São Paulo
Dear Comrades, dear friends,
We are very pleased to invite you to the Progressive Alliance Seminar “Democracy and Social Justice”, hosted by the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT), which will take place in São Paulo, Brazil, on 24 – 25 April 2016.
This seminar is an ideal platform for bringing together progressive participants from all over the world: from political parties through trade unions to civil society. It stays in line with a core idea of the Progressive Alliance, namely, to provide a common forum for political discussions, networking with fellow progressives and the exchange of experiences from all over the globe.
With democracy and social justice as the focus of this event, and with Brazil as a country where so much progress has been made in this field over the last years, we are convinced to have found just the right place for the work of our seminar and the examination of its important topic. This, of course, is also a reason why we highly appreciate the offer of the Brazilian Workers’ Party (PT) to be the conference host.
“I welcome the participants of the Progressive Alliance meeting in Brazil at a moment when the democratic state of rights is under threat in Latin America. I hope that its conclusions will contribute to strengthen our collective action for the continuation of our political, social and economic conquers in our hemisphere”.
Quote of Rui Falcão, President of the Workers’ Party (PT)
We are confronted with the devastating consequences of neoliberalism. More than ever we need to show our progressive competences in promoting social justice and democracy. And we have to set the tone in this debate – again.
Greater equality and poverty reduction are not a by-product of economic prosperity but can and must go together. Democratic and transparent policies are the keys to inclusive growth. They enable the state to serve the entire population and empower the poor. This does not have to come through restrictions on innovation and creativity. Inclusive growth means that an increase in social justice is guaranteed by good public services while improving the environment for businesses at the same time.
But achieving a meaningful breakthrough towards greater equality and social justice it will require all actors working together. The Progressive Alliance Seminar seeks to offer a platform for a global exchange focused on addressing the most pressing needs in this field.
In May last year in Rotterdam we agreed on a Gender Action Plan “Not just Words but Deeds”. Interventions at many different places are necessary to advance gender equality in our societies. But this also requires an exchange with others, with progressive and socialist forces from all over the world in order to learn from good and successful examples of modern and innovative gender equality policies. One year after the adoption of the Gender Action Plan we want to follow up this discussion with you in a workshop at the first day.
Finally we will have a workshop on party organization and inner party democracy. The Progressive Alliance intends to support the organizational capacities of progressive parties in order to enable broad political participation and to strengthen campaign abilities. In a working group the participants will have the opportunity to discuss shared best practices from different world regions.
Please register for the seminar at the latest by 8 April, 2016.
Kind regards and looking forward to seeing you in São Paulo.
