THIS IS LIFE

By Susan Mwape Cultural and Traditional songs, dances and solidarity messages formed the opening expression of the 3rd edition of the Southern Africa Social Forum (SASF) convened at the Civil Stadium in the capital Lilongwe, Malawi. Over two thousand social activists from Southern African countries will be together at this ‘bwalo’ (gathering) from this Friday to Sunday, 13th to 15th October 2006 deliberating on the region’s social economic and social challenges. SASF is a prelude to the Africa Social Forum (ASF) and the World Social Forum (WSF) which are a people’s platform, opposed to the profit driven World Economic Forum. The First and Second editions of SASF were held in Zambia and Zimbabwe 2004 and 2005 respectively. In his welcoming speech, Collins Magalasi of the host Malawi was full of praise for the delegates saying their presence was manifestation of solidarity saying being the host Malawi’s expectation were that social forum principles of freedom of expression and freedom b

By Susan Mwape The youth camp that is running parallel to the third Southern Africa Social Forum (SASF), this is a platform for young people to express their views and try to find solutions to problems that affect the youth in the region. The camp also seeks to analyse the impact of activities and find solutions to youth problems. During the deliberations at the camp, youths felt that having the youth camp away from Civil Stadium forum is a sign that the youth and their issues have not been taken seriously, they feel that they are marginalised. Kondwani Kanjo from Malawi gave an example from the bible, “it’s like in the bible where leapers are thrown out of the village”. He said. The youth further observed that time table of the forum hadn’t mentioned the youth, it was at this point that they youths decided to march back into camp to express their displeasure and also show that the ‘lepers’ have resurrected. Youths discussed the issue of being used by politicians to disrupt politics, t

By Susan Mwape The 2007 World Social Forum (WSF)in Nairobi, Kenya will be a meeting point of global civil society, it will provide an opportunity for African activists and Civil Society Organisations to put on the agenda global solidarity towards the development of Africa. The world will focus its attention on Africa during this period. Preparations are underway all around Africa, and it is envisaged that the 2007 WSF will play a significant role as this will be the second time that such a massive gathering will be held in Africa after the Bamako, Mali, Polycentric in 2006. With regard to the WSF, a Regional Committee of the Southern Africa Social Forum has constantly tried to focus on how Africa can make an impact in Nairobi in January 2007. Zambia conceived the idea of a caravan going to Kenya for the WSF. It was envisaged that the movement would be seen as a caravan towards an oasis, this being Nairobi. The caravan is planned to start from Cape Town all the way to Nairobi through Zi

By Susan Mwape Cultural and Traditional songs, dances and solidarity messages formed the opening expression of the 3rd edition of the Southern Africa Social Forum (SASF) convened at the Civil Stadium in the capital Lilongwe, Malawi. Over two thousand social activists from Southern African countries will be together at this ‘bwalo’ (gathering) from this Friday to Sunday, 13th to 15th October 2006 deliberating on the region’s social economic and social challenges. SASF is a prelude to the Africa Social Forum (ASF) and the World Social Forum (WSF) which are a people’s platform, opposed to the profit driven World Economic Forum. The First and Second editions of SASF were held in Zambia and Zimbabwe 2004 and 2005 respectively. In his welcoming speech, Collins Magalasi of the host Malawi was full of praise for the delegates saying their presence was manifestation of solidarity saying being the host Malawi’s expectation were that social forum principles of freedom of expression and freedom b