Background

Workgroup on Solidarity Socio-Economy (WSSE), which is a part of the Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World (Alliance 21) based in Paris, has organized fifteen workshops since 2001. Each one puts forward proposals for humanizing and unifying the economy based on its individual theme. The fifteen forums have the following themes: Fair Trade, International Trade and WTO, Ethical Consumption, Sustainable Development, Debt and Structural Adjustments, Solidarity Economy, Companies and Solidarity, Women and Economy, Sustainable Finance, Socially Responsible Finances, Social Money, Economic Policies, Production, Technology and Investment, fiscal Policies and Social Welfare, Work Employment and Activity. All this information can be found on the Workgroup's web site http://www.socioeco.org.
The WSSE held a final Assembly in Scotland, in June 2001, to exchange on these different proposals, create a global vision of a possible alternative Economy and define possible strategies and actions.
In particular, seven transversal strategic axes appeared among the fifteen WEES Workgroups. One of them is on International Regulations. The WSSE decided to launch a new Workshop on each of these transversal axes.
Yoko Kitazawa, a member of the Global Coordination Team of WSSE, and also representing the Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) based in Tokyo, was assigned to undertake an organizing of the Workshop on International Regulations.

Project

1) PARC and WSSE of the Alliance 21 jointly took an initiative to launch the new Workshop on International Regulations within the context of Socio-Economy of Solidarity in an era of Neo-liberal Globalization.

2) Preparatory meeting was held in Tokyo on October 9 - 11, 2003. Participants to this meeting were composed of both activists/ campaigners on international regulations as well as the ones of solidarity of socio-economy. See attached list.

3) All the participants of the preparatory meeting in Tokyo agreed to continue consultations at various occasions such as the 4th World Social Forum to be held in Mumbai, India. Also at Mumbai, a coordinator or a coordinating team will be assigned. A coordinator or a coordinating team will undertake the following preparatory works; 1) To carry out an electronic exchange forum,
2) To undergo research and debate meetings,
3) To participate in relevant international conferences,
4) Finally to organize the workshop to be held in 2005.

4) It was agreed also to start an Electronic Exchange Forum on International Regulations for six month period in the context of Solidarity Socio-Economy in an era of Neo-liberal Globalization, following the informal consultation in Mumbai in January 2004.

Topics to be discussed

1) In order to achieve the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals by 2005, global society is to carry out debt cancellation as well as to introduce currency transaction tax to address the elimination of poverty of the developing countries.
2) To reform the international institutions such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, which are currently promoting neo-liberal globalization in a global scale.
3) To empower the UN organizations in order to enable them to fulfill their internationally set goals.
4) In order to regulate and control Transnational Corporations, an international Code of Conduct and Legal Regime should be stipulated.

Objectives of an Electronic Exchange Forum as well as the final Workshop

1) To determine and contact some leading activists in the social movements and alterglobalization movements as well as several networks which are working on the above-mentioned Topics.
2) To organize dialog between activists of alterglobalization movements and solidarity socio-economy movements.