Cross Cutting Theme: Small and Vulnerable States

Issue

The Tonga Strategic Development Framework 2015-2025 is an overarching framework to ensure Tonga’s development. Civil society plays a key role in its implementation but a more engaged interaction with government is required.

Project

The Civil Society Forum of Tonga (CSFT) is collaborating with government and the private sector to monitor the implementation of the Tonga Strategic Development Framework, ensuring civil society actors are better informed, better coordinated and better able to engage with government in a structured and productive way. With an emphasis on the priority areas of climate change and local governance, the CSFT is mapping alignment between the priorities of civil society and government, and undertaking a comparative analysis to ensure the Tonga Strategic Development Framework aligns with commitments made in international treaties. By building the capacity of CSOs in data collection, research and monitoring and evaluation techniques, CSFT is ensuring civil society can make a credible contribution in helping government to implement the Tonga Strategic Development Framework to its full potential.

By the end of the project, it is expected that institutionalised engagement between civil society and government will have been established to promote improved implementation of the Tonga Strategic Development Framework and the sustainable development of Tonga. CSOs will be better informed on issues of climate change and local governance; better equipped to play a monitoring role alongside government in the implementation of national priorities and better able to access and interact with government processes through the structured engagement framework. There will also be a clear process established for CSOs to provide constructive feedback to improve processes of engagement and policy dialogue.