Big Day for NGOs and CBOs

Sherbourne Conference Centre should come alive on Tuesday 21 st June 2005 as the first day of a two-day Summit begins for all NGO and CBO Leaders in Barbados.

Also invited are many regional and international agencies as well as Heads of Government Departments who are being asked to observe the process and bring their experience to bear on the proceedings.

Civil Society Representatives from across CARICOM are among those expected in the audience. They will be here to get a first hand experience as they will be expected to lead the process when they return to their countries. They will also participate, bringing their experience to bear on the Summit .

There is no doubt that Barbados will be under the watchful eye of CARICOM in what can only be described as a creative move to find a voice for the NGOs and CBOs and all those organisations commonly referred to as the "Third Sector" of Civil Society.

Creative, because we are not seeking to bring the organisations under an umbrella body with a single leader who will speak on behalf of all, but by arrangement and commitment, to organise a system for arriving at decisions that could be considered a Civil Society position by its process.

The process would also identify representatives to sit on national committees and interface with Government and other agencies, where input from consultation with Civil Society is necessary.

The Summit brings an opportunity to widen democratic participation by establishing a forum where all organisations are equal and where they maintain their full independence and autonomy. It is also an opportunity to avoid political rancour and strife that may accompany trying to identify a single leader who will speak on behalf of Civil Society. I have always argued that this is impractical given the diversity of Civil Society and the fact that we do not have sufficient of an information network.

The vision of an assembly of NGOs or platform for NGOs was conceived back in 1994. Even though BANGO went in the direction of an umbrella body initially, the blueprint for an assembly was never discarded. What prevailed at the time was a popular view of the traditional method of an umbrella body as the way to go.

However, umbrella bodies work best for sectors where there is common ground. People and by extension organisations rally around causes and issues that directly affect them. Where there is no perceived direct benefit, coming together is much harder, even when it can be reasoned that it is practical to do so.

This is because the main consideration will be whether or not it is of any intrinsic value to give up autonomy and independence in order to support a cause. Under the proposed arrangement, the independence and autonomy of each organisation stays intact. There is therefore nothing for organisations to lose but everything to gain.

For example, organisations will get support for their own work and initiatives from their colleagues; where organisations can be identified as a sector, support for the sector will increase because donors will look more favourably upon a sector rather than having to deal with organisations individually. This is something that they have been reiterating.

The most important benefit is becoming part of a national action plan where the role of each stakeholder is cut out and where NGOs see the benefits of their efforts given that any national plan will have the support of the participating stakeholders, namely the NGOs, government, private sector and labour.

The other benefit to National Planning is that the work of the sector can be assessed and resources allocated according to programmes. This means that once an organisation is part of a National Action Plan the more likely that resources will come much easier and allow the organisation to get on with its work.

We therefore encourage leaders to come with the intention of establishing a system and a process for meeting that will be representative. Once this is established the destiny of Civil Society will be in the hands of the rightful stakeholders to mould as they see fit.

Roosevelt O. King
Secretary General - BANGO
agunn@cariaccess.com tel 246 822 3000