The first World Social Forum ( WSF ) in 2001 was an initiative of Oded Grajew, Chico Whitaker, and Bernard Cassen.

An International Council ( IC ) was set up to discuss and decide major issues regarding the WSF, while the local organizing committee in the host city is responsible for the practical preparations of the event.

The WSF became a periodic meeting: in 2002 and 2003 it was held again in Porto Alegre and became a rallying point for worldwide protest against the American invasion of Iraq.

The third WSF was again held in Porto Alegre, in January 2003.

The fourth WSF was held in Mumbai, India, from 16 January to 21 January 2004.

It was the first meeting of the World Social Forum held outside Brazil and its success has encouraged the WSF to expand in scope across the global South.

One of the key speakers at the WSF 2004 was Joseph Stiglitz.

Addressing the forum at its concluding session, he praised the WSF for demanding freedom in its most comprehensive form, and was happy that people had assembled under an important idea, rather than for narrow political ends ; after reflecting on corporations displacing governments in various countries, and on how Mahatma Gandhi had fought British colonisers non-violently with the strength of the masses, he predicted that vocal masses the world over would successfully fight by non-violent means the capturing of the world's resources by a few corporations in the name of globalisation.

The primary objective of STS-69 was the successful deployment and retrieval of a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ).

The WSF was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of using a free-flying platform to grow semiconductors, high temperature superconductors and other materials using the ultra-high vacuum created behind the spacecraft.

STS-60 was the second flight of Spacehab ( Space Habitation Module ) and the first flight of the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ).

During the eight-day mission, her prime responsibility was to maneuver the WSF on the RMS, to conduct thin film crystal growth and she was also responsible for performing scientific experiments in the Spacehab.

STS-80, also in Columbia ( November 19 to December 7, 1996 ) was a 17-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ) and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer ( ORFEUS ) satellites.

Wake Shield deployment was also cancelled on Sunday, 2 / 6 / 94 during its orbit 53 opportunity at 12: 25 pm WSF and flight controllers worked problems with the Pitch and Roll sensors on WSF's Attitude, Direction and Control system.

The last deploy opportunity for Sunday was a 50-minute window beginning at 2: 23 EST on orbit 54 and WSF was not ready for deployment.

On its perch at the end of the RMS over night, WSF was able to grow 2 Gallium Arsenide ( GaAs ) thin films.

The next deploy opportunity on 2 / 7 / 94 would have been orbit 67 but payload controllers and flight controllers determined that there would be insufficient time to safely develop contingency procedures in the event that WSF was unable to maintain stable attitude control without the use of its Horizon Sensor.

It was decided that for the remainder of the mission, all WSF operations would take place at the end of the RMS and there would be no WSF free-flying operations on the mission.

WSF closeout was begun and a telemetry problem with the facility prevented the growth of the 6th and final thin film on board WSF.

WSF closeout was completed by 8: 10 am EST.

Some of the founders of the WSF, were part of the First International Encuentro for Humanity and Against Neoliberalism in 1996, and decided to expand the idea and make it a global forum for activists of all stripes opposing hegemonic globalization and neoliberalism.

Members are required to join one of the five Regional Federations which are an integral part of the WSF structure.

However it has often been argued that in the dominated countries ( most of the world ) the WSF is little more than an ' NGO fair ' driven by Northern NGOs and donors most of which are hostile to popular movements of the poor.

Since 2001, the United Nations has had a presence at the WSF through UNESCO, showing the institutional credibility achieved by the forum, seen by UNESCO as a " prime opportunity for dialogue and a laboratory of ideas for the renewal of public policies " through " critical reflection on the future of societies we want to create and for elaborating proposals in search of solidarity, justice, peace and human rights ".

Most, though not all, social forums adhere to the WSF Charter of Principles drawn up by the World Social Forum.

Some activities by activists attending the WSF have also been criticised, such as at the WSF 2001, where activists invaded and destroyed an experimental genetically modified plantation of the Monsanto Company.

The WSF will grow thin films in a near perfect vacuum created by the wake of the satellite as it moves through space.

WSF created seven films before being recaptured by Columbia's robotic arm after three days of flight.

The conference was held in June 1920 but was attended only by WSF members, some local groups and independents.

The WSF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) as the International Federation ( IF ) for squash.

The WSF has 135 Members, all of whom are National Associations of squash, recognised by their National Olympic Committee ( NOC ) or Ministry of Sport as the sole and undisputed governing body for the sport in the country.

The WSF is managed by a Management Committee ( ManCom ), responsible for day-to-day control of the Federation and an Executive Committee ( ExCo ) which assists ManCom in the strategy and policy making process.

World Championships are run by WSF Members, who tender for the events at least four years in advance.

The goal of WSF, according to its presidents, Mark Billik and Rick Stark, is to be an organization that is " run by the industry, and its people, with the sole purpose to help our industry grow in a healthy and successful fashion.

Ynet reported that protests by Palestinians were planned in locations worldwide, including the US, Canada, Germany, Finland, France and Belgium, and that the World Social Forum ( WSF ) announced the launching of a campaign calling on all of its affiliates to excommunicate Israel.

The second WSF, also held in Porto Alegre from 31 January to 5 February 2002, had over 12, 000 official delegates representing people from 123 countries, 60, 000 attendees, 652 workshops, and 27 talks.

In Porto Alegre, the flagship space for the WSF, events and speakers were held from January 25 – 29, entitled " FSM 10 Years: Greater Porto Alegre ".

Among those represented were Ralph Nader's Public Citizen organization ( Medea Benjamin and Linda Chavez-Thompson ), the Brazilian NGO Ibase ( Cândido Grzybowski and Moema Miranda ), the Brazilian association of entrepreneurs for citizenship CIVES ( Oded Grajew, founder of the WSF ), the Brazilian Commission on Justice and Peace ( Francisco Whitaker ), ATTAC ( Christophe Aguiton ), CRID France ( Gustave Massiah ), Focus on the Global South Thailand ( Nicola Bullard ), and the Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World ( Gustavo Marín ).

With the aim of forming a united British Communist Party, in April 1918 the WSF opened merger negotiations with the largest far left group in the country, the British Socialist Party ( BSP ).

In June 1919, the WSF and BSP joined with the Socialist Labour Party ( SLP ) and SWSS in broader negotiations.

The WSF has, especially in recent years, been strongly criticised for replacing popular movements of the poor with NGOs ( non-governmental organization ).

STS-69 was a Space Shuttle Endeavour mission, and the second flight of the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ).

To reflect its now broader political positions, in March 1916 it renamed itself the Workers ' Suffrage Federation ( WSF ).

Its prime objective was the successful deployment and retrieval of a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ).

STS-69 Endeavour ( September 7 – 18, 1995 ), was an eleven-day mission during which the crew successfully deployed and retrieved a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility ( WSF ).

To harness this growth and to promote and co-ordinate the sport, the International Squash Rackets Federation ( ISRF ) was formed in 1967, its name being changed in 1992 to the World Squash Federation ( WSF ).

The WSF is a member of the General Association of International Sports Federations ( GAISF ) and the Association of the IOC Recognised International Sports Federations ( ARISF ).

The WSF flew three times with a Space Shuttle in 1994 – 96 ( STS-60, STS-69, STS-80 ).