Introduction


     A commitment made at the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD), held in Copenhagen in 1995, called for each region to convene biennial ministerial meetings to monitor the progress on implementation of the Summit agreements. Pursuant to this commitment, the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) held a regional governmental Copenhagen review meeting in Santiago, Chile from May 15 – 17, 2000. Prior to this meeting, ICSW, in conjunction with the Asociación Latinoamericana de Organizaciones de Promoción (ALOP), and in co-ordination with two Bolivian NGOs, Programa de Coordinación en Salud Integral (PROCOSI) and the Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Rural (CEDLA) held a Civil Society Forum from March 16 – 18, 2000 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. This Forum was supported by the United Nations Development Programme, the Embassy of Sweden and the Embassy of Denmark in Bolivia. Representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) drawn from 13 countries of Latin America participated in the Forum.

     One very innovative and effective characteristic of this Forum was that it brought together the organizations and issues involved in two social development processes: the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit and an initiative called Global Dialogue 2000. The Global Dialogue is part of the worldwide initiative, Expo 2000, to encourage, through a series of events, a dialogue among a diversity of groups and creative thinkers on 10 central themes. The theme under discussion at this forum was “Fighting Poverty – Social Innovations and New Coalitions”. The results of all dialogues will contribute to a World Exposition in Hannover, Germany in July 2000.

     The Forum was held over 3 days and was a mixture of plenary and group sessions. The objectives of the forum were:

• To review progress in the implementation of the Copenhagen commitments in the region since 1995.
  
  
• To develop recommendations and a civil society statement to present at the regional intergovernmental review meeting in Santiago and at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly to review global implementation of WSSD, to be be held in Geneva in June 2000.
  
  
• To strengthen linkages between ICSW, ALOP and other civil society networks and organisations working in the region towards social development and poverty eradication.
  
  
• To prepare a contribution to the Global Dialogue in Hannover in July 2000.

The Forum successfully met these objectives. Poverty eradication, productive employment, social integration and local power, valuing cultural diversity, creating coalitions for peace, and fair trade were the central themes of the Forum. Recommendations made at the Forum were used to prepare a civil society statement entitled “Ending Exclusion and Eradicating Poverty”.

     ICSW and ALOP wish to express their thanks to the United Nations Development Programme, the governments of Sweden and Denmark, and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) for their financial assistance towards this workshop.