Caribbean NGO Approaches to FTAA --
A Specific Civil Society Perspective
BARBADOS
The launch of the WTO and the emergence of the FTAA and the CSME have all caught Civil Society Organisations virtually with their pants down. Yes there are Civil Society personnel who have great knowledge of these three mechanisms, which are steeped in trade and business, but far too many know too little of these three or how these institutions will impact on their lives.
Recognising that trade and business are well dependent on human activity and behaviour, Civil Society is concerned about the impact of the CSME and the FTAA on an unsuspecting population that only hears these terms in passing but has no idea of the "consequences".
"Consequences" because the public is generally unaware of the opportunities, benefits and options that have suddenly become available because of the WTO, FTAA and CSME. It is like playing football or cricket without any knowledge of the rules of the game; you just can't win.
Worse yet is the fact that the local population is developing fears of mass non-national intrusion and as a result displays all the symptoms of xenophobia. The danger is that these fears create an opportunity for the detractors of the CSME, as the saying goes, "to stir the river to see what they can catch in troubled waters."
For more than two years the Barbados Association of Non Governmental Organisations (BANGO) has been stressing the importance of public education programmes (PEPs) for greater public understanding of such global significant developments as the WTO, FTAA and the CSME. We held meetings with the CSME Unit in Barbados about the importance of PEPs and advocated this view at several meetings of CARICOM.
It has been touted that the basic requirement therefore for going into the CSME is to become competitive. What does that mean? It means creating a critical mass of knowledge based workers; creating new niche markets such as the cultural industry to complement the Tourist market; developing a vibrant consumer education programme; making education and training in marketable skills easily accessible; alleviation and eradication of poverty; integrating the disabled into the workforce; utilising the efficiency potential of technology to expand and enhance capacity and; using the experience of our retirees for national development.
These only incidentally form some of the principles that inform the agenda of Civil Society. Many CSOs have adjusted their agendas to address modern challenges in a fundamental way. Apart from this work, CSOs have been calling for legislation for the protection of the environment, for the protection of the elderly and the disabled, to combat drugs and to remove the social barriers such as stigma and discrimination in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
CSOs are therefore changing with the times but this is no reflection of any concern with or knowledge of the CSME or the FTAA.
For example, CSOs are tackling poverty through programmes designed to fight unemployment which is a main factor in breaking the cycle of poverty. Our concern with fighting diseases such as HIV/AIDS has nothing to do with our dwindling workforce but with promoting healthy lifestyles to avoid the alleviation of human suffering.
Similarly, concern with the environment has more to do with protecting our eco-system and preventing environmental hazards than with promoting eco-tourism. Furthermore, efforts to make these projects sustainable are a means to an end rather than being part of a strategy to create employment or to be competitive in the market.
Given the partisan political culture of Barbados and the English speaking Caribbean , government's support for Civil Society has been fragmented. Within the last few years, government, like most international organisations, has been holding consultations with Civil Society, only to further its own agenda rather than for the purpose of working with Civil Society and developing national strategies for wholesome development.
Therefore the outcomes of most of these consultations have not resulted in any tangible partnerships or work-plans with Civil Society but moreso to inform Government policy for administrative purposes.
Whatever has encouraged Governments to keep the CSME a virtual secret for so long, we suspect, has to do with trying not to lose popularity. Often the question of whether or not a Government will lose votes and by extension lose power has been an overriding factor in its information-sharing practice. Government will only share information if it feels that such information will not make it unpopular.
The best example of this is "Free Movement of People". Governments have decided not to extend this right across the population but limit it to university graduates, entertainers, professionals and self employed persons. It is perceived that any attempt to allow the masses free movement would result in Government losing its popularity because of widespread xenophobia; non-nationals invading Barbados and competing with nationals for scarce jobs.
This is a kind of "catch 22" situation because any attempt to correct this by allaying these fears may be misconstrued by the electorate as government's intention to sell out the island to "foreigners"; a charge that is already leveled at Government but has not yet taken root.
At a Roundtable with Civil Society and International donor agencies in October 2002, it was made clear by the latter that funding will not be made available without strong statements from our Governments. From then until now, the developmental organisations have been sidelined while our counterparts in the Private Sector have had all the funding and resources they required for seminars, meetings, etc. to improve their knowledge and understanding of the CSME and the FTAA.
The greatest weakness of the CSME therefore, is the lack of public education and awareness programmes for Civil Society. Under the Circumstances, BANGO, as a Focal Point for Civil Society and because it is our concerted opinion that to do nothing would mean that our people will suffer, we have been seeking funding outside of Government to conduct public education programmes that would prepare our people and inform them of the new rules.
Bringing CSME to the People
BANGO made a breakthrough in December 2004 when it attracted sponsorship for the CSME & Free Trade Zone. Under the theme, "Bringing CSME to the People", an information Zone was set up in Heroes Square in the heart of the city of Bridgetown and directly in the path of pedestrians.
The Zone was basically a large tent under which information was displayed by the Private Sector, Government, Civil Society and some international and regional organisations including the University of the West Indies .
From this Zone emanated a Town Crier from time to time, traveling the length and breadth of Bridgetown , announcing the coming of the CSME. He was accompanied by three assistants and gave out packages to persons who correctly answered questions about the CSME.
The packages contained T-Shirts, bandanas and brochures, magazines and other reading material on the CSME and FTAA. The evening ended with a cultural parade to mark the coming of the CSME ( 1 st January, 2005 ).
This event was so successful that the sponsors are planning to repeat it in Barbados and launch it in Trinidad and Jamaica .
Besides this we have invited the UNDP to partner with us in order to structure and organise Civil Society to make it more responsive to national and regional issues.
In December 2004, BANGO in collaboration with the UNDP and the Sub-Regional Fund, hosted a national consultation for Civil Society and out of this came a work-plan that will fuel the Civil Society agenda for 2005.
The work-plan includes the restructuring of BANGO from an umbrella organisation to a Focal Point for Civil Society, expanding its accessibility to all CSOs in Barbados . By this restructuring, it leaves the door opened for the establishment of a National Civil Society Council which is already in the making.
Roosevelt O. King
Secretary General - BANGO
admin@bango.org.bb
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