A/HRC/10/65 page 3 I. INTRODUCTION 1. The Social Forum was held in Geneva from 1 to 3 September 2008, in accordance with resolution 6/13 of the Human Rights Council. 2. In its resolution 6/13, the Council decided to preserve the Social Forum as a vital space for dialogue between the representatives of Member States, civil society, including grass-roots organizations and intergovernmental organizations on issues linked with the promotion of the enjoyment of all human rights by all. 3. In December 2007, the President of the Council appointed, from candidates nominated by regional groups, Mousa Burayzat, Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations Office at Geneva, as the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the 2008 Social Forum. The Chairperson-Rapporteur, after consultations with Member States and other stakeholders, announced 1 to 3 September as the dates for convening the 2008 Social Forum. 4. The present report contains a summary of discussions held at the 2008 Social Forum and its conclusions and recommendations, as well as possible themes for the 2009 Social Forum. II. ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIAL FORUM A. Opening of the session 5. The Chairperson-Rapporteur opened the 2008 Social Forum and invited the President of the Human Rights Council to make inaugural remarks. In his statement, the President made reference to the current challenges faced by the international community, including the food crises and continued existence of poverty, which constituted compelling reasons for hosting a meeting such as that of the Social Forum. He encouraged participants to make progress in identifying best practices in the fight against poverty. 6. The Chairperson-Rapporteur then addressed the Forum and highlighted the importance of focusing on the issue of poverty and how to eradicate it within the framework of globalization and human rights. He emphasized that there was a consensus that poverty was not just an economic and social problem, nor was it solely a security or political one; it was also a human rights problem, as it symbolizes the degradation of human dignity. 7. The Chairperson-Rapporteur furthermore stated that globalization could lead to the exacerbation of the problem of poverty if it were not dealt with seriously. It also harmed unsophisticated means of earning, such as traditional agriculture and livestock breeding in the countryside and rural areas. Moreover, privatization by freezing the cost of basic services increases the burden for poor people, not to mention other negative side effects of other well-known tools of globalization on poverty and the poor. 8. It is evident that the policies of economic liberalization have succeeded in increasing the number of the rich; however, they have also contributed to an increase in the number of the underprivileged in many regions, although they are not the sole factor in this regard.