some see it as an opportunity to explore new ideas, maximize opportunities for social change, or scan their field (if one’s particular interest is in human rights, social economies, community empowerment or models of global governance and accountability, one can be sure that many of the most creative thinkers in the world in each of those areas will be at the WSF).

Others attend to see how the rest of the world feels about a particular issue, whether that issue pertains to peace and security or to attempts to move beyond hydrocarbon economies. For yet others, it may be because they want to discuss ways in which problems in Albuquerque or Sacramento are similar to those in Dakar or Curitiba, and to see if solutions that have been brought to bear in one place can be appropriate and useful in another.

Many funders go to forge deeper links with their own grantees, and to help them generate new alliances across disciplines and geography.

In the end, WSF participation can be meaningful to different kinds of funders for different kinds of reasons:

• For international and domestic community development funders who want to understand better the role of social movements and cross-border/global organizing in designing development programs that address underlying causes of poverty;

• For grassroots or locally-focused environmental or social change funders (and their grantees) who understand the global dimensions of their issue areas, and want to build links to organizations working on similar problems in other countries;

• For funders of all kinds whose who see the gathering as a networking opportunity to observe and meet with current or potential grantees and their allies who organize sessions in the WSF.

The participation of funders and donors has allowed them to build a common analysis, in partnership with their grantees, of the underlying structural causes of community problems: the institutions involved, the flow of money, the constraints on democracy and other factors.

The space created by the World Social Forum allows tens of thousands of participants to learn by sharing experiences, reflect on their own connection to the multiple dimensions of globalization, and explore new strategies for designing compassionate and just alternatives to current policies and systems. 

In short, participating in the WSF exposes funders to those who are developing new alternatives to current policies and practices that govern peoples’ lives. In today's world of heightened global tensions and inequities, opportunities provided by initiatives such as the World Social Forum are needed more than ever.