Delivering Abuja – Government and Civil Society Partnerships for Commonwealth Outcomes
Date: 27 Feb 2004
Speaker: Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: Royal Commonwealth Society, London, UK
I'm very pleased to be with you today.
Thank you to Stuart for organising this important event - and thank you to Terry Dormer for your role in bringing us together today. Thank you also to the British Government for sponsoring this event.
Civil society organisations are a growing force in our societies. I believe this is partly due to the fact that citizens feel increasingly disillusioned by traditional politics. A great number of young people, for example, don't even bother to turn up to vote (I was amazed to learn that more people voted during the programme "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here" than at the last European elections).
People look for other ways of getting involved, of influencing the political process, of making their voices heard.
And increasingly, they turn to NGOs as channels through which they can express their views and contribute to shape decisions affecting their lives. This trend is not to be deplored, but to be celebrated. We must recognise that civil society can - and must - play a central role in the democratic process.
Governments often perceive NGOs as a nuisance. But in fact, NGOs are becoming one of the most important interface between governments and the people.
NGOs offer governments a pretty good idea of where public opinion stands and how citizens evaluate a government's performance.
A new type of relationship between governments and citizens is taking shape. This will become an increasingly important feature of public life in the next few decades.
The Commonwealth can play an important role in ensuring that this interaction between governments and civil society is positive and constructive. We can help ensure that this relationship leads to better informed, more engaged citizens and that it leads to more responsive, more transparent ways of governing.
This is clearly expressed in the Kampala Vision (the outcome of work undertaken by the Commonwealth Foundation to make partnerships between governments and civil society more effective):
"Multi-sectoral partnerships must recognise the fundamental principle that people have an inherent right and concomitant duty to be involved in and actively participate in governance; and that governments have a responsibility to meaningfully and constructively engage citizens, civil society organisations and other non-state actors in the affairs of their countries."
This vision could certainly serve as a template for future collaborations between civil society and governments.
The Abuja CHOGM offers all of us, of course, unique opportunities to develop and strengthen our partnerships.
1. Civil society at CHOGM
You are all familiar with the main outcomes of the Abuja CHOGM.
I would like to draw your attention, in particular, to the "Latimer House Guidelines". This framework for implementing the Commonwealth's fundamental values outlines the principles of responsibility, transparency and accountability at all levels of government: the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary.
This is a very important development, not least because the Guidelines originated from civil society. This provides an excellent example of how Commonwealth civil society can have a key impact on decisions made by Heads of Government. This is also an example of how ideas developed at the level of civil society can work their way into decision making and help shape government policies.
The Abuja CHOGM also featured a successful People's Forum, attended by thousands of people, including civil society organisations, heads of state, officials, business representatives and members of the public.
The Forum included a conference on Development and Democracy and the conclusions of this conference were presented to leaders and contributed to shape their discussions. It also included 80 civil society organised events and a large Commonwealth Market.
I was very pleased to have an opportunity to address civil society organisations (CSOs) at the People's Forum. On the eve of my speech, the daily newspaper of the Commonwealth People's Forum - Terra Viva - carried a story on its front page with the headline: "Civil Society Prepares for 'Civil War'".
In the event, it wasn't civil war (although there seemed to be no dearth of tension!), but a reasonably civil dialogue, which brought out a number of important issues, including the need to establish a closer interaction between governments and CSOs.
For some years now, Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings have provided CSOs and governments with opportunities to interact and develop ideas together. This process of dialogue has been very successful and we are looking at ways of improving and strengthening the level of interaction between CSOs and governments at CHOGMs.
As you would know, a High Level Expert Group in Kofi Annan's office is looking at the relationship between the UN and civil society. We, in the Commonwealth, are keeping close to this process.
In Abuja, civil society organisations requested to be able to make their own presentation to leaders. We are looking into this and governments will be discussing various aspects of CHOGM next month. But I can't make my promises on this here.
There were opportunities for interaction at a number of social events in Abuja, but we recognise greater progress could be made in this area.
Interaction between civil society and the media has also been an issue of concern. In recent Commonwealth Ministerial meetings, daily press conferences brought together Ministers, civil society and youth representatives, giving them all an opportunity to brief the press about discussions that took place during the day. A similar model could be adopted in future CHOGMs.
It is worth pointing out that civil society organisations were also involved in the process leading up to CHOGM.
This year for the first time, CSOs were invited to participate in a special half-day session with members of the Committee of the Whole.
This event, organised by the Commonwealth Foundation, led to a lively and constructive dialogue and governments wish to see this repeated for future CHOGMs.
One way of making this dialogue even more effective would be for CSOs to step in at an earlier stage in the process. We are looking at this at the moment.
2. Working together to deliver Abuja
Following the Abuja CHOGM, our task is to build new mandates into the Secretariat's Action Plan. Sandy Jones will tell you more about this process later today.
Key to the success of achieving this action plan will be the partnerships we develop, particularly with civil society organisations.
In developing these partnerships, should follow three broad principles:
- We should make sure the knowledge and strengths of each partner are maximised.
- We should ensure more is achieved through the partnership than by acting independently
- We should make sure that each partner contributes as well as gains from the experience
We are developing and strengthening partnerships in a number of areas:
Education
Our Education Section is working with CSOs and academic institutions to develop a database of good projects and best practice in education. This database would be made available to all education professionals in the Commonwealth.
Teacher recruitment: we are working in close collaboration with education CSOs to develop guidelines to promote good practice in teacher recruitment.
Gender
Conflict prevention and post conflict reconstruction. Our Gender Section has been working in partnership with civil society to set up major national consultations in Sierra Leone and Sri Lanka to ensure the participation of women and young people in the peace building process.
Preparations for the Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting, due to be held in Fiji in May, have benefited from a high level of involvement from civil society organisations. Consultations held over the past year resulted in an action plan which will be presented to CSOs and governments at the Fiji meeting.
HIPC
The highly indebted countries of the Commonwealth have acknowledged the value of civil society partners in addressing debt issues. Civil society organisations have developed considerable expertise in this area, and HIPC Ministers have invited them to participate in their Ministerial Forum next month in Sierra Leone.
The Commonwealth Foundation will facilitate their participation and provide support for a two day preparatory meeting prior to the HIPC Forum.
Human rights
Human rights: at the heart of the relationship between citizens and the state.
It is therefore crucial that citizens and civil society have an input in discussions about the protection of human rights.
If the Commonwealth is to strengthen its reputation as an organisation whose members respect human rights, we need a host of people and organisations from all sectors of society to defend human rights.
The Secretariat's Human Rights Unit has been facilitating collaboration between governments, human rights institutions, human rights organisation, the media and other organisations to identify what are the needs of human rights defenders and how these can be met.
Rule of law
Equal access to justice for all citizens has been identified as a crucial need in the Commonwealth. In order to develop good practice guidelines for ensuring such access we need to work with a range of partners with experience in this field.
The Constitutional and Legal Affairs Division is involving a range of civil society partners to assist them in this work.
Public Sector Reform
Although most Commonwealth countries now have in place oversight institutions, such as ombudsman, anti-corruption institutions, and attorneys general, very few ordinary people know about their existence, let alone what they do or how to use them.
We need to find partners who will work together to raise awareness about these institutions and make them more open and accountable to citizens.
At a recent Commonwealth meeting in Sierra Leone, a wide range of women's organisations, human rights organisations, labour, environmental CSOs and the media came together to find out what was their role in raising awareness and how they needed to carry out this role.
Conclusion
The relationship between civil society organisations is central to Commonwealth identity.
Governments, citizens and civil society groups in the Commonwealth all share the same values: belief in democracy, freedom, the rule of law; a commitment to diversity and the respect human rights; a determination to create a more equal world, where every citizen has real opportunities and the chance to build a better life for himself and his family.
This relationship, this commitment to shared values by all groups and citizens within our organisation is what makes the Commonwealth unique.
Historical links in the Commonwealth are very deep and go back a long way. Indeed, many civil society organisations were established well before the intergovernmental organisation.
The links between the official and unofficial Commonwealth have evolved over time and, indeed, will continue to evolve.
It is important that, in this evolving relationship, we all stand ready to change, adapt to new circumstances and seize the new opportunities that partnerships offer us.
We have to be ready to accept criticism - and we have to make sure this criticism is constructive, so we can all benefit from more effective collaboration.
We also need to know more about each other, especially what each of us can bring to the table:
- Governments and officials need to understand better the nature and work of civil society organisations, to value their contribution, and to strengthen the frameworks for partnerships.
- Civil society organisations, like governments and business, need to make sure all aspects of their governance are in order. CSOs need to understand how governments work - including the constraints within which they operate - and to be aware of their capacity to contribute to partnerships.
That is how we are going to achieve progress.
That is how we can grow stronger by working together.
And, most importantly, that is how we will be able to deliver greater opportunities and better life chances to those who need it most throughout the Commonwealth.
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Delivering Abuja – Government and Civil Society Partnerships for Commonwealth Outcomes
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