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An NGO Major Group Statement was delivered during the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, Apia, Samoa, 4 September 2014.

NGOs welcomed the recognition that sustainable development can only be achieved through a broad alliance of people, governments, civil society and the private sector all working together to create the future we want. 

NGO Major Group Statement

1. The Major Group of NGOs acknowledges that the S.A.M.O.A. Pathway seeks to further define the priorities for sustainable development in SIDS. We also welcome the recognition that sustainable development can only be achieved through a broad alliance of people, governments, civil society and the private sector all working together to create the future we want.

2. We underscore that NGOs are critical partners who bring wide and varying capacities to the process. We are service providers, innovators, capacity builders and mobilisers, policy advocates, and technical experts. We have contributed tangibly, and continue to do so, to the SIDS agenda and reaffirm our commitment to working with and even going beyond the S.A.M.O.A. Pathway to advance the sustainable development agenda. We however, note that oftentimes our work and value go unacknowledged and as such, underscore the need for transformative participatory approaches which value the role, contribution and capacities of NGOs operating at different levels. The creation of an enabling environment for us to continue to lead and support required initiatives is paramount.

3. The Major Group of NGOs affirms the Joint Statement of the Major Groups presented at the opening plenary which identified extremely critical thematic and sectoral issues urgent for the advancement of the SIDS process.

4. We reiterate that sustainable development can only be realised by an integrated approach that recognises that economic growth and prosperity is intimately linked to conservation of the environment and social justice.

5. We highlight however, that the single most important and urgent task facing us all is currently the implementation of stated commitments. The most vulnerable within our populations – women, children, young men, elderly and the other marginalised groups – all deserve a renewed commitment towards implementation and a robust framework for monitoring and accountability.

6. We underscore the need to build a robust coherence framework, noting that the post 2015 development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will create the new architecture for the future we want. This new architecture that will drive the flow of significant blocks of finance and other resources will only complement SIDS efforts if the targets, benchmarks, indicators and timelines allow for SIDS to be centrally placed in all of its components and activities.

7. We also note the need for enhanced institutional mechanisms at all levels which are sufficiently resourced to carry forward the SIDS agenda. In particular, we highlight the need for better resourced mechanisms at the national level which cater to the specificities of SIDS and in particular the capacities and needs of NGOs.

8. We welcome partnerships as a mechanism for effective implementation and the consolidation of necessary actions to advance the sustainable development agenda. We however believe that greater attention needs to be paid to defining the nature and characteristics of genuine and durable partnerships. The Major Group of NGOs commit to working in quality partnerships characterised by inter alia, commitment, trust, respect, transparency and mutual accountability.

9. We also note that quality partnerships should be valued, not only based on the direct monetary contribution that each partner brings to the table but, on the immeasurable expertise, local knowledge and in kind contribution that partners, such as civil society bring, to the table.

10. We further reiterate the need for cross-sectoral and joined up partnerships which leverage the immense experience of NGOs working in integrated ways; for example to make links between entrepreneurship and vulnerabilities of women and youth, conservation of ecosystems and building resilience to climate change and natural disasters, food security and livelihoods of farmers and fisherfolk.

11. As we look forward to our involvement in a robust implementation agenda the NGO Major Group calls for:

• The reformulation of the global governance architecture to give SIDS an equitable voice in international decision-making processes on climate change, economic development, social development, human rights, and environmental conservation.
• The creation of an enabling environment for civil society engagement at levels of governance in sustainable development processes. An enabling environment is based on respect for human rights and freedoms, access to adequate resources, the requisite legal, regulatory and policy environment to facilitate the operations of the sector and importantly; unwavering political will in favour of inclusive dialogue and access to information including data; and strengthened relations with all development partners.
• The inclusion of representative NGOs on all global, regional and national institutional mechanisms established to advance planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of sustainable development initiatives.
• The establishment of inter- and intra-regional support platforms and other mechanisms that provide resources, and facilitate and build capacity for effective participation of civil society for implementation and monitoring of the S.A.M.O.A. Pathway and related international processes.
• The establishment of specific mechanisms for the engagement of SIDS NGOs in the development of the post-2015 sustainable development agenda and climate change processes to promote sharing of knowledge and good practices in implementing and monitoring the pathway.
• Inclusion of civil society representatives on national delegations to inter-governmental fora.
• The enhancement of institutional mechanisms within the UN System that are designed to facilitate the participation of NGOs.

We are also cognizant of our need to commit to the process as NGOs.

We therefore commit to:

• Building our capacity to engage more effectively;
• Enhancing our own accountability and transparency;
• Harnessing the capacity within our communities and peoples via increased networking and exchange of lessons learnt and augmentation of good practices; and
• Scaling up our work in non- traditional partnerships based on agreed principles.

We call on our Governments and wider development partners to ensure that the history to be written of the S.A.M.O.A. Pathway is one which tells the story of effective implementation, clear results and achievements of the keys goals necessary to ensure the future we want for all of our populations.

The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) and the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) have announced a new partnership at the Third International Conference on SIDS in Samoa, after a call from the Major Groups and Stakeholder Pre Conference held on 29 August 2014 for greater coordination and collaboration across SIDS. 

Recommendation 11 of the Major Groups Outcome Document calls for:

“The establishment of inter and intra-regional collaboration platforms, stronger institutional mechanisms, tangible international support, integrated planning and execution, better statistics and information, increased absorptive capacity development, sharing of best practices, finance for development, adequate measurement and evaluation.”

The partnership between PIANGO and CPDC will create an interregional SIDS civil society policy and advocacy hub developed around four pillars:

1. Advocacy for the recognition of the SIDS region within global policy spaces so they are not subsumed within larger geopolitical blocs (the Pacific islands are not visible when classed as part of Asia and Caribbean specificities are overlooked when mentioned in the same breath as Latin America)
2. The development of a knowledge hub for documenting best practices of CSO implementation in areas related to the Samoa Pathway 
3. The creation of a CSO monitoring and evaluation framework to track implementation of agreed Samoa Pathway action points 
4. The development of a capacity building hub for civil society across the SIDS region 

PIANGO

The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) is a regional coordinating body of umbrella NGO bodies in 22 Pacific Island countries and territories. PIANGO was formally established in 1991 to assist NGOs in the Pacific to initiate action, give voice to their concerns and work collaboratively with other development actors for just and sustainable human development. PIANGO’s primary role is to be a catalyst for collective action, to facilitate and support coalitions and alliances on issues of common concern, and to strengthen the influence and impact of NGO efforts in the region.

CPDC

The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is a coalition of Caribbean non-governmental organizations. It was established in 1991 to sensitize NGOs and the general public on key policy issues and to impact policy makers on decisions which put the interests of Caribbean people at the centre of the Caribbean development strategy. Since its inception CPDC has lobbied regional and international governments on behalf of the sections of the Caribbean populations whose voices are less heard. In doing so CPDC has become accepted as a significant social partner in the development of the region.

The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (PIANGO) and the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) have announced a new partnership to establish the first mechanism for SIDS CSO inter-regional collaboration.

The partnership was confirmed at the Third International Conference on SIDS in Samoa, after a call from the Major Groups and Stakeholder Pre Conference held on 29 August 2014 for greater coordination and collaboration across SIDS.

Recommendation 11 of the Major Groups Outcome Document calls for:

“The establishment of inter and intra-regional collaboration platforms, stronger institutional mechanisms, tangible international support, integrated planning and execution, better statistics and information, increased absorptive capacity development, sharing of best practices, finance for development, adequate measurement and evaluation”.

The partnership between PIANGO and CPDC will create an interregional SIDS civil society policy and advocacy hub developed around 4 pillars:

1. Advocacy for specific recognition of the SIDS region within global policy spaces; (up until now, the Pacific is usually lumped with Asia and the Caribbean lumped with Latin America, which we have found to be irrelevant to our unique development challenges)
2. The development of a knowledge hub for documenting best practices of CSO implementation in areas related to the Samoa Pathway 
3. The creation of a CSO monitoring and evaluation framework to track implementation of agreed Samoa pathway action points 
4. The development of a capacity building hub for civil society across the SIDS region 

PIANGO

The Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) is a regional coordinating body of umbrella NGO bodies in 22 Pacific Island countries and territories. PIANGO was formally established in 1991 to assist NGOs in the Pacific to initiate action, give voice to their concerns and work collaboratively with other development actors for just and sustainable human development. PIANGO’s primary role is to be a catalyst for collective action, to facilitate and support coalitions and alliances on issues of common concern, and to strengthen the influence and impact of NGO efforts in the region.

CPDC

The Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) is a coalition of Caribbean non-governmental organizations. It was established in 1991 to sensitize NGOs and the general public on key policy issues and to impact policy makers on decisions which put the interests of Caribbean people at the center of the Caribbean development strategy. Since its inception CPDC has lobbied regional and international governments on behalf of the sections of the Caribbean populations whose voices are less heard. In doing so CPDC has become accepted as a significant social partner in the development of the region.

Speaking recently to The Voice Newspaper, Foundation director, Vijay Krishnarayan has reiterated how the concept of the Commonwealth still has relevance on the international stage. 

The Commonwealth’s principles and values are timeless. They’re as relevant today as they were when it was established in 1949. The world is a different place now but the Commonwealth Charter, which summarises what we stand for places human dignity at the core of our work. Over the past 55 years the Commonwealth has consistently made the case for development, democracy and diversity. At different times this has seen the Commonwealth provide leadership on issues such as international debt, non-communicable diseases and young people’s participation. Our role in isolating the racist apartheid regime remains fresh in my memory. It would be wrong to caricature the Commonwealth as a relic, given that countries with no historic connection with the “British Empire” (Mozambique and Rwanda) have decided to join. They can see the value of a global voluntary association of equal member states cooperating with each other in pursuit of commonly held goals. 

The Commonwealth provides an international platform for small states in particular. Of our 53 member states, 31 are classified as small states (i.e. they have a population of less than 1.5 million or share the characteristics of those states) and 25 are small island developing states. In many other global arenas these voices are often not heard. I speak here as a Trinidadian who values the space that the Commonwealth affords. Not only does this enable us to participate fully in international affairs, but it also gives us access to the wealth of experience and expertise from across the globe. 

The president of the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation discusses the CCWG. 

Joseph Antoine, president of Friends of the Earth Grenada, discusses how civil society in the Caribbean can work together.

Commonwealth Foundation Director, Vijay Krishnarayan, reflects on why 2014 is a big year for small states.

Indeed it is the International Year of Small Island Developing States! This is a constituency with particular importance for the Commonwealth as just under half of its members fit that description and the organisation has a long track record of supporting small states, highlighting their vulnerability to externally generated environmental and economic shocks. However, one area that has received relatively little attention is the importance of civil society organisations in articulating a development agenda for small states. 

In the Commonwealth Charter, which was endorsed by Heads of Government and launched last year, one of the sixteen clauses is dedicated to small states. In addition to committing to assisting small and developing states, it highlights the particular needs of Small Island Developing States as they tackle economic, energy, climate change and security related challenges, and build resilience for the future.

The Commonwealth’s signature on small states and SIDS in particular has been the concept of vulnerability, emphasising the exposure of small states to challenges related to scale, risk and capacity. In the Commonwealth Heads’ Gozo Statement on Vulnerable Small States, issued in 2005, the main characteristics outlined were: erosion of preferential trade access; growing debt burdens; disproportionately high security costs; natural disasters; HIV and AIDS; and rising youth unemployment. While some of these have changed over the past ten years, the economic argument remains strong and climate change has taken its place alongside to provide the new foundations for the concept.

Vulnerability has provided SIDS with a platform for advocacy in the global arena and a focus for capacity building, but it represents only one half of the development story. For a sustainable way forward weaknesses need to be addressed: but equally strengths need to be built on. In SIDS those strengths can be grouped together under the heading of resilience. It is this side of the equation, emphasising self-agency and building on traditions of struggle and resistance, which has resonated with civil society organisations. 

The potential for civil society to play an active role in building resilience in SIDS is manifest. The value of financial and social capital repatriated by the diaspora is substantial and takes place largely outside the realm of governments.

In the Caribbean, where emigration over the past fifty years has seen a steady outflow of the young and skilled, the diaspora has remained connected and makes a substantial contribution to the balance of payments. According to World Bank figures, the amount of money received in remittances in 2012 amounted to: US$2.1 billion in Jamaica; US$469 million in Guyana; and US$82 million in Barbados.  

The danger with these powerful statistics is that they can prevent a more profound imagining of the value of the diaspora. The way that contribution takes shape will be defined in large part by civil society, with its ability to organise across national and institutional boundaries. 

From this analysis it can readily be seen that civil society has a role to play in building resilience in SIDS, either through delivering services where the state is not able to, or advocating for policies addressing citizens’ needs and aspirations. Yet successive intergovernmental processes have not given adequate space to the consideration of the importance of the civic dimension to building resilience in SIDS. 

As the Commonwealth’s agency for civil society, the Commonwealth Foundation has a part to play in helping to build this dimension of resilience in SIDS and last year funded the participation of networks and alliances at a conference that started a global civic conversation on SIDS. The process continued at the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) in Sri Lanka. In the declaration that followed, the small states challenges were given especial prominence and were listed under the headings of: SIDS and Marine Environments; Sustainable Energy; Minority Rights; and Non Communicable Diseases. With specific regard to the Post MDG development goals they called for “a stand-alone goal for SIDS in view of their inherent, interlinked vulnerabilities and in pursuit of cross cutting resilience building. ” 

Civic voices have been missing from the SIDS discussion. This year the international conference on SIDS provides an opportunity to address this deficit. The Commonwealth Foundation is committed to supporting civil society inputs to this year’s Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States – to be held in Apia, Samoa in September. It is clear that civil society organisations are heading to Samoa – not just with an intent to ensure that their sector is visible in the specific discussions that will take place, for example, on climate change or economic development. They will also go with a vision for an inclusive, holistic and sustainable approach to development in SIDS. These are Commonwealth themes and this year the Foundation looks forward to playing its part in helping civil society to articulate them. 

Doo Aphane

Founder and Director of Women for Women Development Consultancy specialising in Law, Gender and Development, Swaziland.  

Doo served as regional coordinator for the Women’s Legal Rights Initiative Project responsible for six Southern African countries. She is the founding national coordinator of Women and Law in Southern Africa Trust (Swaziland) where she conducted and supervised action research in different family law areas, leading to several co-authored publications. This also exposed her to current socio-legal issues in Southern Africa. Doo is a founding officer of the Legal Aid Clinic of Council of Swaziland Churches.

Doo holds an LL.M in Law and Development from University of Warwick (UK). She participated in processes leading to the drafting of the SADC Gender and Development Declaration and the upgrading of the same into a Protocol. She was a SADC HIV and AIDS Technical Advisory Committee member 2007 to 2012. In addition, she was a Regional Task Force Committee member of Invigorating the Women’s Movement in Southern Africa, which commissioned the study on Assessment of the Vibrancy of the Women’s Movement in the country. She is a member of the African Feminist Forum and Women’s Inheritance Now Network.

Doo is currently serving as board member of Swaziland Young Women’s Network and the AIDS Information and Support Centre (TASC). She served as the chairperson of the gender consortium of non- governmental organisations under the auspices of Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organisations (CANGO). Doo served as deputy chair of the Central Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund, where she represented civil society. 

‘Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki

Director, Women and Children Crisis Centre (WCCC), Tonga

Ofa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki is the Director of the Women and Children Crisis Centre (WCCC) in Tonga. She has a post-graduate degree in media from the University of Auckland and also has a Diploma in International Broadcast Journalism with the Thomson Foundation in collaboration with the University of Cardiff, Wales. Her passion is telling women’s stories in the context of advocating for their rights, particularly in situations where women and girls’ rights to development and rights to accessing public services are violated. She believes that when you share the lived realities of women’s struggles and challenges, only then can you start talking about REAL solutions. She is passionate about the issues of violence against women and girls, women in decision making and women’s property and land rights and how all these issues relate to each other in the context of advocating for the overall achievement of Gender Equality and the meaningful empowerment of women and girls in Tonga and the Pacific. In 2010 the WCCC, under the leadership of Guttenbeil-Likiliki, received the prestigious South Pacific Commission (SPC) Human Rights Award in recognition of their work in promoting women’s human rights in Tonga.

Ms Hazel Brown

Coordinator of the Network of NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women

Ms. Brown has been professionally involved in research, social development and community organisation projects since 1969. Her specific area of focus has been in the area of poverty eradication, consumer affairs and in promoting gender equity. She has organised and conducted seminars and workshops pursuant to these ends through the organizations she has been a part of, as well as in collaboration with government ministries, CARICOM, Commonwealth organizations, OAS, PAHO, UNIFEM and other UN agencies.

Ms. Brown is a founding member of the Network of NGO’s of Trinidad and Tobago for the Advancement of Women, a comprehensive national umbrella organisation formed in 1985 The Network is an advocate and support for women’s organisations in Trinidad and Tobago and is a part of many regional and international networks of women including CIWIL and WEDO. She has also developed a good working relationship with the Trinidad and Tobago National Women’s Machinery.

She is the past Secretary General of the Commonwealth Women’s Network (CWN) and has been engaged in Commonwealth activities since the first Commonwealth People’s Forum at CHOGM in Harare in 1991. She has been a consistent advocate for a strong voice and space for Civil Society in Commonwealth activities and decision-making.