The 16 th edition of the World Social Forum (WSF) was organized in Kathmandu with the slogan ‘Another World is Possible’. WSF 2024 commenced on 15 th February with a solidarity march and concluded on 19 th , once again with the solidarity march. During the five-day event, over 50,000 participants from more than 1400 organizations spanning 92 countries marked their attendance virtually and in person at various concurrent events. NGO Federation of Nepal (NFN) served as the secretariat for the WSF 2024. It organized three thematic workshops on the occasion entitled as: World Assembly on Democracy and Civic Space. Global Assembly on Climate Change Actions and Disaster Risk Reduction. Global Assembly on Accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals “World Assembly on Democracy and Civic Space” and the “Global Assembly on Climate Change Actions and Disaster Risk Reduction” was organized on Friday, 16 th February at the Rastriya Sabha Griha (City Hall). In the Global Assembly on Democracy and Civic Space, the opening session was chaired by Ram Prasad Subedi, President of NFN whereas Rt Hon Indira Rana, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Nepal was present as the chief guest. The event was graced by the special presence of H.E. Veronique LORENZO, Ambassador, European Union Delegation to Nepal. Moreover, Mr Bhagawan Shrestha, Chairperson of Association of International NGOs in Nepal, Mr. Gauri Pradhan former member of the National Human Rights Commission and a civil society leader, Ms Jessica Corredor Villamil, Chief Officer Advocacy and Solidarity Action, CIVICUS were present in the session and delivered their keynote speeches about the situation of democracy and civic space in Nepal and in Asia. The plenary session organized in the second half of the program was chaired by Mr. Shanta Lal Mulmi, a civil society leader and moderated by Mr Jami Chandio from Centre for Peace and Civil Society, Pakistan. Ms. Zin from Gender Equality Network (GEN), Myanmar, Ms Nasima Akthur, President - National Council for Disabled Women (NCDW), Bangladesh, Mr Harsh Jaitli, Chief Executive Officer, Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), Mr Jerald Joseph, Pusat KOMAS - Malaysia, Chairperson of Forum Asia and Mr Ajay Das, Program Director, USAID CSM participated as the panelists. The panelists shared about the scenario of the democracy and civic space in their respective countries. The Global Assembly on Climate Change Actions and Disaster was conducted with the slogan on “Risk Reduction, Empowering People Voices, Building Resilience: Uniting for Climate Justice and Disaster Risk Reduction!" The opening session of the assembly on Climate Change and DRR was chaired by Mr. Ram Prasad Subedi, President of NFN. In the opening session, Dr. Manish Raj Pandey from NTNC presented about the climate change actions whereas Mr. Anil Pokhrel, Chief Executive of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, Government of Nepal (GoN) delivered his presentation about the actions conducted by GoN on the Disaster Management Sector. The opening session was followed by the panel discussion with focus on Climate Justice, Disaster Risk Reduction, and their localization. The plenary session was chaired by Mr. Jitram Lama, Immediate Past President of NFN whereas Rajendra Sharma, Deputy Secretary General of NFN moderated the session. Ms. Karine Meaux from FDF, France, Muhammad Azri Imaduddin from Indonesia, Ms. Razmi Farook, Director Asia and Global Humanitarian, Action Aid International, Ms. Nibha Shrestha, Head of Program and Partnership Oxfam and Mona Sherpa, Country Director of CARE Nepal participated in the enriching plenary session focusing about the localization of the climate change actions and the disaster risk reduction in their respective countries and working areas. Open discussion followed up after the plenary session in which, the civil society activists from various districts in Nepal shared about the challenges and the policy hurdles they have been facing in terms of carrying out actions associated with the management of climate change and disaster risk reduction as well as its localization. The “Global Assembly on Accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals” was organized on 17 th of February, Saturday in New Baneshwor, Kathmandu. The assembly was divided into the opening and the plenary session. The opening session was chaired by Mr. Ram Prasad Subedi, President of NGO Federation of Nepal whereas Hon. Prakash Pantha, Chairperson Sustainable Development and Good Governance Committee – Parliament of Nepal was present as the chief guest. Dr Toya Narayan Gyawali, Member - Secretary, National Planning Commission and Mr Anselmo Lee from Asia Civil Society Partnership for Sustainable Development (APSD), Ms Anni Namala, National Convenor, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, India was present in the program as special guests. The panel discussion was moderated by Ms. Bhawana Bhatta, Vice chairperson of NFN where Ms. Shikha Shreshta, Project Implementation Lead, VSO Nepal, Mr Arjun Bhattarai, Secretary General of NFN, Dr Roj Nath Pandey, Secretary, Federal Parliament Secretariat, Pradeep Baisakh from Global Call for Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and Too Lee Ken from APPGM , Malaysia participated as the panelists and shared about the contributions made by their respective organizations towards achieving the SDGs and the challenges they have been facing. All three events had been quite interacting and participatory with the presence of more than 600 participants in each of the events. The discussions and deliberations revolved around creating more just world through enhancing the civic space and democracy, ensuring the climate justice and management of the disasters and the achievement of the sustainable development goals in the coming days.
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