SPECIAL UPDATE: FORTHCOMING EVENTS IN MUMBAI (JANUARY 2004)

Dear friends,

Between 16th and 21st January 2004 (next week!), two major events are going to take place in Mumbai drawing a large number of activists from India and abroad: the `World Social Forum 2004' and `Mumbai Resistance - 2004'. The support group of the right to food campaign is planning two events on this occasion: a public meeting as part of WSF and a meeting of campaign activists to discuss the Right to Food Campaign. A stall is also being organised at WSF, mainly to disseminate campaign material. This update brings you information on all these.

In case any of you are planning events relating to Right to Food Campaign either at WSF or MR –2004, we would be glad to carry information in our next update, to be released shortly. Please write to us as soon as possible with details of the venue, date, time and title of the relevant events.

(1) PUBLIC MEETING: The first event is a public meeting on the right to food, the right to work and the right to information. This will be convened jointly with the National Campaign for the People's Right to Information (NCPRI) and Paschim Banga Khet Mazdoor Samiti. The meeting will focus on grassroots action for the right to food and
work, and on the role of the right to information in this context. The aim is to inspire and help the participants to plan further action on these issues in their own area of involvement. The main focus will be on India and South Asia.

Date: 17 January
Time: 5 – 8 pm
Venue: B 39

Please note that there is a minor risk that the date will be changed by the WSF organisers for logistic reasons.

(2) CAMPAIGN MEETING: The second event is an informal consultation about the Right to Food Campaign itself. The idea is to bring together campaign activists from around the country to review the agenda and structure of the campaign. If you are involved in the
right to food campaign, please make a special effort to attend this consultation. Earlier meetings of this kind have helped to initiate joint actions such as the "action day on mid-day meals" on 9 April 2002 and the "week of action on the right to work" (24 April – May 1,
2003). So it's not just talk – this meeting is also a potential springboard for stepped-up activities during the next few months.

Date: 19 January
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Venue: To be confirmed.

(3) STALL AT WSF: To disseminate campaign materials widely, a stall is being set up at WSF. The stall will carry various campaign materials including posters, pamphlets, booklets on various issues, interim orders of the Supreme Court, as well as materials on related
issues such as the right to information and the right to health.

Date: 16 – 21 January
Venue: WSF Stall number 174 (1) Area `A' (tentative).