Caribbean Net News: Social Caribbean Forum: A step towards unity in the Caribbean?

BASSE-TERRE, Guadeloupe: The first Social Caribbean Forum began on July 5 in Fort-de-France in Martinique and will last until July 9. During the event, hundreds of Caribbean men and women will discuss what is currently referred to as �another world�.

For many, this historic meeting signifies the official launch of a united Caribbean region. The initiative results from a lengthy process launched by Guadeloupeans and Martinicans in 2003 which gradually attracted cooperation and support from the majority of governments and concerned citizens within the Caribbean.

In October 2003 the first meeting of the Martinican Initiative Committee (CIM) was held and has occurred every three months since in the towns of Fort-de-France, Lamentin and Schoelcher in Martinique. Shortly thereafter, in November of the same year, the Peoples Caribbean Assembly (PCA) presented the project during a meeting in Miami.

The project was demonstrated in Fort-de-France in March 2004 and the Guadeloupeans Initiative Committee was founded in July 2004 while simultaneously participating in the first Social Forum of the Americas in Quito, Ecuador.

In January 2005, efforts were directed towards organizing and promoting the FSC while making contact with other entities and participating in the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre.

The Caribbean Council met in April 2005 in Sainte-Luce (Martinique) and the First Social Forum of Guadeloupe took place in June 2005. This forum consisted of 2 days of workshops, seminars, discussions, and films around alter-globalization in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe.

The local Initiative Committee was founded in St Lucia in July 2005 and contact was made with local leaders. The next major occurrence was a large demonstration in Sainte Lucie including seminars, meetings, and street actions against Economic Partnership Agreements (APE) in September 2005. This prompted the pace of the meetings to accelerate and a local Initiative Committee was founded in Dominica, while contact with local government was secured in October 2005.

The year�s progress concluded with participation in the Village of Solidarity in Fort-de-France, Martinique, in November 2005. However, as soon as the New Year began, activities resumed with participation in the World Social Forum of Caracas in January 2006. The focus was the organisation, communication and promotion of the FSC. On April 7, the Social Caribbean Forum met in the town of Schoelcher and on April 11 a briefing dedicated to the artistes was publicized.

Discussions on re-launching contacts in Havana occurred on April 15, along with the delegation of the FSC in Dominica to reactivate and increase contacts to participate in the Water Walk in Martinique on April 28.

Meetings to prepare the Women�s assembly began on April 30.

Upon uniting the Caribbean, the idea of a regional forum emerged from the inhabitants of Martinique as a sensible solution to negotiate the terms of how multiple organisations within the Caribbean will function together. Specific issues to be addressed include the emergence of alter-globalization and militant Caribbean groups.

After a meeting in Porto Alegre in 2003, a group of Martinicans associated with trade unions proposed that a Non Government Organisation take responsibility for launching this project.

The same idea was proposed soon thereafter by Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and several other Caribbean nations.

A similar attempt took place when Parliament of the People of Caribbean gathered in Cap Haitien in August 2003.
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The first meeting of the Martinican Initiative Committee took place on October 15, 2003 with just sixty people. At that time, a secretariat for the organization was established and the group met every other month to prepare the event, initially envisioned for May 2005.

The �Association for the Caribbean Social Forum� was created in December 2003 and the project was launched. Surviving many years of difficulties and resistance, the project developed its potential on July 5, 2006.

In a press release, Caribbean Social Forum has requested immediate information on possible projects for cooperation within the Caribbean which may profit from subsidies. The realisation of such projects can start during the Forum and continue afterwards, which may be enough to qualify for subsidies. Examples of legitimate issues include ecology, renewable energies, free software, women�s movements, unions, education, and health. Perhaps now is the time for a new, united Caribbean region to thrive!

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