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Category: Knowledge Hub

Commonwealth Foundation: keeping an eye on results

Posted on by Myn Garcia

The Commonwealth Foundation completed the first year of its Strategy 2017-21. The results of this first year were presented to the Foundation’s Board in June 2018. It was received well with an affirmation of the demand for the Foundation’s work in amplifying civic voice in governance across the Commonwealth.

The delivery of the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018 in London in advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was widely praised. And the increased prominence of the integration of gender and its intersectionality with disadvantage was particularly welcomed.

Continuous improvement is a consistent feature of the work of the Foundation. Every year, planning is undertaken and this time in May, we covered the programmatic priorities, their design and implementation for the next three years from 2018 to 2021.

So what will the next three years look like for us?

The Foundation will remain focused on the pathways for advocating and supporting SDG 16: peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. This is the specific interest of the Foundation. Success in achieving SDG 16 could not be more relevant than now and arguably would ‘unlock’ the rest of the goals, particularly in the midst of an increasingly contested space for people’s participation in governance.

As part of continuous improvement, we will keep an eye on results; cultivating deeper what has been established and building on outcomes to date into the next three years. Processes and partnerships that are bearing fruit will be nurtured; and new ones that make sense will be established.

We are committed to enhance the integration of gender and its intersectionality in all the programmes and organisational aspects of the Foundation’s work.

We have also benefited in cultivating flexibility to adapt by taking learning more vigorously, which means connecting the dots and promoting an integrated approach to our work.

With results on people’s participation in governance at hand, the Foundation is increasingly intentional in raising the visibility, not only of the brand, but more importantly of the range of outcomes being advanced. This is seeing progress in areas such as:

  • Women’s inclusion in political and democratic processes including peacebuilding
  • Environmental governance as it relates to climate change
  • Legislative reform
  • Coalition building for policy advocacy
  • Inclusion of persons with disabilities
  • Citizen-led social accountability
  • Enhanced and inclusive service delivery
  • Localisation of global multilateral conventions such as CEDAW
  • SDG 2030
  • Universal Periodic Review and creative expression as entry points to raising awareness of policy issues among many others.

Commonwealth Writers, the cultural initiative of the Foundation, will continue to support the transformative power of creative expression and will provide platforms for less heard voices and narratives across the Commonwealth, in countries with little or no publishing infrastructure, from places that are marked by geographical, geopolitical or economic isolation and where freedom of expression is challenged. The 2018 Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner will be announced in Cyprus in July 2018. The Prize brings unpublished writers and stories to the attention of an international audience.

As we look to the next three years, we will persist to ask the question: where can we add value given the relatively modest contributions the Foundation can make in the wide spectrum of participatory governance?

Myn Garcia is Deputy Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation. 

Download the Commonwealth Foundation Annual Report 2017-2018

India’s transformation to a cashless society: what does this mean for the financial inclusion of refugees?

Posted on by Aman

The Ara Trust is a women-led organisation that seeks to use innovative methods to expand the space available for forced migrants and refugees in India. Aman, Financial Consultant at The Ara Trust, discusses the transformation of India into a cashless society and the access of refugees to financial services.

With over 200,000 asylum-seekers and refugees, India is at the heart of refugee movements in the South-Asian region. As per the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the majority are from Tibet, Sri Lanka, and neighboring countries other than Myanmar, and are issued documentation directly by the Indian Government. The others, such as those from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Somalia and DRC, are supported and issued documentation by the UNHCR. Despite these numbers, refugees, particularly the ones under the UNHCR mandate,  encounter difficulties in accessing the formal labour market due to ambiguity around their legal status. As a result, this has led to them encounter difficulties in accessing mainstream systems, including financial services.

India: Aadhaar and Financial Inclusion for refugees from Migration & Asylum Project on Vimeo.

Our project, conceived by The Ara Trust under its Migration and Asylum Project (M.A.P), aims to assist in the integration of refugees into the financial system, particularly after the move, by the Indian government’s November 2018 demonetization policy. The policy sought to remove existing 500 rupee and 1000 rupee notes from circulation, rendering them illegal.  As per the Government, besides targeting black-money, this was also a step towards achieving complete financial inclusion by transforming India into a cashless economy. Every individual would need a bank account, thereby eliminating the underground economy.  With no access to banking services because of the lack of identity documents, cash savings that were rendered worthless, and the difficulty in acquiring the new currency – the impact of the policy was severely felt by the country’s refugee population . The project, thus, focuses on refugees, especially women refugees, who work in the informal sector and earn their income exclusively in cash.

Aadhaar, the government-issued biometric identification card has been designated as an almost-indispensable proof of legal residence, and as a core tool of the government’s drive for socio-economic inclusion. Over the past 9-months of the initial project implementation, it has emerged that those who lack access to Aadhaar, including refugees, are unable to access financial services (including bank accounts) and find themselves excluded from the economy and relegated further to the margins. The Aadhaar Act is not linked to citizenship, and states that anyone residing in India for at least 6 of the 12 months preceding the date of application is eligible to enrol if they furnish proof of identity and address from a  wide range of options available. It should follow that refugees are issued Aadhaar if they meet the residence and the documentation requirements. However, many refugees report that they have been turned away by Aadhaar centres. To add to this, many have not applied for Aadhaar due to the fear of being wrongly prosecuted, as local authorities often incorrectly equate them with illegal immigrants.

‘The project, thus, focuses on refugees, especially women refugees, who work in the informal sector and earn their income exclusively in cash.’

The lack of Aadhaar has paralyzed refugees. Post-demonetization, employers are reluctant to pay wages in cash; thus, even refugees with professional qualifications are confined to the informal sector as daily-wage laborers because of the lack of bank accounts.  Aadhaar is also being increasingly enforced as a precondition to access many services that they could once avail – such as education and healthcare. Further, many refugees report facing day-to-day difficulties like getting a SIM card, leasing accommodation, or receiving money transfers from outside India. This is resulting in refugees being steadily excluded from mainstream systems and leaving them extremely vulnerable to exploitation.

At M.A.P, we carried out a pilot study to assess the roadblocks refugees face in enrolling for Aadhaar. We discovered that most enrolment centres were not clear about whether refugees were eligible, and refugees reported that they were turned away by centres due to the lack of clarity on their legal status. Further to this, we observed that their documents were also not recognised as valid proof of identity or residence; it did not help that these refugees presented varying sets of documentation (stay visas issued by the government, others their UNHCR-issued refugee cards, yet others with their national passports or rent agreements).

Above: Members of The Ara Trust with colleagues from the Commonwealth Foundation.

The requirement of Aadhaar for accessing essential services has been challenged before the Indian Supreme Court, and its decision is pending. However, for now, we acknowledge that Aadhaar is indispensable in allowing refugees to access essential services, and, in turn, integrate them into the mainstream economy. We at M.A.P therefore, find it necessary at this stage to sensitize and seek clarity from the relevant authorities, so that standardized guidance can be issued to include refugees within the purview of Aadhaar and consequently ensure their socio-economic inclusion.

Aman is a Legal Consultant for Ara Trust. 

Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018: a case for renewal

Posted on by Myn Garcia

2012 brings the Foundation back to the beginnings of its call for the renewal of the Commonwealth.

When the Foundation was re-launched in 2012 and given the mandate to support people’s participation in governance across the Commonwealth, the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) was re-aligned to support this mandate.

In 2013 the CPF in Colombo, Sri Lanka contributed to the architecture of the Post 2015 Development Agenda and advocated primarily for gender equality and women’s empowerment as a stand-alone goal. That today is Goal 5 in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Malta Declaration on Governance for Resilience was the result of the conversations in CPF2015.

Even as CPF anchors itself in the prevailing development discourse, it does so by offering counter narratives, challenging dominant paradigms and giving meaningful access to voices in the margins. In Malta, CPF2015 offered the governance lens to the discourse of resilience, which until then was analysed only within an economic and environmental context.

‘CPF2018 interrogated the issues of exclusion in the Commonwealth, sessions took on injustice as experienced by people in all their diversity and tackled accountability in governance.’

It was also in Malta where the Commonwealth Heads of Government recognized the consonance of the work of the Foundation with SDG 16, the shorthand of which is Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.

These are the building blocks of CPF2018. In 16 April 2018, the Commonwealth Foundation in partnership with the UK Government opened the doors of Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. It did so with defiant hope that renewal in and of the Commonwealth is indeed possible.

CPF2018 interrogated the issues of exclusion in the Commonwealth, sessions took on injustice as experienced by people in all their diversity and tackled accountability in governance. The forum pressed on to come to an understanding of the imperatives of a renewed Commonwealth. At the end of three days, civic voices crafted the London Declaration on Inclusive Governance for a Renewed Commonwealth with an accompanying Call to Action.

The Declaration and the Call to Action argue that Commonwealth renewal is no longer an option, but an achievable imperative. Civic voices concluded:

‘We stand at the threshold of a new Commonwealth future, built on equality, diversity, a constant questioning, and interrogation of the constraints and challenges that face us and the opportunities, strengths and values that unite us as human beings with shared stories.

We will achieve this through common effort, shared experience, action with vision and imagination, and by building inclusive, participatory, responsive and accountable systems of governance that leave no-one behind.’

In these perilous times, now more than ever civic voice matters. And it is with a buoyant optimism that the Foundation will persist with its commitment to support the call for the renewal of the Commonwealth for the interests of civic voices.

More voices for a fairer world.

The CPF2018 Declaration and Call to Action cover 13 key policy areas:

  1. Reforming colonial-era laws
  2. Accessing justice
  3. Rights of indigenous peoples
  4. Women negotiating peace
  5. Migration
  6. People centred health and education
  7. Climate justice
  8. Just world order and just economies
  9. Digital age, one that enables but also protects the peoples of the Commonwealth
  10. Separation of powers
  11. Accountability in development
  12. Decentralising power
  13. Media accountability

Myn Garcia is Deputy Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation. 

EDITOR’S NOTE: A newsletter item which was hyperlinked to this article and circulated on 30 April 2018 incorrectly identified Myn Garcia as Director-General of the Commonwealth Foundation.

The power of stories at the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018

Posted on by Will Forrester

Gaiutra Bahadur’s essay in We Mark Your Memory, a forthcoming anthology of writing by descendants of indenture, segues from Britain’s exit from the European Union into an exploration of her Guyanese great-uncle’s identity: a grandchild of indentured labour and an economist at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

This connection comes as Bahadur considers an increasingly pressing question: ‘How are we, actually, joined? And what kind of joining matters?’. Bahadur’s query is timely; it is a timeliness mirrored in the heading of the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London: ‘Towards a Common Future’.

In the run-up to CHOGM, the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2018 (CPF 2018) brings together civic voices from around the world to debate such queries facing a contemporary Commonwealth. Echoing the focus of CHOGM, CPF 2018 asks three questions: what would an inclusive Commonwealth look like? how can we ensure justice? and what are the imperatives for an accountable Commonwealth? These questions share similarities with the crux of Bahadur’s essay: ‘What kind of joining matters?’.

‘How are we, actually, joined? And what kind of joining matters?’

During CPF 2018 events curated by Commonwealth Writers, artists and writers will use varied forms of creative expression to ask these questions. Thirteen writers will read from two Commonwealth Writers publications which, while not directly envisaged in relation to the Forum’s themes, are underpinned by notions of inclusion, justice and accountability. The first is We Mark Your Memory, which features poetry, fiction and essays based on indentured legacies in the Chagos Islands, Fiji, Guyana, Liberia, Malaysia, Samoa, Sri Lanka, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago . The second is So Many Islands, an anthology of stories from the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Both collections, at their heart, look at the ways in which we are joined.

In his foreword to So Many Islands, editor Nicholas Laughlin comments that the sea, which ‘insulates and isolates’ islands, is at once the force which ‘connects’. Indeed, by the start of CPF 2018, So Many Islands will have traversed these connections for its launches in Barbados, Bermuda, Fiji, Jamaica,  New Zealand, Samoa, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK. So too in We Mark Your Memory writers from diverse and broad spaces are connected by joint legacies and common futures; as the collection moves between geographies, histories and genres, transoceanic links are revealed in unexpected ways. Both anthologies urgently demonstrate how creative expression and civic voices have a fundamental role to play in ensuring that our common future is inclusive, fair and accountable. The events at CPF 2018 hosted by Commonwealth Writers reflect this capacity, integrating rather than supplementing panel discussions and policy dialogues.

‘Amidst global uncertainty, creative endeavours hold the agency to both attest to the histories of diverse global identities and to ensure a renewed Commonwealth in which we are joined in equitable, just and vociferous ways.’

The format of the readings at CPF 2018 embody the connected spaces of the collections. Tracy Assing (Trinidad and Tobago), Angela Barry (Bermuda), Cecil Browne (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Kendel Hippolyte (Saint Lucia), Erato Ioannou (Cyprus) and Karlo Mila (Tonga) will read from their contributions to So Many Islands, and David Dabydeen (Guyana), Prithiraj Dullay (South Africa), Gabrielle Jamela Hosein (Trinidad), Fawzia Muradali Kane (UK), Gitanjali Pyndiah (Mauritius/UK), Mary Rokonadravu (Fiji) and Anita Sethi (UK) from their pieces in We Mark Your Memory.

These sessions comprise ‘intimate readings’, conducted in promenade, in which delegates walk from author to author, and in doing so experience and map the connections which join them. Commonwealth Writers will also open the CPF 2018 with a short film featuring definitions of ‘inclusivity’, ‘justice’ and ‘accountability’ by individuals across the Commonwealth. In a very literal sense, this film acts to amplify civic voices on a global stage. Finally, a session titled ‘Persistent Resistance’ will bring into dialogue music from members of the Nigerian floating radio station Chicoco Radio with discussion from global activists to ask what roles creative expression and myriad other forms of advocacy have in challenging injustice in a renewed Commonwealth.

Just as the CPF 2018 brings together creative voices and Commonwealth leaders to discuss global development, I consider my own ‘joining’, having recently become a part of the Commonwealth Writers team. This joining feels equally timely; as the varied projects coordinated by Commonwealth Writers cohere around CPF 2018, I have been able to contribute to and experience the capacity creative expression has to effect societal change. Bahadur closes her essay ‘left wading and wondering about the encounters the seas enable’. Amidst global uncertainty, creative endeavours hold the agency to both attest to the histories of diverse global identities and to ensure a renewed Commonwealth in which we are joined in equitable, just and vociferous ways.

Will Forrester is an intern for Commonwealth Writers.

Citizen-generated data for a change

Posted on by Gillian Cooper

‘Citizen-generated and evidence-based data’ are terms we hear more and more about in the discourse around monitoring and accountability of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

I joined Mansuriah alongside other colleagues from the Foundation and EASSI on the learning visit to Gender Links earlier this month and thought the Gender Barometer they have developed was an excellent example of citizen-generated data. It was clear the barometer had become a powerful accountability tool in Southern Africa, influencing discourse and provoking change across the region around gender equality.

‘It was clear the barometer had become a powerful accountability tool in Southern Africa’

After South Africa, I continued to East Africa where I met with Foundation grant partners KELIN and the Africa Platform for Social Protection (APSP) who work with some of Kenya’s most marginalised communities. What approaches to citizen-generated data did they find effective?

Citizen-generated data is defined as ‘data that people or their organisations produce to directly monitor, demand or drive change on issues that affect them’ . Here are a few of the approaches to citizen-generated data that our partners are using to ensure inclusion of marginalised people in holding duty-bearers to account.

Mixed methods approaches that harness different knowledge sources

The SADC Gender Protocol barometer effectively pulls together and ‘houses’ data from a variety of monitoring and evidence measures. Referred to as an ‘omnibus’, it uses two main measures: An Index and the Citizen Score Card.

  • The Index draws on data from readily available statistics, an attitude survey and a media monitor tool.
  • The Index is complimented and compared with data collected from a Citizen Score Card – a perceptions measure administered to a representative sample of women and men in each of the 15 SADC countries.
  • Each of the organisations also use a variety of participatory methods to harness data and knowledge from communities to bring evidence and voice into decision-making spaces:
    Providing testimony on the lived experience and challenges faced by service-users and marginalised communities, if presented in a participatory decision-making space, such evidence can be a powerful stimulus for change and strengthens voices at the grassroots.
  • multistakeholder dialogues that bring together service-users with service providers and other governmental decision-making bodies into a participatory space where voices can be heard and progress towards change and solutions can be discussed.
  • case studies are used to capture more in-depth analysis of experiences.

Choosing indicators that really question the change

In March 2017, the Gender Protocol Alliance revamped its index so that it would result in ‘better data for better decisions’. Rather than using indicators that relied on data which was readily available, indicators were revised to really get at the nub of the issue and to ask difficult questions on gender equality. Gender Links’ Executive Director, Colleen Lowe, explained that indicators have been chosen for their potential to provide critical evidence; not simply about monitoring for the sake of data capture but about demonstrating the change that needs to happen.

‘Rather than using indicators that relied on data which was readily available, indicators were revised to really get at the nub of the issue’

Examples of indicators aimed at measuring some of the more hard-to-measure areas around women’s voice and gender-based violence, which have remained intractable and hidden issues for women, are:

• % who say if a woman works she should give her money to her husband
• % who say if a man beats a woman it shows that he loves her
• % who say a woman has a right to insist on a man using a condom
• % women sources on economic topics

Aligning with policy and validating data

The SADC gender barometer is aligned to an existing policy. It follows the nine sectors of the Gender Protocol: constitutional and legal rights, governance, education and training, the economy, gender violence, health HIV and AIDS, the media and climate change. Aligning the protocol to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) has given additional leverage for government to sign up to the protocol and meet the targets. Joan De Klerk, Head of Public Education and Information at South Africa’s Commission for Gender Equality confirmed that the Commission uses data from the barometer to cite in their own reports.

Validation of data with government has been critical for buy in and credibility of the evidence presented by civil society. APSP have validated data that showed that the people in need were not accessing the cash transfers, thus compromising its impact, by bringing government officers into the field to see the reality. Partnering with academic bodies to help in determining what is statistically acceptable is also another way to avoid data being discredited by government.

Popularizing the accountability tools, the results and building rights awareness

Each of the three organisations have gone to great lengths to popularise and breakdown technical policy documents and assessment criteria into simple language. This approach is critical to creating interest around the accountability process as it helps to build rights awareness and demonstrate how individual and community-based issues fit into a wider rights-based policy framework.

KELIN’s publication, Monitoring the Implementation of the Right to Health Under the Constitution of Kenya, outlines the constitutional provisions on Kenya’s right to health. As Allan Maleche, KELIN’s Executive Director noted, people living with HIV ‘must be able to know how to plug into questioning the broader rights to health issues. Unless they understand how the right to health and the health system works then the advocacy [and accountability measures] will be useless’.

The use of infographics and data visuals has also been a powerful way in which Gender Links has communicated the results of the barometer. These can be more easily shared via social media and to tell the story in accessible yet powerful ways that can build interest to engage.

Strong networks to capture perceptions in the margins and support advocacy

The Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance has been a critical vehicle for advocacy. Gender Links has sought to embed the protocol provisions in the work of each of its Alliance members. Gender Links’ networks also include working relationships with 430 local government councils who play a critical role in data capture.

‘[KELIN] is also building its network to include journalists who […] can also act as advocates to provide further evidence.’

KELIN is working to identify community champions and strong CSOs in each of the counties where its project operates. It is also building its network to include journalists who are passionate on community issues and who, with some additional training on health rights, can also act as advocates to provide further evidence.

Looking ahead

It’s not yet clear what strictly is or isn’t citizen-generated data but the visit and discussions showed that evidence and data used for accountability needs to have credible data and information that ask difficult questions, ideally using measures validated by duty-bearers but backed by a strong rights awareness among affected communities. Those affected need to see how their experiences fit into a wider policy and rights-based framework so that evidence collected is accountable to them.

A challenge that always exists is negotiating and judging how best to use the data and evidence in the accountability space. Describing the challenges of complimenting government interests while also advocating for change, Samuel Obara, of APSP said: ‘this [advocacy] space is fragile because [our work relies] on political will and this is a will that we are trying to protect’. Colleen Lowe from Gender Links described the relationship between government and civil society as ‘creative tension’. I would like to thank our partners in South Africa and Kenya for hosting rich discussions and sharing experiences.

Gillian Cooper is Programme Manager for Knowledge, Learning and Communications at the Commonwealth Foundation.

Improving the advocacy landscape for gender equality in East Africa

Posted on by Manisurah Aheebwa

I had always heard about Gender Links but had never had close interaction with the organization or staff.

My organisation, The Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) and Gender Links have shared details on our work and collaborated from a distance on matters of gender equality and equity. However, I was particularly interested in learning about the Gender Barometer – a monitoring and accountability tool coordinated by Gender Links that is used to track progress towards gender equality in all Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States. So when this chance of a learning visit presented itself, it was a dream come true!

Gender Links is the coordinating NGO of the SADC Gender Protocol Alliance based in South Africa which has presence in all 15 SADC countries. Gender Links is one of the leading gender justice organisations in the SADC region just as EASSI is for the East African region (EAC).

As individuals are created differently, with varying capabilities, so too are organizations; there is beauty in difference. And as we are exposed to different learning experiences, there is growth whether physical, emotional or intellectual. I was joined in this process of growth and development by EASSI’s Acting Director, representatives of EASSI’s focal point organizations in Kenya and Tanzania and members of staff from the Commonwealth Foundation.

The EAC Gender Equality and Development Pilot Barometer 2017

Over the last 10 years, EASSI has spearheaded advocacy efforts at the East African Community (EAC) level, for the East Africa Gender Equality and Development Act. It has not been an easy journey! Until 2017 there was a lack of harmonized policies and legislation to deal with gender inequality across the region. But in March 2017, the EAC Gender Equality and Development Act was passed by the East Africa Legislative Assembly.

‘Women are affected by rampant gender based violence and within decision making spaces the numbers of women are very low.’

Problems of gender inequality in the region are manifest at all levels: in the social spheres, at the domestic level, and in public institutions. Women are affected by rampant gender based violence and within decision making spaces the numbers of women are very low.

While the Act awaits to be assented to by the Heads of States and to take effect nationally, there is a clear need for a harmonised framework for action and to track success, and the Barometer was deemed as a necessary participatory measurement tool for making cross-national comparisons.

Progressing the advocacy from regional to national and local

An inclusive process nurtures ownership of development tools. EASSI is still advocating mostly at a regional level and yet this work needs to happen at the grassroots in order to reach development practitioners at all levels. This is where we could learn from Gender Links, which has made big strides with advocacy around the SADC barometer at local level.

I wanted to understand how Gender Links was able to galvanize much of the SADC region to commit to peer reviews of indicators laid out in the barometer, which were important to gathering reliable data. I also wanted to find out how to effectively collaborate with governments on gender equality, in order to get government agencies, departments and other local NGOs to adopt a gender equality model and nurture a community that is committed to practicing gender equity.

‘The visit taught me to keep an open mind, to learn, and to not keep learning to myself.’

The learning visit entailed sharing Gender Links’ work around data collection methods; datasets; managing the Alliance; and, organizing Summits to bring together women’s organisations, other civil society, and local and national government representatives. The learning visit also included a visit to the District Municipality Centre of Excellence on Gender and a community home based care centre.

Where the learning should take us

The visit gave me the necessary knowledge and skills to enter into spaces that are often perceived as closed, to engage government stakeholders and perhaps above all to connect with the grassroots in order to harness popular support.

The visit taught me to keep an open mind, to learn, and to not keep learning to myself. I am certainly sharing the Gender Links’ method of advocacy work with the EASSI network so we can change the advocacy landscape in the region.

One of the things I would most like EASSI to institutionalise is a positive relationship with government: one that enables us to work together with policy makers on gender equality. I would like to see the barometer adopted as a tool in policy reviews and to ensure implementation of the Protocol by local government councils where the largest population in the EAC is based. Finally, I would like to build a forum where all stakeholders come to take stock of progress, share strategies and good practices and ultimately advance gender equality in the region.

Read further details on the powerful approaches shared between Foundation partners on this learning visit.

Manisurah Aheebwa is Policy Officer, Peace and Security, at EASSI. 

A new policy for civil society in Nigeria

Posted on by Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi

The recent debate in Nigeria on Bill HB585 provided an unexpected opportunity for The Nigeria Network of NGOs’ to advance its efforts to strengthen the regulatory framework surrounding the civil society sector.

Last year, when The Nigerian House of Representatives considered Bill HB585, to regulate the activities of nonprofits in the country, many within the sector felt, quite rightly, that the Bill, if passed, could limit freedoms for civil society.

The debate on whether Bill HB585 should pass or not took place via traditional and social media platforms. What we heard loudly from the public both online and offline was that the bill could pose a threat to citizens’ rights of free association and assembly. However, a quiet but nonetheless large number of voices that supported the bill had genuine concerns about a lack of transparency in the sector.

‘Amidst the growing call for strengthening sector accountability and regulations, a relationship with the regulators on how best to address these issues has matured for action’

Those that argue for the bill say there is no regulatory framework guiding the work of non-profits in Nigeria. However, there are 7 regulatory frameworks in place that can be strengthened and reformed. This is the work that my organisation, Nigeria Network of NGOs is leading, thanks to support from the Commonwealth Foundation.

This assertion that no regulatory framework exists confirms the gaps in the understanding of legislation governing the operational environment of the third sector space and the sector’s ways of working. These gaps must be bridged as full knowledge of the sector’s modus operandi by all stakeholders will go a long way in easing the rush to over-regulate. Efforts to this end will require a combination of awareness raising activities, evidence-based analysis of the sectors and a level headed evaluation of the positive and negative impacts of red tape.

‘this moment provided an opportunity to remind government of the importance of civic space and the equity that must come to play within the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals’

Our engagement with regulators since 2012 and the multiyear support received in 2016 from the Commonwealth Foundation has meant that the Nigeria Network of NGOs has been able to review regulations and suggest constructive changes. Ongoing engagement with our regulatory authorities remains an imperative. Amidst the growing call for strengthening sector accountability and regulations, a relationship with the regulators on how best to address these issues has matured for action. Through a detailed review of the laws guiding the operations of the sector, targeted advocacy efforts and meetings with regulators, Nigeria Network of NGOs found it easier to engage regulators and suggest evidence based solutions.

For instance, suggested changes to the Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (the law guiding the operations of nonprofits in Nigeria) were generated from discussions and outcomes from conferences and workshops with regulators, sector wide consultations, experience, evidence and lessons learnt from our work and peers in other parts of the world.

The Government’s ease of doing business order in addition to its ongoing efforts at reducing red tape, has helped ensure that the civil society sector is not left behind. As the country aims to improve its ranking on the ease of doing business index, this moment provided an opportunity to remind government of the importance of civic space and the equity that must come to play within the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Oyebisi Babatunde Oluseyi is Executive Director of the Nigeria Network of NGOs. Photo credit: NNNGO

Telling the story of indigenous survival

Posted on by Tracy Assing

In October, I received an email from the Commonwealth Foundation. It contained an invitation to participate in the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) to be held in December in Fiji.

The theme: Our Planet, Our Struggle, Our Future. My heart raced as I blinked at the phone. I only had to confirm my attendance. I told no one at first. I was sure that if I spoke it, it would be somehow taken away.

In early November, another email followed. Subject: Trip to Samoa? The Ring of Fire was calling me. My story titled Unaccounted for, in the So Many Islands anthology seen only by editors and printers, was going to come to life half-way around the world. Inside me a huge moon was beginning to wax.

For as long as I have known my voice I have thrown it to the Pacific. The area of our planet which is home to the most diverse range of indigenous cultures. I remembered reading about these islands and the Ring of Fire during my geography classes in Secondary school. The ring is dotted with 75% of all active volcanoes on Earth. It stretches from the southern tip of South America, along the coast of North America, across the Bearing Strait, down to Japan, into New Zealand and Antarctica. These islands were smack in the middle.

In July, at the Pacific Island Development Forum Leader’s Summit in the Solomon Islands, Fiji’s Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said the government had accelerated plans to relocate some 40 coastal villages to higher ground. The land is suffering from ‘progress’ with unsustainable and rising natural resource extraction and chemicals and pesticides contaminating rivers but communities are working together to slow the dark and rising tides. I longed to join their resistance and wanted them to join mine. Our Planet, Our Struggle, Our Future our cause, the same.

‘It was my first chance to see what life is like on these islands, stories told by their storytellers’

‘That awkward moment when you get on the plane at 9:30pm on the 27 and get off at 6am on the 29.’ I tweeted as I struggled to stay awake during the six-hour lay-over at Nadi airport before meeting with Commonwealth Writers. We would travel on to Apia, Samoa together for the launch of So Many Islands, hosted by the Little Island Press. It was exciting to think of my work being included in this collection of poetry and stories from around the world.

On the drive from the Faleolo Airport to Hotel Vaea I considered the many similarities between my homeland and the landscape. The fale stood out and when I enquired I was immediately inspired. These simple, open huts were symbols of community and tradition. An open space where all were welcomed to be humbled and heard. The very presence of these structures seemed to underline the importance of community to me. I felt welcomed, embraced and supported by Tony Murrow and Evotia Tamua of Little Island Press, and Dionne Fanoti from the National University of Samoa. Then, I met Mere Taito, a Rotuman islander with a burning passion for storytelling and Katherine Reki from Papua New Guinea, a filmmaker and mother on a mission to create a better world for her children. Mere has written a fiery poem for the So Many Islands anthology and Katherine’s film My Mother’s Blood explores the killing of a woman, who is suspected of witchcraft, in the Highlands.

Above: Tracy reads Unaccounted For at the National University of Samoa, Apia, Samoa
Above: So Many Islands anthology, a collection of literature hailing from 17 island states in the Commonwealth, had its first regional launch at a ceremony in Apia, Samoa
Above: Tracy speaks to civil society representatives at the University of South Pacific, Suva, Fiji

In Unaccounted For I tell the story of my island and my ancestors. It is one story, the land and us. Intertwined before we became labour and the land became capital. It was an emotional experience, reading my story aloud for the first time, from its published pages to the small, attentive audience gathered in the hotel fale that Friday evening. My voice cracked just at the point where I welcomed my ancestors into the room and I was encouraged to go on by my new friends, who understood my tears and understood the struggles of my journey. I had travelled almost two days to get there. As I said my grandparents’ names, I felt their presence in the room. They were there to share that moment with me.

‘My truth is my identity, my right to declare that I belong, my right to practise and preserve my culture and celebrate my heritage’

The next day, we all attended a special screenings of six films from Tonga and Papua New Guinea produced by Commonwealth Writers. It was my first chance to see what life is like on these islands, stories told by their storytellers. We talked about that during the panel discussion that followed. How people who live on those islands and ours have been framed by those telling the story as documentary, as fantasy, and how important it is for us to tell our own stories. We have all been given the opportunity through the screenings of these films and sharing our stories in the So Many Islands anthology. So many islands separated and connected by water, even the water in our tears.

On December 3, we arrived in Fiji for the International Civil Society Week. The team expanded. We were joined by Marita Davis, an I-Kiribati writer and Glenill Burua, a 19 year-old filmmaker from Matupit, Papua New Guinea. I joined Myn Garcia, Deputy Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation for a panel discussion at the University of the South Pacific on December 6 as part of the Commonwealth Writers Conversations series. From my story, Myn read the lines: ‘What did it all mean anyway? We had grown tired of the labels people had chosen to both recognise and erase us. Each label seemed to have the same purpose.’

Waxing still, we talked about recognition and cultural loss. In Trinidad, while descendants of the island’s first peoples received a one-off holiday in recognition of their presence last year, we have never been able to declare ourselves ‘indigenous’ on any census form.

My truth is my identity, my right to declare that I belong, my right to practise and preserve my culture and celebrate my heritage. With the publication of this anthology I have an opportunity to speak it out, clear across the planet. My message is clear and resonates. The indigenous story is one of survival. Our Planet. Our Struggle. Our Future.

Tracy Assing is a writer from Trinidad and Tobago. 

Pacific Shorts premiere at the Hawaiian International Film Festival

Posted on by Janet Steel

There is something magical about sitting in a dark auditorium with 200 hundred strangers waiting to share the same experience.

Sitting along the same row as me, the filmmakers from the ten short films about to be shown. The nervous energy, verging on fear is palpable, bubbling up in some cases into stress reducing tears. We are all sat together at the 37th Hawaiian International Film Festival’s Pacific Showcase featuring films made by and starring First Peoples from the Pacific.  Included in this prestigious event are four of the six Pacific Shorts produced by the Commonwealth Writers.

One of the filmmakers, Glen Burua from Papua New Guinea, perches on the edge of his seat, arching his body as far forward as it will go without clashing heads with the person sitting in the row in front. I know it must be blocking the view of the person behind but there are no complaints. I squeeze the hand of Katherine Reki, also from Papua New Guinea, sitting beside me, whispering instructions for her to take deep breaths and enjoy, as she wipes away an excited and anxious tear. Ofa Guttenbeil from Tonga, nervously sits in between Glen and Katherine and completes the team of Commonwealth Writers filmmakers attending the festival.

“my first time in a cinema and it’s to see my own film”.

By the beginning of the third film Glen is relaxed enough to sit back in his seat. The enthusiastic applause and cheers after each film allows us all to physically express our delight in sharing stories that are seldom seen in the cinema. Stories that feature actors old and young, professional and non-professional. There are universal coming of age stories, stories of struggle and violence against women, stories about the environment and climate change. Each film is very different and told in the unique style of the filmmaker. But what ties the films together and makes the whole far greater than the individual parts is the clarity of the voices. Together the voices are magnified.

As the final credits role I am the one who is totally overwhelmed, wiping away a tear or two. Slightly dazed, the filmmakers make their way to the front for the Q&A, quietly congratulating each other as the applause continues. The questions and comments from the audience bring a whole new dynamic to the event. When Glen is asked about his film, he starts by sharing with the audience that this is not only his first film but is also the first time he has ever been in a cinema. ‘How ironic’ he adds, ‘my first time in a cinema and it’s to see my own film’.

‘It doesn’t matter how hard an artist works or how talented they are, they need development, funding, infrastructure and the venues to show the work.’

Amongst the warmth and enthusiastic congratulations in the audience there is a deep understanding that we have all truly shared an experience. We may prefer one film over another but we are all left wanting to see more films like these, hear stories like these and see faces like these on our screens.

It doesn’t matter how hard an artist works or how talented they are, they need development, funding, infrastructure and the venues to show the work. The Hawaii International Film Festival’s Pacific Showcase did what it set out to do, give a platform to new and developing filmmakers from the Pacific. Commonwealth Writers is working towards showcasing these films at other festivals and as part of other platforms so that these stories are seen and talked about by other audiences.

Pacific Voices is the culmination of a craft development programme by Commonwealth Writers which built on the success of the 2012 Commonwealth Shorts. For this project Commonwealth Writers focused on the Pacific, a region which is lacking in support and infrastructure for directors and writers who want to make films. Six writer/directors from Tonga and Papua New Guinea attended script development workshops with local script editors before developing their own scripts and shooting their own films, with the assistance of the New Zealand Production Company BSAG Productions. All of the films highlight stories and issues that they feel passionate about that affect their communities: find synopses and film clips here. All six films have also been selected for the Maoriland Film festival in New Zealand in March. 

Janet Steel is Programme Manager for Commonwealth Writers. 

Advocacy is not complaining: Jamaicans for clean air and water

Posted on by Suzanne Stanley

Jamaican communities living near to mining and quarrying operations often experience adverse impacts to air and water and to their quality of life.

At the same time, these commercial operations are also a source of jobs and economic development which restrains residents from taking action. The Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) has been working with mining communities on the island since 2013. Our objectives have been to ensure community members know why good air and water quality is important to their health and about their rights under the law. JET has also worked on empowering communities to advocate on their own behalf, rather than simply filing complaints with JET and/or government regulators.

‘Community members knew what their problems were – dust, noise, impacts to water – but did not know how to address them and did not know who to talk to’

With funding from the Commonwealth Foundation, JET has been implementing a project entitled Jamaicans for Clean Air and Water since October 2016. The target communities are: Hayes/New Town in Clarendon, affected by a large alumina processing company and its Residue Disposal Area (RDA), Ten Miles at Bull Bay, St. Andrew, affected by quarrying by a cement company, Pleasant Farm in Ewarton, St. Catherine, also affected by bauxite mining, processing and waste and Port Morant, St Thomas, affected by sugar cane production and processing.

Site visit to Port Morant with community group and sugar factory representatives (2017)

Community members knew what their problems were – dust, noise, impacts to water – but did not know how to address them and did not know who to talk to. JET conducted advocacy training, with a focus on developing familiarity with the legal framework for mining and quarrying, especially regarding the environmental permits issued for these activities. Residents learned, for example, that the companies were required to keep a complaints register at a location that was easily accessible to them. The registers did exist, but were held inside the companies, where local people did not have easy access. Because they were not used, the companies were able to argue to regulators that there were no complaints. We also taught communities how to do logs of pollution events, so that they would be able to provide evidence of these impacts. Work continues to encourage communities to use these unaccustomed avenues.

Participants in the training also learned how to use the Access to Information (ATI) Act. They knew they were affected by dust, and they knew air quality was being tested by the company, but they did not know how to get the information, or how to interpret it. During workshops, community members learned how to do a simple ATI request and were excited to receive the information from government agencies after their requests were submitted. Because the information was often highly technical, however, they still needed expert input from JET and its consultants to understand what was sent to them.

‘Community members also benefit from meetings with regulators through the project’

JET continues to push the regulatory authorities to proactively disclose information about air and water quality to the public, especially nearby communities, in a form that is understandable by a lay person. A major output of this first year of the project was the release of a Review of the Legal and Policy Framework for Air and Water Quality in the island of Jamaica. This was launched at an Editor’s Forum at Jamaica’s main daily newspaper, the Gleaner, and received broad media coverage. In 2018, we will engage with the main environmental regulator, the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), regarding the recommendations of this study.

Community members also benefit from meetings with regulators through the project. Stakeholder meetings have given them the opportunity to meet the responsible officers and tell them in their own words of their experiences. The regulators had to grapple with their first-hand accounts and contact information was exchanged.

Meeting between JET, community members and government stakeholders (2017)
Meeting between JET, community members and government stakeholders (2017)

However, despite improved knowledge and networking facilitated by JET amongst the communities, participants still remain somewhat unwilling to contact government officials, as they fear victimization. JET set up a WhatsApp group to receive updates and this is being lightly used to exchange information, but the communities would much rather complain to JET and have us liaise with regulators on their behalf. Over time, through public education and training JET hopes to build the confidence of the communities and the wider Jamaican public, and inspire community-led advocacy on air and water quality, and other environmental issues.

Suzanne Stanley is CEO of Jamaica Environment Trust.