Published On:  October 5, 2023 08:05 AM NPT By: Republica 

KATHMANDU, Oct 5: The 16th edition of the World Social Forum Nepal (WSF) is set to be held from February 15 to February 19.The opening ceremony will take place on February 15 at the Open Air Theatre, Kathmandu.

According to a press statement issued by the organizing committee of WSF on Wednesday, the thematic assemblies and parallel sessions will be held on February 16, 17 and 18 respectively. An Intercontinental Youth Forum will be organized on February 17 in Kathmandu. There will be around 900-1000 self-organized activities and assemblies throughout the WSF 2024 event. The forum is anticipated to have over 50,000 participants, delegates, and guests from all continents of the world.

The broad thematic areas in the WSF 2024 includes topics such as economic inequality and economic justice, labor, migration, slavery and trafficking, caste, discrimination based on work and descent (DWD), race, ethnicity, indigenous people, untouchability, xenophobia, and all forms of discrimination, gender, sexuality and identities, and gender-based violence, land, agriculture, food sovereignty, agro-ecology, energy and natural resources, peace, conflict, war, occupations, displacements, and security, education, art and culture, communication, social networks and media (digital equality), democracy, human rights, authoritarianism, law and justice, health, social protection and equity, climate justice, ecology, just transitions, habitat, and sustainable development, women, children, youth, adolescents, aging people and persons with disabilities, social movements, civic space and the future of the World Social Forum.

Organizing the WSF event in Nepal will also give an opportunity to share Nepal's experiences of social movements with the global platform, mentions the statement.

The World Social Forum (WSF) is an open forum for the free exchange of ideas, experiences and strategies oriented toward enacting and generating alternatives to neoliberalism. Since its inception in 2001 in Porto Alegre in Brazil, the WSF has been a unifying space for the transnational actors of the counter-hegemonic globalization from below with the pledge of ‘Another World is Possible’.