KHADIJA MAGARDIE, Johannesburg | Friday
THE frenetic pace of activity in Geneva around the finalisation of the draft declaration for the World Conference against Racism is being matched by those working around the clock to touch up the controversial “unofficial agenda”.
As organisers limber up for the official conference, various NGOs, individuals and groups have already begun criss-crossing the globe in preparation for a spree of exhibitions, meetings and protests.
Shortly before the conference opening in Durban on August 31 an NGO forum will be held. There is optimism in several circles that this gathering will generate livelier debate and activity than the official proceedings.
Various stakeholders have launched the Independent Media Centre (INDI-Centre), also know as Izwe Labantu, which will be based at the conference.
It comprises various South African groups, including the Anti-Privatisation Forum, the Jubilee Movement, the National Land Committee and the South African National NGO Coalition (Sangoco). Among its key activities at the conference will be holding daily press briefings, screening information videos and films, and coordinating all planned protests.
“We are very optimistic, given that it is unprecedented to see so many groups working together,” says Salim Vally, of the Freedom of Expression Institute and one of the organisers of the INDI-Centre. He says it is necessary for protests to be carefully planned and managed to avoid chaotic, haphazard demonstrations that will have less impact.
Vally says the fact that several protests are planned is an indication that various communities and individuals equate the main topic on the conference agenda with “a specific form of neo-liberalism and globalisation”, which is necessarily racist.
The contentious issues of Zionism and slavery reparations have dominated talk around the conference, overshadowing other themes on the agenda. But in the days leading up to the conference, a more diverse showing of themes is expected.
Protests planned include a rally outside the Durban City Hall next weekend to raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle. The day before the conference opening there will be a World Court of Women against War and a For Peace protest, which is expected to have a high turnout. A mass rally in Durban, where The People’s Manifesto will be launched, is planned for opening day.
Vally is at pains to point out that the “unofficial agenda” has not been set up in opposition to the conference itself, but says it will “definitely be markedly different to the official declaration”.
Though attendees will only begin drifting into South Africa in earnest in two weeks, Vally says the INDI-Centre will play host to groups who will deliver presentations and holding meetings in the country beforehand.
A group representing Palestinians in the occupied territories will be arriving, including representatives from refugee bodies, lawyers for human rights organisations, women’s groups and a land rights NGO working with displaced Palestinian communities. The INDI-Centre will host a cultural evening for a visiting delegation of Palestinian refugees next week.
Many groups representing ethnic, religious and other minorities will hold exhibitions during the NGO Forum and give presentations at the conference.
Most of the protests have been organised according to specific themes, such as “Solidarity with Indigenous Struggles”, “Landlessness”, “Struggles for Basic Rights” and – although the item remains uncertainly on the agenda – “Reparations for Colonialism, Slavery and Apartheid”.
A kaleidoscope of people will take part in the protests, ranging from the Khulumani Support Group of South Africa, which has been campaigning for reparations for victims of apartheid, to a landless people’s movement from Brazil.
Visitors to the exhibitions hall will be able to obtain information on anything from religious groups (Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University, or the Quakers’ Peace Center) women’s organisations (Confederation of Spanish Widows’ Association) trade unions (our own Mynwerkers Unie) and groups representing indigenous communities, like the “Dalit” or so-called untouchables of India and the Romany (Gypsy) people.
Several local political parties, including the African National Congress and the Freedom Front, will be exhibiting.