THE CARICOM Civil Society Project will conclude a two-day regional consultation today in Port-of-Spain intended to synthesize findings of a series of national consultations with recommendations on “the way forward” for the Caribbean Community.
The consultation, financed by the European Development Fund, comes ahead of the Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government scheduled for St George’s, Grenada later this month.
A question of relevance is how really “civil” has been the working relationship between CARICOM governments and the region’s civil society organisations to make a reality of the objectives of that inaugural Forward Together Civil Society Conference nine years ago in Guyana.
Across this region, we constantly hear from officialdom how valuable civil society organisations and agencies could be in a partnership role to encourage and sustain social and economic development as well as to help improve democratic governance and safeguard fundamental freedoms. Yet, there is that lingering impression that they are yet to make any significant impact by united collaborative efforts.
Interestingly, it was in Trinidad and Tobago where, in October I999, CARICOM governments laid the groundwork for “greater interaction with civil society”, and where consensus was reached for a partnership development strategy that was to result in an “encounter” in 2002 between CARICOM leaders and civil society organisations.
The encounter took place in Guyana to coincide with that year’s annual Heads of Government Summit, and spawned the visionary “forward together” CARICOM Civil Society Project.
In the circumstances, and nine years later, it is reasonable to expect a body of realistic recommendations for action on the “way forward” and not platitudes that conceal lack of cooperation. The civil society representatives themselves must tell us how really substantial, or otherwise, has been the cooperation between them and governments of the Community.
What are the specific recommendations going forward from this Port-of-Spain “consultation” to the Heads of Government Meeting in St George’s? Having provided the funds for this week’s consultation, what are the expectations of the European Union itself as a partner with CARICOM?
At present, while major umbrella non-government organisations, representing a wide cross section of civil society, have to cope with their own financial headaches to sustain programmes, the CARICOM Secretariat is faced with a serious budgetary problem that has even led to reports it had to deny earlier this week of planned reduction of staff.
How will agreed policies and programmes be advanced following this consultation if there is not even an appreciation by governments of the need to return to a once functioning tripartite mechanism for structured dialogues involving governments, the region’s private sector and labour movement?
So how really ‘civil’ and productive have been the working relations between CARICOM and civil society organisations since that very promising 2002 “encounter” in Guyana to “tango” on “the way forward” for the region’s benefits?
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
