WSF Cotonou 2026

After more than a decade, Africa is very happy about the great return of the World Social Forum to Benin. This 17th edition of the WSF on the continent is neither a coincidence, nor a simple geographical rotation. It reflects a strategic reading of the dynamics of struggles, resistances and alternative proposals carried by West African communities.

It is a region where populations, often confronted with structural challenges such as land grabbing, the effects of climate change, extractivism, armed and non-armed conflicts, imposed reforms, have found answers rooted in endogenous knowledge, community solidarity, and the defense of collective rights over natural resources.

This choice was made possible thanks to the Global Convergence of Struggles for Land and Water – West Africa (CGLTE-OA), which played a catalyst role in this process by presenting the continent's candidacy to the FSM International Council. Added to this is the strong mobilization of Beninese civil society in close connection with African platforms, international networks and social movements from the five continents.

This was also welcomed by the commitment of the Beninese government, which expressed its willingness to support the organization of this event of planetary scale.