A series of policy research and advocacy workshops have been undertaken by members of the Caribbean Consultative Working Group (CCWG) to build civil society capacity in the region.
In October 2014, the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) undertook the first training workshop on policy advocacy just prior to the first meeting of the newly formed CCWG. The group is a means for Caribbean civil society actors to learn from each other and share best practices on policy advocacy in the region.
Both meetings occurred at a particularly strategic time for the civil society organisation (CSO) community and the region generally. The conclusion of the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS 2014) in Samoa suggested that advocacy efforts must be concentrated on issues of implementation important to the CSO agenda; additionally, the CSO community was preparing for the further elaboration of the Post-2015 development agenda.
The second policy advocacy workshop and first policy research workshop was held in Barbados April 2015, providing technical assistance to the group in the ongoing development of their advocacy strategy.
A workshop held in Antigua in January 2016 was the final in the series of four policy training workshops, and focused on policy research for the group’s chosen advocacy thematic of Sustainable Energy for all in the Caribbean region. The aim of the workshop was to build the capacity of civil society leaders in the Caribbean to engage in participatory governance processes, specifically with the CARICOM Secretariat.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itJfY3c3hLI?rel=0]