Saturday (31st January 2009) saw the close of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Belém do Pará, Brazil.

The three day event featured exhibition space devoted to the the theme of ‘Collective Rights of Peoples’, which discussed issues related to self determination, minoritised languages and indigionous peoples. It was the first time that such a theme has been held at the WSF and was run in collaboration between Escarré international Centre for Ethnic Minorities and Nations (CIEMEN) and the Catalan Agency for Development Co-operation.

Quim Arrufat, who is in charge of international relations for CIEMEN, said that one of the aims of the exhibition was to:

"bring the World Social Forum process, the aims of the alter-globalization movement and the existence of other stateless peoples to the attention of the Catalan public."

In turn, Andreu Felip, who is the Director of the Catalan Agency for Development Co-operation, said that the idea behind the theme of the ‘Collective Rights of Peoples’ was to say "... that another world is not possible if the right to self-determination of nations is not respected. " Mr Felip added that the aim was also "to set up a worldwide network comprising peoples which have their national rights restricted or unresolved”.

The European Free Alliance Youth (EFAy) is currently working on a short film project, which will be launched in March 2009, giving the views of people across Europe on the topic of self determination and what it means to them.

Links:

CIEMEN

Nationalia

World Social Forum 2009

Blog of exhibition