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"The way the ecumenical community joined forces at the third World Social Forum showed that local, regional and international levels can work together. This was a qualitative leap forward in terms of strategic vision," said World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Programmes Geneviève Jacques. "We heard many calls for the WCC to increase its participation in the Forum in the future, possibly as part of the international council that organizes the event."

"President Lula is preaching the gospel when he says that his aim is that, by the end of his term, not a single child will go to bed hungry," Bishop Federico Pagura of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Argentina told the third World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.

Struggling against intolerance is a vital way of resisting the free market model of globalization, according to Geneviève Jacques, director of Programmes for the World Council of Churches (WCC). Speaking at the third World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Jacques suggested that the struggle against intolerance is directed against dogmatic claims that the free market model is the only option; it responds to a situation of existential crisis produced by the culture of violence and its deadly fruits.

For the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation taking part in the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 23-28 January, the emphasis will be on a spirituality directed towards resistance.

Cf. WCC Press Release, PR-02-33, of 9 December 2002

A global network of churches and related organizations are launching a three-year "Trade for people, not people for trade" campaign on 10 December - International Human Rights Day. The campaign - launched by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA) - will press for international human rights, social, and environmental agreements to take precedence over trade agreements and policies.