The Spirit of Internationalism
VOLUME 26, NUMBER 2, MARCH 2004
Tetteh Hormeku knows a lot about what makes the world go 'round. A trade and investment lawyer by training, Tetteh is the Head of Programs for Third World Network Africa, and an authority on the implications of international trade regimes for developing countries. Tetteh's special gift, though, is not so much what he knows as how he shares his knowledge with others and helps people to act together to bring about change.
 Tetteh Hormeku, Head of Programs for Third World Network Africa. |
A tireless researcher, writer, and organizer, he works with African trade ministers as well as with farmers, journalists and trade unionists. Tetteh also devotes considerable time and effort to building relationships of mutual support with other activists around the world. The benefit of this kind of international cooperation is clear for Tetteh, who reminds us: "In our challenge to reclaim the space for citizens to define development alternatives, we can invigorate the work we do by sharing with each other."
Inter Pares promotes international cooperation for social justice with Third World Network Africa and other counterpart organizations around the world. Working in common cause over the long-term, we help each other to create and sustain change in peoples' lives - defending human rights, improving livelihoods, protecting the environment, and promoting justice and peace in the world.
Our work takes many forms in many places, but underlying all of our efforts are the values that connect us. These values are not unique to us, nor even to our times, and they are common among women and men in every country on earth. The values we share are the expression and the legacy of a tradition of internationalism - a tradition that Canadians have been proud to promote at home and abroad for decades. These values of international cooperation and solidarity remind us that even in these most difficult times, human beings are transcending the limits of their local situations and asserting respect for the dignity of others and the integrity of the planet we share.
Last October, the Inter Pares staff and nine colleagues from counterpart organizations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, including Tetteh Hormeku, gathered in the spirit of internationalism to reflect together on the challenges facing us in our own places and in the global community. We asked ourselves, What does the future hold for us? And what do we, as social justice organizations, hold for the future? Our questions were not idle musings. They arose from a need to assess the effectiveness of our actions in influencing change, and a desire to learn from each other to improve our work.
What was striking about this gathering of international activists was the similarity of the problems we face - escalating militarism and violence, especially violence against women, the increase of fundamentalism in its myriad forms, economic exclusion and impoverishment, and the displacement of increasing numbers of people forced to eke out their livelihoods in hostile places.
Equally striking, however, were the commonalities of how people, locally and internationally, are resisting these trends and coming together to assert a shared commitment to peace, security and justice. It is through these common efforts - across countries, regions and continents - that the spirit of internationalism is being renewed.
In this Bulletin, we celebrate the spirit of internationalism, and some of the people with whom Inter Pares has the privilege of working.
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