DECLARATION OF NAIROBI AND AGENDA OF COMMITMENTS (provisional text)

Declaration of Nairobi
Forum of Local Authorities for Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy

During the 1st World Social Forum of Porto Alegre, local authorities were present with the social movements assuming the Charter of Principles of the World Social Forum. In this 7th meeting of the FAL, in the context of the WSF in Nairobi, we have met again to assert the important role of local governments for Another Possible World.

The WSF of Nairobi –the first social forum in Africa- has meant an opportunity to establish links with African local governments and social movements. For this meeting in Nairobi there were organised workshops in Africities (September 2006), as well as a seminar in Milan with African local governments.

Neoliberal policies affect the daily life of our territories and of our citizens. We are still convinced that, from the local government, practices and experiences facing the neoliberal ideology of exclusion and domination are developed.

With the FAL Network, local authorities have participated, and still participate, in the movement of protest against the neoliberal ideology. They have participated including in the political agendas: peace, social inclusion, participative democracy, metropolis in solidarity, defence and promotion of public services, right to the city and to sustainable environment, and respect to fundamental rights (education, health, housing and access to water), guaranteeing rights to full citizenship, especially for migrant people.

With the FAL Network, a space for meeting, debate and exchange with the World Social Forum has been built. We want to strengthen these links, convinced that they are essential to build local-global alternatives, manifesting our denial of the criminalisation of protest and of the social movements. In this sense, we manifest our compromise as actors in the achievement of the Millennium Goals. Therefore, we stress the need for a strategic alliance between local authorities and social movements.

The FAL Nairobi has developed common seminars between social movements and local authorities in the framework of the WSF (see seminars and organisers in http://redfal.org).

We would like to strengthen this links –with all the local authorities and social movements wishing to do so- working on the following issues: territory, local governments, globalisation and neoliberalism. The event of the FALP for metropolises in solidarity is an example of our capacity to address these issues through alternative public policies.

Facing the situation of violent conflicts, famine, HIV/AIDS, occupation of territories of the African continent, we express our will to collaborate with African local authorities and civil society, who are showing their capacity to confront these problems generating creative solutions to the service of the human sustainable and inclusive development.

Open Agenda of commitments:

From a shared and corresponsible perspective, local governments will collaborate in the dinamisation of the FAL Network. They will assume the necessary tasks for a good development through the following axes:

• Strenghening the relationship with the World Social Forum (WSF).

• Strenghening the relationship with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), through the Commission on Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy and the Working group on Peripheral Cities, as well as the rest of the commissions.

• Keep developing the FAL Network, extending, opening and diversifying it. Fostering the exchange and link with thematic and territorial networks in the framework of the FAL.

The FAL assumes the commitment of linking itself to the process of the WSF supporting the World mobilisation day in January 2008, as well as the campaigns and struggles that come out of the WSF in Nairobi, such as: the campaigns for the right to housing, defence of public services and the reform of international institutions. And will follow the regional and thematic processes through the WSF 2009.

And, as specific activities that the FAL Network promotes, as initiatives open to proposals and to the collaboration of local authorities members of the FAL Network, as well as to social movements:

• Assembly on the right to housing. Bobigny and AIH, 2nd and 3rd February 2007

• World Forum on food security. URGENCI Network, Aubagne, February, 2007

• International Meeting on experiences of participative budget. Constitution of the Working Group on Participatory Budgets. Diputación de Málaga, 28th – 31st March 2007

• International Meeting of cities that undertake innovative practices on active social inclusion policies. Barcelona, 2007

• Meeting on the role of the metropolitan government and participative democracy in the framework of the 7th International Conference of the International Observatory of Participative Democracy. Nanterre. FALP Network for Metropolis in Solidarity, 2007

• World Water Assembly for citizens and elected representatives. Brussels, 18th -20th March

• UCLG World Congress. Jeju, 28th – 31st October 2007

• World Meeting “Participative Democracy from local to global”. Rhone Alpes, 10th – 12th December 2007

• Congress on new forms of citizenry for migrant people. Provincia di Milano, September 2007

• Meeting between local authorities and social movements against the criminalisation of protest and grassroot struggles. Caracas, October 2007

• Forum of Local Authorities in defence of public services. Córdoba, 2008

• Congress on Peace and City diplomacy. Provincia di Milano, March 2008

• 2nd FALP for Metropolises in Solidarity

Nairobi, 23rd January 2007