FAL’s history - VIII FAL

A FUTURE AGENDA FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES
IX WORLD SOCIAL FORUM, VII FAL NETWORK WORLD ASSEMBLY
BELÉM DO PARÁ, JANUARY 31ST 2009

1. The IX WSF, held in the Brazilian Amazon, in Belém do Pará from January 28th to  February 1st, witnessed a meeting of local authorities. The participants to this meeting were municipalities, citizens networks from all around the world, WSF movements and organizations, national and regional governments’ representatives and international organizations.
2. Once again, the FAL underlines the importance of cooperation relationships and network organisation integrating territorial governments at different levels. Furthermore, the FAL highlights the need of creating alliances with social movements working for the construction of another possible world in the context of the present global structural crisis. The FAL itself gathers local authorities related to social militant activity.
3. The VIII FAL takes place in a context of global crisis of unknown dimension and duration and terrible impacts. The crisis effects will be more noticeable as the territories and populations are more vulnerable. This is not just a financial crisis. Wall Street sector and the proposals of Davos Economic Forum failed and led the humanity to a civilization crisis. We are in a global crisis, economical, social, environmental, energetic and alimentary at a time. A crisis of terrible manifestations such as the warmongering and barbarism recently exerted against the Palestinian people in Gaza strip. Therefore, this crisis also means the defeat of the neoconservative unilateralist approach and the neoliberal ideology.
4. As a response to this devastating scene, a whole world of alternatives is arising and gaining positions through different manifestations at different levels: local, metropolitan -very important in a world where half the population lives in cities-, national, regional and global; and bringing up hope in new horizons for another possible world. The following are some of the expressions of the new world we aim at constructing: peoples and regions integration processes; development of a new multilateralism; participatory democracy experiences; implementation of social inclusion policies; defence of human, cultural and linguistic rights; respect of diversity; higher valuation of solidarity; south-south cooperation initiatives; the concept of alliance of civilizations; promotion of peace culture and non-violence; construction of solidarity metropolis; surmounting of economical systems based on the systematic and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources in order to respond to consumer's uncontrolled demand; successful experiences showing that a social, environmentally fair economy is possible; new economic models based on a sustainable use and equitable share of resources.
5. In this new crisis context, the alternatives arising turn the local sphere, the territory, into the framework facing up to these challenges. During the past years, FAL Network governments have established relationships and alliances with social movements and citizens. They have as well created local authorities networks (FAL Outskirts (FALP), FAL Amazon (FALA), World Platform for Participatory Budgeting), working for the promotion of innovating democratic systems and inclusion-oriented local management practices. Through these achievements, the FAL gets closer to a network of networks, capable of replacing rigid centralised bureauocratic models by decentralized organisation alternatives, horizontal and flexible, by means of local-global solidarity. It is to say, by fighting against the local causes and effects of the excluding globalisation.
6. The FAL supports the creation of an international-local strategy, articulated in terms of number of cities, based on the ethic and political solidarity and against the various forms of exclusion and discrimination limiting the use of human and social rights in the territories. We defend the emancipating potential of local initiatives aiming at generating alliances between local powers and the citizenship, defined in democratic, participatory and all-embracing public policies which support policies of emancipation and empowerment. We need to add gender equity to the priorities of local communities development.
7. The FAL Network affirms that a new internationalism based on local-global solidarity is arising as a result of the fights for democracy and global justice. This movement is gathering a growing number of networks of democratic governments of municipalities, cities and regions, as well as carrying out actions that go beyond institutional or national levels. The FAL network defends an ethic of solidarity, an internationalist culture and a global action policy. We can imagine different and better territories, more human and sustainable and fight for living in them.
8. Cities and local territories are spaces for re-inventing democracy. We need to work from the local sphere to have an effect at the national and international levels, as this will permit to articulate the fight for democratic change, social transformation, sustainable development, inclusion, human rights respect in territories and people integration. It is to say, the fight for a new global system, more democratic and fair.
9. The FAL Network considers decentralized horizontal cooperation as an important tool to improve the local governments capacities, as well as a main instrument to face globalization impacts and make possible a collective fight in favour of an alternative globalisation. We insist on the premise "think local-global, act local-global". Another world is possible and necessary and it starts from the cities holding a strategic alliance with the social movements.
10. The VIII FAL, held in Belém do Pará, in the framework of the WSF, has the urgent duty of participating in the collective effort made for the construction of alternatives to the context of global capitalism crisis and must support the democratic control of States' economies. The alternatives to be promoted by the local governments integrating the FAL Network include the promotion of universal common values based on social justice principles, equity and environmental sustainability.
11. The VIII FAL held in Belém adds new reflexions and proposals on the 6 main thematic axis in order to present a future agenda strengthening the level of engagement and the role of the municipalist movement in respect to another possible world: Social Inclusion and Participatory Democracy,  Cities of Outskirts for Solidarity Metropolis, Decentralized Cooperation, Culture and City Diplomacy. The FAL insists on the engagement with the construction and strengthening of the world cities organisation (United Cities and Local Governments, UCLG), by sharing its proposals throughout the commissions, which permit us to have more responsibilities and be more active. Furthermore, we ask our governments and the international organisations to take into account these proposals and reflexions.