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The Honourable Jerome K. Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology in The Bahamas and Host Minister of the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers attended the first forum of the 19CCEM.

The Civil Society Forum, facilitated by the Commonwealth Foundation, with specific focus on Small States and Small Island Developing States was officially opened on Saturday, 20th June, 2015 by Minster Fitzgerald. 

The Civil Society Forum’s theme “Education and Sustainable Development in Small States: The Quality and Equity Imperatives”, will address the unique challenges and issues exclusive to Small States as they aim to aim to accomplish the goals of education and sustainable development. 

Mr. Vijay Krishnarayan, Director of The Commonwealth Foundation in his introduction asserted, “Minister Fitzgerald has a firm grasp on education. Minister Fitzgerald in welcoming the Civil Society delegates reminded them that Small States and Small Island Developing States represent 31 of the 53 member countries in the Commonwealth. Highlighting the question to be discussed, ‘Can Small States overcome their size-related vulnerabilities and grow faster and more consistently?’ The Minister affirmed that he remains hopeful. “I remain optimistic; cognizant of the fact that it will require innovative approaches and deliberate and sustained efforts.”

Her Excellency, Mrs. Marie-Pierre Lloyd, High Commissioner for Seychelles to the United Kingdom, delivered the keynote address. The two-day forum’s objectives centre around discussions on two critical areas: 1) Consolidating basic and secondary education: quality and equity; and 2) Further and higher education for sustainable development. Her Excellency Lloyd praised the progressive approach of Small States and Small Island Developing States to providing basic education. “Education in Small States is relatively advanced and most have achieved the goal of access to basic education.” She also referenced the agenda of Rio+20 and the focus of Sustainable Development.

According to the Commonwealth Foundation, the 19CCEM offers unique conference features due to the Government of The Bahamas’ commitment to hosting an Education Ministers Meeting that is “inclusive and involves the widest possible range of voices. On Monday, June 22nd, the Government of The Bahamas and the Commonwealth Secretariat will host a Small States Forum for Ministers and invited civil society stakeholders. It is intended that today’s outcomes and deliberations will feed into Monday’s meeting to inform policy makers. Therefore, the Civil Society Forum is a critical component of the 19CCEM.

The Sisters’ Voice project takes off in Pakistan with funding from the Commonwealth Foundation.

The mushrooming of civil society organisations in Pakistan took place in the 1980s. According to estimates, currently, there are approximately 100,000 CSOs operating in Pakistan consisting of registered and unregistered organisations including coalitions, trade unions, labour unions, professional associations, faith-based organisations, cultural associations, community based organisations, social welfare organisations, not-for-profit health providers, non-for-profit schools, philanthropic foundations, and voluntary organisations.

Over the decades, the focus of these civil society organisations has been on humanitarian emergencies, human rights, especially on labour, minorities and women rights, and on social development in rural communities. The contributions they have made in this regard are very significant.

However, advocacy efforts made by the CSOs remain fragmented and call for an integrated approach. This is especially true in the case of women’s organisations in the conservative provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan where there is a real need for women-led organisations to participate in meaningful dialogue and advocacy on women’s rights issues. The majority of these organisations are newly formed (during 2000s ) and keen to create venues and networking opportunities for collaboration. 

Responding to this vacuum, the project ‘Da Khwendo Xhag’ or ‘The Sisters’ Voice’ has been initiated by Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP) with financial support from the Commonwealth Foundation. Commenced in October 2014, this two year project is designed to: educate the women-led CSOs on pro-women legislation in the country; building these CSOs’ capacity on advocacy and networking skills with diverse stakeholders so they can collectively contribute for the maximum enforcement of women protection laws.

A total of 100 women from 50 women-led CSOs will be trained to network with the project stakeholders including parliamentarians, police and judiciary. Based on an assessment of these CSOs, a training manual was designed and developed for women to enhance their knowledge on the women protection laws, advocacy and networking skills. A total of four trainings (two trainings in each province) will be held; followed by the setting up of a women’s network that would support the CSOs in raising their voices on gaps in implementation of law. 

Being equipped with knowledge about women protection laws and effective skills on advocacy and networking, it is anticipated that these women-led CSOs will continue to strive towards improved governance at grassroots level and liaison with stakeholders for better implementation of women protection laws in Pakistan.

Foundation Director, Vijay Krishnarayan, eagerly anticipates the prospect of the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) returning to Malta.  

It will be a pleasant return to Malta to attend the upcoming 2015 Commonwealth Summit. I went for the first time in 2005 as a participant at the Commonwealth People’s Forum and was introduced as the Commonwealth Foundation’s new Deputy Director so it will feel like a homecoming for me. 

That 2005 meeting was also significant for the Commonwealth as a whole as it saw the introduction of a formal meeting of Foreign Ministers in addition to Heads of Government. It was then that we started thinking of this biennial coming together of the Commonwealth family as so much more than a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). 

The involvement of Foreign Ministers in 2005 provided the first real opportunity for dialogue between the “official” and the “unofficial” Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth’s agency for civil society organised this dialogue and it has remained a feature of CHOGMs ever since. 

Civil society organisations first recognised the opportunity afforded by CHOGM for learning and advocacy long before 2005. They organised themselves in the run-up to the 1991 Harare CHOGM and since then the Foundation has worked with civil society and successive host governments to establish space for the unofficial Commonwealth to meet alongside Ministers. This is what we call the Commonwealth People’s Forum. 

For over 20 years civil society organisations have valued the opportunity to come together and learn from each other but the 2005 CHOGM gave a hint that they might expect more. There is a sense that civil society has been talking to itself or “singing to the choir” with questions as to whether anyone is really listening. 

These concerns have shaped thinking about this year’s CPF which will take place at the Corinthia Hotel in St George’s Bay from 23-26 November. On-line registration for CPF2015 opens on 4 June. Over four days the CPF will consider the question “What Makes Societies Resilient?” One of the points that civil society organisations will be making is that resilience can be a strategy for sustainable development if it draws on civic assets such as participation, diversity and innovation. 

There will be three strands of discussion: Transformative societies – how can people’s potential to contribute be realised? Inclusive policies – how can diversity be reflected in strategies? Transparency and accountability – how can institutions be more open and responsive? 

This year at the CPF we want to bring citizens and people who make policy together. CPF 2015 will place greater emphasis on dialogue between civil society organisations and the institutions that shape people’s lives. These policy dialogues will take the form of roundtable discussions and panel presentations on issues that feed into our central theme of resilience. There will also be opportunities for learning and exchange using case studies, workshops and film.

The CPF occurs at a significant moment on the development calendar and provides an opportunity for civil society to reflect on and plan for several important global forums taking place this year. In July, the Third International Conference on Financing for Development will convene to agree an intergovernmental compact in support of funding the post-2015 development agenda. September will see the culmination of more than two years of discussion and deliberation when the global community meets to adopt the new development agenda. Then days after the Commonwealth Summit the Paris Climate Conference will convene with the intent to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°celsius. 

CPF 2015 provides a unique opportunity to consider the implications of these global processes and their application on the ground so that society is strengthened and people are able to fully participate in the pursuit of sustainable development. It feels appropriate that Malta should be the place to have this discussion. It is a key player on the international stage, for example assuming the Presidency of the European Union in January 2017. At the same time as a small state it is representative of the majority of Commonwealth member countries. It is also the place where much of the thinking on resilience as a development strategy started. 

Above all of these one can appreciate the ways in which Maltese society has changed since the 2005 CHOGM, evidenced for example in its commitment to achieving equality for all. Having engaged with civil society organisations in Malta I can see that they have plenty to offer their counterparts across the Commonwealth in terms of success stories, while acknowledging that there is still plenty to do and learn from others. I know that both they and the Government of Malta look forward to welcoming the Commonwealth family in November for what promises to be a productive forum. 

Secondary school students from the Chaguanas Borough of Trinidad and Tobago have received certificates to mark their participation in the pilot of a project funded by the Commonwealth Foundation, Fostering a democratic culture in schools and local communities in the Caribbean. 

Addressing young graduates of the programme, project facilitator Josh Drayton said he hoped this project will inform better decision-making in local and national governance. 

“My concern is that leaders within our society make decisions on our behalf, and we have to live with them. The challenge in that is, what about you? How are you as young people involved in this conversation? And that is the big concern here… Political decisions and local government affect you.”   

The Commonwealth Foundation and CALGA are investing in Caribbean youths in an effort to improve public awareness about the Local Government system, starting in secondary schools. This initiative also aims at immersing youth in local culture and promoting respect for cultural diversity in plural Caribbean societies.

The Foundation supported the Civil Society Partners’ Forum in conjunction with the 27th Commonwealth Health Ministers’ Meeting 2015 (CHMM). The forum was held in Geneva on Saturday, 16 May 2015. It made important considerations on financing to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Civil society participated in deliberations with policy makers, and had the opportunity to engage with Ministers at the CHMM, signifing key changes to processes for civic inputs at this level.

Universal Health Coverage

Investing in health: an economic imperative for sustainable development

High priority, evidenced-based, cost-effective, health interventions exist; research has demonstrated that implementation of these interventions would result in a ‘convergence’ of health outcomes between developed and developing countries within a generation. This forum explored the financing of investing in health and asked Commonwealth Health Ministers to define their own set of high priority services and to universally implement these with public financing from national budgets with contributions, if necessary, from the international community.

Forum speakers included Sir George Alleyne, Ms Jill Iliffe, Mr K M Gopakumar and Dr Ravindra Rannan-Eliya.

Members of the Caribbean Consultative Working Group (CCWG) will unite to focus on the collective advocacy theme of ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ in the Caribbean. 

The CCWG is a means for Caribbean civil society actors to learn from each other and share best practices on policy advocacy in the region. In addition to attending capacity building workshops facilitated by the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) with support from the Commonwealth Foundation, the group will pool their collective experience to build a strategy to advocate on one policy issue. 

Representing the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), Elijah James explained that despite the different organisations involved in the CCWG, Sustainable Energy was a theme that affected everybody in the CARICOM region: “We’re currently now working on [this] theme because of how important energy is to the Caribbean region itself, and more importantly how high the cost of energy is here in the region, which is obviously affecting not only consumers but our economic activity as well. It affects everybody – businesses, consumers, everybody. And we’re right now at that point where we are actually as a group working on our strategic approaches as CCWG.” 

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With the civil society space sometimes shrinking in the Caribbean, the CCWG has become an important platform for members to build and share skills in lobbying and advocacy. 

Hazel Brown (Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women) who has worked in the civil society for many years, described her membership of the group as “an amazing experience, going to school about advocacy”. 

“The work that we do in the CCWG is important, because it is building the capacity for advocacy and lobbying, and learning the ways in which you can be effective without having to shout and scream and demonstrate. Although there is a time for shouting and screaming and demonstrating.” 

Ashley John (Constructive Solutions Inc) sees the Working Group as a means for civil society to regain its voice in parts of the Caribbean. 

“One of the things that we have learned and we appreciate is that there are really no shortcuts. You have to be informed on your issues and what’s going on around you – not only in terms of your local island, but in the region and globally. You have to frame that into all your advocacy because you’re no longer stand alone. So this process has brought us on a par with global best practices.” 

Sandra Ferguson (Inter Agency Group of Development Organisations (IAGDO) sees the group as “an excellent opportunity to learn about engaging more effectively. It also provides the opportunity for the regional to reach down to the national – so more synergy.” Ms Ferguson highlighted that members have been able to build their capacity in advocacy research, being able to draw on the knowledge and experience of others in the group. “This will also enable us to build the capacity of those engaged in the network, and also to expand it, as we think critical mass is important. For me, participatory governance is really about stakeholders – particularly our constituents or the marginalised – being part of the process of decision-making, of policy, of implementing, monitoring and designing.” 

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Kevin Dangleben is the manager of the Kalinago Barana Aute (the Carib Model Village).