By Verónica
Ortiz, Babels-Belgium
This
list could be endless. That’s why I tried to include less-known organizations
and acronyms. I hope that the Babelian (4 different languages) style of the
list will not be very confusing. Feel free to complete it.
AIAWU :
All India
Agricultural Workers Union.
AIDC: Alternative Information and
Development Centre.
AIDWA: All India Democratic Womens’
Association.
AIFTU :
All India
Federation of Trade Unions.
AIPSW :
All India
Progressive Women’s Association.
AITUC: All India Trade Union Congress.
AKSHARA
Foundation: The
mission of Akshara Foundation is to ensure Universal Primary Education for
every child below eleven years of age in Bangalore through a three-pronged
effort that involves the corporate sector, individual volunteers and the
government. Akshara believes that education is a fundamental right that
directly impacts quality of life. There is a direct correlation between a
higher standard of education and social development. If we help one child, we
impact a future family. Akshara Foundation started in 2000 in the slums of
Bangalore. To date, Akshara has touched the lives of over 60,000 children in
and around the city of Bangalore. However, there are at least as many we still
need to reach out to.
ALAI : Agencia Latinoamericana de Información.
ALCA: Acuerdo de LibreCambio de las Américas.
ASC: La Alianza Social Continental (ASC) es un
foro de organizaciones y movimientos sociales progresistas de las Américas,
creado para intercambiar información, definir estrategias y promover acciones
conjuntas, todo ello encaminado a la búsqueda de un modelo de desarrollo
alternativo y democrático, que beneficie a nuestros pueblos. La ASC es un
espacio abierto a las organizaciones y movimientos interesados en cambiar las
políticas de integración a nivel hemisférico y en promover la justicia social
en las Américas.
La iniciativa para crear la ASC surgió del foro de la sociedad civil realizado
en mayo de 1997 en Belo Horizonte, Brasil, de forma paralela a una reunión de
ministros de comercio del hemisferio, efectuada a su vez en el marco de las
negociaciones del Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA). La propuesta
de impulsar la construcción de la ASC fue aprobada por los participantes en la
Cumbre de los Pueblos de las Américas, realizada en Santiago de Chile en abril
de 1998.
ATTAC :
Association for the
taxation of financial transactions for the aid of citizens.
BATU: Brotherhood of Asian Trade
Unionists.
CADTM: Comité pour l’annulation de la dette
du Tiers Monde. See www.cadtm.org.
CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity.
Christian
Aid: Founded 50 years ago in 1953, Christian Aid is generally
considered to be the first missionary agency to support and promote
indigenous mission groups. It has been the catalyst behind the present
reformation in foreign missions methodology. Over
the years, Christian Aid has provided more than $50 million
in assistance to more than 700 evangelistic ministries based in 122
"mission field" countries overseas. These boards deploy a combined
total of 90,000 missionaries serving in the most unevangelized nations of the
world. See www.christianaid.org.
CIDSE: Coopération Internationale pour le
Développement et la solidarité. See www.cidse.org.
CLAT: Central Latinoamericana de Trabajadores. See www.clat.org.
CMT (WCL en inglés): Movimiento sindical que
agrupa a 40 organizaciones de trabajdores autónomas y democráticas en 115
países con sede en Bruselas (Bélgica) y que cuenta aproximadamente con 26
millones de miembros. Sus organizaciones regionales son la BATU en Asia,
la CLAT en Lationamérica y la ODSTA en Africa.
Council
of Canadians:
Founded in 1985, the Council of Canadians is Canada’s pre-eminent citizens’
watchdog organization comprised of over 100,000 members and more than 70 chapters across the country.
See www.canadians.org.
CRID : Centre de recherche et
d’information pour le développement. See www.crid.asso.fr/
Cry of
the Water: Non
profit volunteer coral reef monitoring group. See www.cryofthewater.org.
EHNE : Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna es
una organización profesional agraria, un sindicato agrario, nacido y legalizado
en los años 76-77. Actualmente es la suma de 4 sindicatos provinciales
federales: EHNE de Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa y Nafarroa, y UAGA de Alava. Hasta 1981 no se
legalizarón los primeros estatutos comunes de EHNE que incorporarón solo a
Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa y Alava. Posteriormente en 1986 nació EHNE Nafarroa y se
incorporó al resto. En 1990 se dio el primer salto cualitativo con el I
congreso que recogia una estructura sindical agraria. Posteriormente se
celebrarón el II Congreso (año 1992) y el III congreso (año 1997). En el año
1992 EHNE se incorpora formalmente a la COAG a nivel estatal y la CPE a nivel
europeo. Ver www.ehne.org.
ENDA-tm, Environnement et Développement du Tiers Monde: Fondée en 1972 à Dakar comme programme conjoint du Programme des Nations Unies pour l'Environnement, de l'Institut Africain de Développement Economique et de Planification et de l'Organisation Suédoise pour le Développement International, s'est constituée le 27 juin 1978 comme organisation internationale à caractère associatif et à but non lucratif.
EURALAT: Coordinación de entidades la sociedad
civil y gobiernos locales de Europa y de América Latina. El objetivo de Euralat
es la creación de un espacio euro-lationamericano de diálogo. Véase www.euralat.net.
FEMNET: The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) was
set up in 1988 to share information, experiences, ideas and strategies among
African women's non-governmental organisations (NGOs) through communications,
networking, training and advocacy so as to advance women's development,
equality and other women's human rights in Africa.
Focus on
the Global South: Focus
aims to consciously and consistently articulate the local community-base and
national, regional and global paradigms of change. Focus strives to create a
distinct link between development at the grassroots and the “macro” levels. See
www.focusweb.org.
Foundation
for a Sustainable Society, INC.: non-stock, non-profit corporation whose primary
purpose is to contribute, encourage, assist, and provide technical and
managerial support to non-government organizations (NGOs), people's
organizations (POs), cooperatives and similar private organizations in
sustainable production. FSSI was born out of the massive campaign to reduce the
Philippines' bilateral debt to Switzerland.
Freedom
from Debt Coalition (FDC): Organisation created in 1988 at the height of the debt crisis to change
the debt policies of the Philippine government and to join the international
campaign to cancel the debt of developing countries.
FTAA: Free Trade of the Americas
Agreement. (ZLEA en FR y ALCA
en español).
IAAI: Independent Association of Afghan
Intellectuals.
IBASE: Nossa missão é construir a democracia, combatendo desigualdades e estimulando
a participação cidadã. Por isso, apoiamos e integramos iniciativas voltadas
para a defesa e a promoção dos direitos humanos. O Ibase se define como
produtor de significados e interpretações. Como uma instituição de pensamento
social voltado para a ação político-cultural, de comunicação e animação do
debate público e de pressão sobre os poderes públicos constituídos. Veja www.ibase.org.br.
ICFTU (CIOSL en español): International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions.
ILGA: International Lesbian and Gay
Association.
IMARD: International Movement against all
forms of discrimination and racism. IMADR is an
international non-profit, non-governmental human rights organization devoted to
eliminating all forms of discrimination around the world, forging international
solidarity among discriminated minorities and advancing the international
regime of human rights. Founded in 1988 by one of Japan's largest minorities,
the Burakumin, IMADR has grown to be a global network of concerned citizens and
minority groups with regional committees in
Asia, North America, Latin America and Europe. See www.imard.org.
IPTD
(International People’s Tribunal Debt). The IPTD with the first 3 sessions held
February 1-2, 2002, in Porto Alegre as part of the second WSF and concluding
session held April 18, at the First Congregational Church, Washington DC, USA,
highlighted and built on the experiences of local and regional ethical or
peoples’s tribunals, deepened the understanding on the illegitimate nature of
external debt domination and contributed to the launching of a new global
campaign. See www.jubileesouth.org/tribunal/index.htm.
JS: Jubilee South or Jubileo Sur. See www.jubileesouth.org.
LGBT
South-South Dialogue : The LGBT South-South Dialogue is an international space where lesbians,
gays, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people/organizations from Asia, Africa,
Latin America and the Caribbean participate. It has the purpose of generating
analysis and proposals to counter multiple forms of discrimination that affect
LGBT people from the South in the context of globalization. Launched at the 20th
International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) World Conference.
LOKAYAN:
Meaning literally Dialogue
of the people, Lokayan started in 1980 as a forum ofr interaction between
activists and concerned intellectuals through meetings and worshops. Suresh Sharma,
Harsh Sethi, Smitu Kothari and Vijay Pratap were conveners of Lokayan at
different points in time. As of 1996 Professor Imtiaz Ahmed was the
organisation’s chairperson. See www.rightlivelihood.se/recip/lokayan.htm.
MAG
campaign: Millenium
Development Goals.
MIND: Movement in India for Nuclear
Disarmament. See Achin Vanaik.
NAFTA: North America Free Trade Agreement. (Aléna en FR y TLCAN en español).
NBA: Narmada Bachao Andolan. A people'
movement started in 1985 with ideals of justice, equality and democracy,
employing non-violent tactics like sit-ins, fasts, rallies and marches under
the leadership of Medha Patkar.
NCDHR: National Campaign on Dalit Human
Rights.
OCLAE: Organización Continental Lationamericana y
Caribeña de Estudiantes.
ODSTA: Organisation démocratique syndicales
des travailleurs africains.
PARTIZANS: People against Rio Tinto and
subsidiaries.
PGA :
People’s Global
Action. In February 1998, movements from all the continents met in Geneva to
launch a worldwide coordination of resistances to the global market, a new
alliance of struggle and mutual support called PGA.
RAWA: Revolutionary Association of the
Women of Afghanistan. RAWA is the oldest political and social organization
of Afghan women struggling for peace, freedom, democracy and women’s rights in
fundamentalism-blighted Afghanistan. See www.rawa.org.
RFSTE: Research Foundation for Science,
Technology and ecology. See V. Shiva.
SACP :
South African
Communist Party.
SAP
(IMF): Structural
Adjustment Policies.
SEARICE :
Works for
the creation of a just and democratic civil society that upholds people
initiatives towards the creative and sustainable utilization of the earth's
resources. The organization is an outcome of consultations and exchanges among
development workers in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand who decided to help each other's grassroots work in their respective
areas. SEARICE has been engaged in work with farmers, indigenous peoples,
workers and urban poor with concerns such as appropriate technology, community
health, land issues and other people-centered development work since its
establishment in 1977. See www.searice.org.ph
and Elenita Daño.
SECC: Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee.
Social
Watch :
International NGO watchdog network monitoring poverty erradication and gender
equality.
Sweetwater
Alliance: Sweetwater Alliance was created in 2002
as a fusion between ecological restoration and art and as a vehicle to
creatively restore aquatic habitats. Currently, their major emphasis is to
fund, design and build a Living Water Garden on Duluth’s Lake
Superior waterfront.
TakingITGlobal:
See www.takingitglobal.org.
TNI: Trans national Institute. Worldwide fellowship of committed
scholar activists. See www.tni.org.
TRIMS :
Trade-related
Investment Measures.
TRIPS :
Trade-related
aspects of intellectual property rights.
Ubuntu: World Forum of Civil Society
networks. See www.ubuntu.upc.es.
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: A Coalition for Comprehensive Democracy is an
initiative to bring together people and associations from various ideologies
and streams to engage in dialogue on issues of various dimensions of democracy.
Such dimensions include politics, ecology, gender, social justice, economy and
culture. The roots of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is in South Asia, where the
concept (meaning the world is a family) has been part of the culture for
thousands of years. Recently in India and Finland Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
associations have been formed.
Via
Campesina: Via Campesina is an international movement which
coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers,
agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia,
Africa, America, and Europe. It is an autonomous, pluralistic movement,
independent from all political, economic, or other denomination. It is
integrated by national and regional organizations whose autonomy is respected.
Via Campesina is organized in eight regions as follows: Europe, Northeast and
Southeast Asia, South Asia, North America, the Caribbean, Central America, and
South America and Africa.
WCL :
World Confederation
of Labour.
WFTU: World Federation of Trade Unions.
WICEJ: Women’s International Coalition for
Economic Justice. See www.wicej.addr.com
For
corrections and addenda, please write to vmagritte@hotmail.com.