INFO 4 - Budget

The WSF general budget comes from state aid, donations from a wide variety of organizations and of course fees from the delegates from developed countries and from organizations that want to hold activities during the forum. Of course the budget is provisional, and is subject to change at all times.

Although Babels and Nomad are projects carried out by unpaid volunteers, there is a translation budget for the WSF. Unlike other budgets, it is not made to pay for a service, but to allow people to work and think together in as many languages as it is needed (for this WSF are working around 10 languages instead of the usual 4)simultaneously during the WSF, all in the aim of furthering the exchange of ideas.

Providing interpretation at the WSF has a cost that goes hand in hand with certain political decisions, such as the decision to guarantee geographic mixity at the WSF. It was decided that the WSF should welcome volunteers from all over the world. The priority was to be given to the Americas (from Alaska to Argentina), then to Africa and Asia and the Middle East, and finally to Europe.

The rooms equipped for interpretation also have a cost: we will have to buy equipment to build the booths, the sound system, etc. And taking the political decision to have interpretation not only in the bigger rooms but also in many of the smaller rooms also comes with a cost.

Babels and Nomad have been politicaly included with the Programme Workgroup of the International Council, the Brazilian Organizing Committee, and all the other workgroups, to find practical solutions to these matters, and we have proposed a budget for the interpretation at the WSF.

Our budget will respect the principle of "solidarity". This year we calculated that we would need USD$200 — ON AVERAGE — per person. In other words, we aim at spending less than this whenever possible, so we can invite more people from far away. Whenever we can find volunteers from Porto Alegre, or when volunteers come by special Babels buses from Uruguay or Argentina (if this is possible), or whenever we manage to find homestay accommodation for our volunteers instead of expensive hotels, the money we will have saved will be used for people coming from Kenya, Senegal, Colombia, India, Turkey, etc.

This is how we’re going to work.
See you all in Porto Alegre.