Strengthening Government-Civil Society Partnership to Attain MDGs

"Pledges made at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, UK, in July this year should not only be applauded, but more importantly, be implemented." Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon

He was speaking at the opening of a meeting between representatives of civil society and Commonwealth governments at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, UK, on 3 October 2005, in preparation for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta in November 2005.

The Secretary-General noted the role of civil society has grown in significance in the Commonwealth over the years. He said the 3 October forum facilitated dialogue that can help to bring into coherence the plans and programmes of governments and civil society to achieve the same goals.

"The Commonwealth would not be what it is without its civil society and is committed to working with civil society organisations, and it values their contributions. The consultations between government and civil society have revealed some positive outcomes and have gone some way to assist the development and implementation of global commitments on the MDGs, small island developing states, the digital divide and Africa," stated Mr McKinnon. Those four themes were identified by civil society as their areas of focus for this occasion.

But the Secretary-General stressed that more can be done to push forward the development process. He emphasised pledges made at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, UK, in July this year should not only be applauded, but more importantly, be implemented.

"If the G8 commitments are translated into action, the development dividend actually means 13,000 people [a day] who could otherwise have died through a variety of diseases, could in fact live. The provision of antiretroviral drugs to everyone in Africa who needs them within five years, will actually save more than six million lives. Polio could be eradicated, 20 million more children will go to school and five million more orphans will be cared for," he said.

Nelcia Robinson, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Foundation Civil Society Advisory Committee, noted that "many people in Commonwealth countries are excluded from decision-making processes on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, disability, beliefs and age. Poverty remains the central challenge, but the approaches to tackling it are piecemeal and disjointed. Trade provides our best hope of confronting poverty, but we are concerned at the continuing injustice of global trade, which threatens many of our national economies."

Ms Robinson, who is also the Co-ordinator of the Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action, called for greater recognition of the contributions of civil society to development and democracy, and the strengthening of partnership with governments to monitor the progress of efforts to ensure that human sustainable development needs are efficiently addressed.

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