PHA-Exchange> Social Forum Porto Alegre Report

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REPORT ON THE PHM PARTICIPATION 
AT THE III WORLD SOCIAL FORUM	
PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL, JANUARY 2003

BACKGROUND

During the period of January 17th – 29th, 19 persons representing 
organizations that are members of the People’s Health Movement 
participated in activities related to the III World Social Forum 
(WSF).  These activities included the II International Forum for the 
Advocacy of People’s Health, January 20-22, as well as a series of 
workshops during the III WSF.

In November 2002 the PHM and the IPHC were asked to be co-sponsors of 
the II Forum for Health along with the Latin American Association of 
Social Medicine, - ALAMES, the International Association of Health 
Policy-IAHP of which ALAMES is the Latin American Associate, the 
Brazilian Center for Health Studies – CEBES, the Municipal Health 
Secretariat of Port Alegre, the Municipal government of Porto Alegre, 
and the Brazilian Network for Cooperation in Emergencies – RBCE.  This 
invitation provided a unique opportunity to promote the PHM, so we 
accepted the challenge.   Other organizations from Argentina, Brazil, 
Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and the USA were also listed in the final 
program as Organizations supporting the Forum.

This report will provide information on the PHM participation in Porto 
Alegre. 
It will provide an overview of the activities.  There are additional 
reports available in both Spanish and Portuguese that can be made 
available on request.  (info at iphcglobal.org). Spanish language 
documents, including reports and commentaries have been circulated on 
the list serve REDLATINOAMERICANASALUD.  Press releases and the Forum 
declaration have been circulated on the list serve PHA-EXCHANGE.

STATISTICS OF THE 2003 WORLD SOCIAL FORUM	
Porto Alegre, January 27th 2003

The 2003 World Social Forum, that was held in Porto Alegre from the 
23rd to the 28th of January, joined about 100 thousand participants, 
such as delegates, observers, press, professionals and activists from 
all over the world.

The organization recorded a total of 20.763 delegates, representing 717 
organizations from 156 countries.

4.094 journalists from 1.423 different media networks from 51 countries 
registered to cover the event. Out of these, 3.262 were from press, 
radio or TV networks and 832 were free-lance journalists.