Following criticism for excluding churches, NGOs + members of civil society from their deliberations the organisers of the
World Economic Forum are staging a number of
open fora where representatives of
Swiss United Nations Association, the
Max Havelaar Foundation (Switzerland), the
Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches/Bread For All, the
Swiss Peace Foundation, the
Swiss Red Cross, the
International Federation Terre des Hommes + the
Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) India will share a public platform with representatives of
PricewaterhouseCoopers,
Novartis +
Nestle in order to discuss issues such as...
* "How Can Business Support the
Global Compact?"
* "Fair Trade - An Alternative?
* "Which Innovations Are Conducive to Social and Economic Change?"
* "Can Globalization Be Ethical?"
* "What Is the Role of Business in Conflict Regions?"
* "Workers Needed - Nationals Preferred? Migration and Its Consequences"
Peter Brey, spokesman for
International Terre des Hommes, a Swiss-based NGO representing childrens' rights, who is participating in the 2003 Open Forum said "We believe that,
for improvement to take place, dialogue + non-violent confrontation are called for."
These WEF-run fora are clearly a positive
step in the right direction but are still likely to be the scene of relatively gentile criticism compared to the powerful demands for
corporate regulation + accountability that can be expected to emerge from the
Public Eye on Davos meeting just down the road...