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DEVELOPMENT: A New Challenge to Globalisation

Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Sep 11 2005 (IPS) - A new alliance to challenge the effects of globalisation took shape at an international forum in Milan this weekend.

Several thousand participants from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), political parties, international institutions and trade unions gathered in Milan Friday and Saturday for the second Global Progressive Forum (GPF).

The participants agreed to form a “progressive alliance to shape global political debate and counter the impact of religious ultra-conservatism and free-market extremism on international politics,” they said in a statement after their meeting.

“We have the consolidation of a global progressive community bringing together the party of European Socialists, the Socialist Group in the European Parliament and the group Socialist International, trade unions and non-governmental organisations,” Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, president of the Party of European Socialists (PES) and the GPF told IPS.

“There is a real desire and commitment to change the path of globalisation. Everyone is out in force to support the call for the end of poverty,” he added.

The GPF aims to develop an agenda on a range of themes including trade, AIDS and the United Nations, with a special emphasis on Africa.

The conference on ‘reforming globalisation by creating global progressive communities for change’ examined how international forces can act together to ensure “democracy, lasting peace, sustainable prosperity and social justice for all.”

Julian Scola, spokesperson for the PES in the European Parliament, said “people are keen for the GPF to develop more so that political groups, trade unions and NGOs can work together to make a difference.”

One of the first tasks of the new alliance will be to influence the outcome of the World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong later this year.

“Decent work and tackling poverty are issues that progressives will be putting on the table at the WTO talks in Hong Kong. The talks due in December could fail if there is no strong push from the developed world,” Harlem Désir, vice-president of the PES and the forum told IPS.

The timing of the forum was particularly relevant just days before the high-level United Nations summit in New York later this week.

Scola says delegates in Milan were keen to defend the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include a 50 percent reduction in poverty and hunger, universal primary education, and the reduction of child mortality by two-thirds. Their resolve follows U..S. attempts to make the UN abandon discussion on the goals at the meeting.

The forum also launched a new initiative, ‘Africa21’ that will involve policymakers and civil society organisations.

“This will be a campaign dedicated to assisting Africa on a permanent basis,” said Rasmussen. “We want to form a strong network that will be linked to the Internet and to the World Social Forum so that we can continue our work with Africa permanently.”

Giampiero Alhadeff, secretary-general of Solidar, a Brussels-based network of development NGOs, said the new alliance will push for the need to make decent work the driving force of globalisation.

“For us this means that all policies must be measured in terms of their impact on employment, social protection, equality between women and men, access to quality public services and the right of workers,” he told IPS.

Alhadeff said the forum was a success. “There were some very useful discussions and open debate,” he said. “We have started creating a social movement for the international forum with social and democratic leaders. People have realised politicians alone cannot solve the hard issues of globalisation; trade unions and NGOs have to be involved.”

Alhadeff says delegates were pessimistic about the forthcoming UN summit.

“The UN summit is in danger and people here are particularly worried about the U.S. view of the Millennium Development Goals. The events in New Orleans have also shown that the even the most powerful country in the world cannot always cope in a crisis,” he said.

In spite of such fears for the New York meet, Alhedeff is optimistic about the future of the alliance.

“The mood in Milan was buoyant. There were lots of young people here who are in this for the long haul. We are now planning for our long term goals,” he said.