A world that is changing with new countries emerging, to oppose the usual oppressive superpowers brought a new optimism and confidence for a better future, that was shared by all the participants and organizers gathered in Cheikh Anta Diop University to participate in the grassroots anti neoliberal forum.

Financial capitalism together with neoliberal policies led societies to the brink of the abyss. The debt crisis which hits a growing number of European states brings right out into the open the failure of the Euro and the serious defects in the construction of Europe. The World Social Forum is the point of convergence of the people coming from the North and the South, the place where common alternatives will respond to the closed meetings of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
A numerous delegation of the European Left headed by its President Pierre Laurent, and composed by MEPs and national MPs, have participated in the World Social Forum in Dakar from 6-11 February.  The delegation took part in different seminars such as the ones organized by Transform! Europe co-organised with other partner organisations.

During the works of the WSF a tripartite meeting of the European Left with the Sao Paolo Forum and the African Left Networking Forum took place to discuss the common problems the three continents are facing, and how international solidarity and common struggles can be victorious.
 
Despite some normal and small organisational problems for a forum of this dimension, the WSF managed to unify the social movements on several points and issued statements supporting Palestinian liberation by the People's Movement Assembly on Palestine, a declaration of support for "the people of Tunisia, Egypt and the Arab world who have risen up to demand a true democracy and build people's power" from the assembly of social movements, a demand for a 50% cut in emissions by the Climate Justice assembly, a call for an end to tax havens and the launch of an awareness campaign on the forthcoming G20 meeting.

Another document, considered historic, that came out of a deliberation of social movements in Dakar, is the world charter of migrants, resulting from work on a planetary scale that establishes a series of principles in the image of the Universal Human Rights Declaration: freedom of movement on our planet and the right to residence like the free movement of goods and capital; equal rights in all spheres of life between migrants and nationals in host countries and the right to full citizenship based on residence and not nationality.

While on one side of Africa, one hundred thousand people gathered in Freedom Square in the capital of Egypt, to call for the end of a 30 year old oppressive dictatorship and to fight for a free and democratic society, on the opposite side of the continent, this call was heard by seventy thousand activists from all over the world at the World Social Forum, in Dakar, where it was decided to name March 20 as the symbolic day of solidarity with the rebellion of the Arab world. A second day of joint action is planned for October 12, a day already symbolic to the indigenous resistance in Latin America, which will this year also be a global day of struggle against capitalism.

 
From the Final Declaration:
 
"The Social Movements Assembly summons the forces and popular actors of all countries to develop two large demonstrations, coordinated at the international level, to participate in emancipation and self-determination of people and strengthen the struggle against capitalism," says the statement released during the assembly of participants from 123 countries.

 
The final text of the 10th anniversary of the World Social Forum celebrates the important role of the movements meetings over the last decade, especially in South America, and warns of "capital, hidden behind the illusory promises of economic progress and political stability ". It has provoked a crisis that has spread to food, environment, finance and economics, leading to increased migration and forced displacement, exploitation, debt levels and social inequality. “Climate change and preparation for the next conference in Durban (COP 17) are also prominent in the declaration, showing the great concern of worldwide social movements: "Climate change is a product of the capitalist system of production, distribution and consumption.
Transnational corporations and government financial institutions that serve them do not want to reduce emissions. Denouncing the 'green capitalism' and the false solutions to the climate crisis, such as biofuels, transgenics and mechanisms for a carbon market that delude the poor with false promises of progress while privatizing or destroying forests and areas where populations have lived for thousands of years. " Besides, the privatization of public services and common goods such as water, air, land, seeds and mineral resources "endanger life and nature, expropriating our land and developing seeds and genetically modified goods, taking from the people the right to food and destroying biodiversity. "

 
Read the whole text here