Participating/ Pakistan
Fishermen defend their fundamental rights
Repression, resistance! On November 4, 2007, the members of the Pakistan Fishermen Forum (PFF) were assembled at the Press Association of Karachi not to discuss problems related to fishing, but to support the spontaneous protest by members of civil society against the martial law imposed by Pervez Musharraf. Read this article.

Demonstrating/ Sri Lanka
The 2008 World Social Forum, best antidote to civil war
More than 1300 people from all over Sri Lanka met in Colombo, the capital, last January 26, to participate in a global day of action organized under the framework of the 2008 World Social Forum (WSF)1. The slogan “A better Sri Lanka is possible” addressed itself to Sri Lankans who “oppose war, militarism and racism; neo-liberal attacks on living standards and livelihoods of the poor; and imperialism dressed up as globalization,” according to the words of B. Skanthakumar, Sri Lankan activist of the Law and Society Trust of Colombo. Read this article.

Training/ India
The textile industry, incubator for the creation of workers’ unions
A hundred men and women, all of them workers in the textile industry participated last summer in training for the unionization of the Kolar Gold Fields, a collection of mines in India located south of Karnataka. Organized by the Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia (Fedina), this training is part of a program to inform workers about work-related legislation and their valid expectations for working rights. Read this article.

Cooperating/ Indonesia
The Bali Conference, the popular side of environmentalism
To propose popular environmental policies as an alternative to state policies; this was the leitmotiv of the shadow conference held in Bali last December in parallel to the conference of state representatives on climate change. This meeting, organized by Indonesian activists supported by international organizations such as the Vía Campesina1, materialized in the form of a village called “solidarity for a cool earth”. 150 participants from the Vía Campesina, hailing from about twenty countries, joined the Indonesian participants. The activity of the group was concentrated during a morning of action, named “Movement of the Bali social forum.” Unfortunately, the village, which was very remote and not well covered by the media, was only really seen by activists. Read this article.

Informing/ China
Play Fair 2008: for the principles of the Olympics in Chinese factories
Respect the rights of workers in the sports equipment sector! Hong Kong, June 2007: representatives from numerous international associations, notably Chinese ones, met in front of the national seat of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Hong Kong. They came to present to the IOC and the public their report on working conditions in multiple Chinese factories. Thus, for the first time, they attracted the interest of the general public, Chinese as well as international, to their united campaign, known as Play Fair 20081. This campaign fights for more equitable working conditions in the factories producing the sporting equipment for the next Olympic Games in Beijing. The campaign has become nearly as international as the games themselves. On the downside, the campaign faces many problems in China due to the government, which forbids any action which might taint the image of the games. Read this article.

Testimony/ India
A popular play in India mobilizes young people against exclusion
Common destinies in India, voiceless and faceless, become the principal characters in Unsuni, a musical-theatre production, directed and presented by Mallika Sarabhai, a very well-known Indian dancer and the director of the Darapana Academy of Living Arts in Ahmedabad. The work attempts to raise awareness and motivate Indian society, especially young people, on the conditions of the poorest people and the excluded in India. It is a popular and didactic production, performed for two years now in more than a hundred pedagogic institutions throughout all of India. The theatre troop has started a social movement called “I Care” and has already recruited 7000 young volunteers during the debates which follow the performance. Read this article.

Portrait/ India
Sreeni, a social activist at heart!
Sreeni is a “pilgrim of peace” who has chased his dream of greater justice and well-being for the marginalized and extremely poor full time since he was 19. For five years he has worked with Ekta Parishad, notably on access to land through non-violent means. He tells us about his way of life. Read this article.