articipants at the session analysed how current feminist organising is shaped and constrained by global economic, political, and cultural forces particularly, globalisation. They also identified strategies for movement building at different levels. One such strategy is to ensure that feminist agenda are heard and addressed by other civil society actors such as trade unions, peasant organisations, and youth movements. In the ongoing World Social Forum for example, it was suggested that feminists should not just concentrate in attending all the women's events. Rather, ensure that they also attend those that are organised by other civil society organisations such as trade unions, youth movements, and peasant organisations. The other suggestion that was made is to not hold the World Social Forum every year. Instead, hold it every four years and in between each forum, concentrate on local organising and consolidating already existing women's organisations.
Funding was another area that was suggested to be examined. Some participants observed that funding or the process and strategies around fund sourcing has caused tensions among women's groups. Some of the questions that were raised regarding this issue were : How can women activist groups maintain political autonomy while receiving financing and engaging with dominant institutions ? What success have women's groups had in accessing funds while maintaining their own politics, agenda, or work areas ? What are our strategies in addressing issues and dilemmas related to funding from international organisations whose work, systems, and structures we criticise such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the regional development banks, and the United Nations ? When dealing with global private sector and transnational corporations that provide funding or other forms of support to NGOs such as Body Shop, Nike, and CISCO ?
In the same meeting, the organisers of the Feminist Dialogues met with members of the Network of Women in Media, India to explain the involvement of feminist organisations in the WSF processes. Josefa "Gigi" Francisco of DAWN traced it back to the second WSF in Porto Alegre in 2002 where women attending the Forum held a "lightning rally" (a quick rally staged by a small group of protesters) to draw attention to the Global Gag Rule. The lightning rally brought the issue of abortion to the forefront of the WSF which many of the (mostly male) members of the WSF Organising Committee did not consider as a priority.
The Global Gag Rule is an executive order imposing restrictions on U. S. funding for international family planning and prohibiting nongovernmental organizations outside the United States from receiving funding if, with their own funds and in accordance with the laws of their countries, they "performed" or "actively promote[d] abortion as a method of family planning" issued by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1984. In 1993, President Bill Clinton issued an executive order ending the 'global gag rule. However, on January 22, 2001, on his first business day in office, President George W. Bush reinstated the ban for all USAID population programs. (my voice counts. )
The initiative of women during WSF 2002 inspired many other women's groups to lobby for the integration of other women's issues in WSF spaces. As is evident in the number of major women's events in this year's WSF and the broad range of topics they are addressing, the feminist agenda within broader social movements is clearly being recognised.
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