This year’s World Social Forum (WSF) in Karachi, Pakistan, will see FORUM-ASIA (FA) participate in several activities, including panel discussions on human rights defenders and crisis in Nepal.

This year’s World Social Forum (WSF) in Karachi, Pakistan, will see FORUM-ASIA (FA) participate in several activities, including panel discussions on human rights defenders and crisis in Nepal.

From 15-20 February, FA participated in the preparatory meeting in Karachi, with the objective of exploring the possibilities of cooperation with different participatory organizations in the region, identify areas of concern and scope for future civil society interventions and to bring the issue of human rights violations to the WSF actively.

According to FA’s South Asia Programme coordinator Shekh Mohammad Altafur Rahman, FA also hopes to strengthen its activities in the region, include sharing and participating in future FA events, while developing a strong network among journalists on the Nepal campaign.

The World Social Forum is conceived as an open meeting place by groups and movements that are opposed to neo-liberalism and imperialism. In India many groups have expressed the need to innovate on the present structure of the WSF process, while retaining its essence. This was the process help to start regional forums such as the WSF in Karachi.