Social activists celebrate 10 years of flagship movement

One issue on the movement's agenda is the redressing of the poverty balance. But Alec van Gelder, project director at International Policy Network in London, says that while the WSF may have attracted attention to the problem, its left-leaning principles will never solve it. 

"More and more countries around the world, whether they are left leaning or right leaning understand that they're in a global competition and the only way to win is to become more competitive," van Gelder told Deutsche Welle.

Citing India as a case in point, he says there is a growing understanding all over the world that a free-market economy is the better way to tackle poverty.

"Back in 1991, it [India] was a series of catastrophic failures and really there was no other option but to pursue a more liberal order," van Gelder said. "India is not exactly a free-market paradise but it is unquestionable in which direction they are moving."