Hong Kong: What difference did we really make? The final update from our campaigners at the WTO summit in Hong Kong... I'm back home now, after a long, long flight home. It's clichéd to say this but I'm going to say it anyway - there really is no way to describe this past week. Irene has gone over what came out in Hong Kong, so I won't go into much detail on that. Instead, what I have to say, or rather to ask, is a question - what difference did we really make? All of us, everyone who signed a petition, wore a white band, attended a rally, went to Live8... People in People & Planet groups like at my university, who ran events like our Hunger Banquet or campaigned at music festivals... People like Irene who got over 1.3 million signatures in Zambia... There are 17.8 million people who signed the Big Noise Make Trade Fair petition, and 31 million people took part in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. At the WTO itself, thousands of people protested, whilst NGOs like Oxfam lobbied trade ministers, exposed scandalous proposals in the press and wrote policy responses. And at the end of the WTO, with so much effort put in by so many people... What difference did we really make? I wish I had a profound answer for you, I really do! I guess there isn't really a right or wrong answer, but I have a few thoughts. Firstly, this WTO Ministerial saw the largest ever bloc of developing countries, the G110. Representing 4/5 of the world's population, they came together and said NO to rich countries forcing them to liberalise and YES to making trade fair, particularly in agriculture. So how did we effect that? Well if you see this BBC news item, you'll notice in the photo that the trade ministers are shaking hands holding our Big Noise Make Trade Fair petition. Remember of the 17.8million people who have signed that petition, 80 per cent were from the G110 countries - the Big Noise represented and strengthened solidarity amongst these countries. Secondly, I saw for the first time the real need to have a diverse and broad movement. I was very sceptical of the anti-G8 protests - of socialists and anarchists who were white, middle class students. OK, that's slightly harsh, but essentially I was very sceptical of the effectiveness of the anti-G8 protests. I believe in being 'for' something not just 'anti', and I believe that the way to win over mass public support for a fairer world is through all inclusive campaigns like Make Poverty History, a message of hope rather than hate. But here at the WTO I changed my mind, I made a distinction. The protestors here weren't angst-ridden students, they were actual farmers and workers from all around the globe who had nothing to return to, whose livelihoods have been devastated by unfair trade. Who am I too say they are too radical? They have a right to be listened to and to be understood, even if you might not agree with the specifics of what they were calling for. Being around farmers and workers from all around the world, I learnt for the first time the true meaning of solidarity and the right of all people to have their voices heard. Thirdly, I was reminded of what Kumi Naidoo said when he spoke to us at the youth exchange conference at the beginning of the week - that whatever the outcome of the WTO we must carry on, and recognise that the fight for social justice is a marathon and not a sprint. We are part of the biggest ever mass mobilisation of people against poverty - over 150 million people. We are all part of that movement, in many different ways, whether it is by wearing a white band, lobbying an MP, joining a campaigning group, running an event, or any number of other campaigning activities. There is a tale being told, it's set all around the globe. We all have a role to play in that tale, it's just a matter of finding our place in the cast and learning our lines. Previous Hong Kong updates: 19 December 2005 15 December 2005 12 December 2005 posted at 10:36 AM | Permalink 0 comments   Comments: GenerationWhy and Oxfam accept no responsibility for the content of comments in the Blog. Post a Comment

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