ACROSS the other side of town, and on another planet from the main Earth Summit of national delegations and corporate lobbyists, is a second, alternative summit.

The Global Forum is where the United Nations has put all the charities, protest groups and campaigners who want to have their say. It is a jamboree of workshops, speeches, placards and dancing. It is also a festival of anger and caring, of outrage and good intentions, all mixed together with chaotic disorganization.

It was here that an excited crowd of 2,000 yesterday sat waiting and waiting for a speech by Saint Nelson Mandela, only to be told by the chairman that he had just learnt that their hero was not going to turn up.

Mr Mandela’s office later explained that the former South African President was sitting at home writing a book and had no idea the conference organizers had expected him to speak.

Fortunately the delegates to the Global Forum had plenty of other events to go to, such as the Pan African Congress meeting on “Landlessness and Food Security — Privatization of Natural Resources”, or the Youth Channel Group seminar on “Building Social Movements for Sustainable Development”.

Posters advertise a range of events such as the First Muslim Convention on Sustainable Development, which asks simply: “What is sustainable development? Can Muslims play a role?” Others urge: “End Poverty: Land! Food! Jobs! Organize and Unite!” Whereas the main summit has political indifference, the Global Forum has passion. Whereas the main summit delegates dine on caviar, the Global Forum delegates eat hot dogs.

They are a mixture of environment groups, human rights groups, religions and campaigners against isms. The Environmental Justice Networking Forum protests against a bewildering number of things while also creating livelihoods for the unemployed by selling clothes made out of recycled rubbish.

Their energetic chairwoman, Masoso Mosupa, said: “Mining companies leave the land unrehabilitated. GM crops are coming to South Africa and we plan a campaign of destruction against them. Our water is being polluted and people are dying. We must save us and save our minerals. It’s all the fault of the World Trade Organization.”

Among the stands, Solar Cookers International shows people how to cook with the sun. At the Mvula Trust stand they demonstrate simple ways to improve sanitation, including the delightfully named Urine Diversion Toilet.

The British charity Pump Aid proudly shows off its Elephant Pump, which can provide water to a whole village for just £200. Oxfam and the International Fund for Animal Welfare also have stands, but most of the mainstream charities seem to have given it a miss, as have most of the public.

“It’s been absolutely disastrous, a complete waste of time,” one disappointed participant said. “There have been more wheelie bins than people. The Organization. is so bad that people just aren’t bothering to show up.”

The problem, it seems, is that you have to pay £10 to attend — a vast sum for South Africans — and you have to be accredited, ensuring that no members of the public can go. Just a week after the three-week exhibition got under way, a large number of the stands lie empty.

Copyright 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd

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