The State of Civil Society Affairs

There is no need to get uptight about globalisation. The fact is that it is upon us even as this article is being written. One thing is certainly clear, that is, in order to survive the mode of governance must change.

Many lamented the sale of the BNB shares to the Republic Bank of T&T. Maybe if Barbadians were conscious of what is going on, then we may very well have gobbled up the shares before the Republic Bank had a chance to get any at all. The fact is that we are lacking information sharing and public education programmes; and it is the same in every CARICOM member state.

Colgate Pamolive bought out the coconut industry in Dominica . What does this mean to the people of Dominica ? Rights to the production of our steel pan now reside in Europe . What does this mean to our pan culture? Then out of the blue, a photo appeared in the press with Barbadian Black belly sheep on the highways of Texas . What does this mean to intellectual property rights?

All these things are going on right under our noses. Are we aware? Can we begin to comprehend what is happening to our social and economic structure? It becomes more than apparent that we have to shape up lest we lose Barbados and the Caribbean to the rest of the world. The real question is, what strategy can we use to get together as a people? Most crucial is the fact that the way that citizens participate is through Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

We have a government that we elect every five years on a manifesto that does not have any consensus from the people but is merely a guide to the policies and programmes which a party proposes to implement. Within the context of globalisation it is crucial that government make informed decisions. It is fast becoming impossible for government to make decisions without understand the needs and aspirations of its citizens and the solutions with which they are willing to work.

This has come at a time when the citizen is becoming more and more important for the survival of the economy and indeed the nation. What people do, what they know, how they shop and the solutions for which they are asking, has become very important to the performance of the nation. Many of these priorities come as a result of Barbados being a member of the United Nations and becoming committed to international obligations for meeting developmental targets.

The establishment of the social partnership is testimony to the fact that government has recognised that it cannot be business as usual. No longer can government achieve good governance without the participation of the people and more particularly, the stakeholders within the society and economy.

In terms of the Social Partnership, government has established a process with Private Sector and Labour participation. The rest of Civil Society is holding a back seat and this is not because we are not invited to the table, but because we have not yet fully taken up the opportunity. We have to demonstrate that we know who we are and that what we are representative.

The chief motivator for labour and the private sector is profit and wages respectively. These are very practical reasons that affect our daily lives and the quality of life. Within the rest of Civil Society the emphasis is on the unfortunate and on achieving social justice. With the call for Civil Society to get on board, BANGO is seeking practical steps for carrying CSOs forward.

Given this new focus, the action words for BANGO are networking, consulting and partnerships if it is to take on the challenge of claiming a rightful space for CSOs. What can be observed is the cautious way in which government is approaching the matter of Civil Society participation.

For example, CARICOM provided an opportunity through the Forward Together Conference and Encounter with the Heads of Government which was held in July 2002. After this Conference and Encounter, the Heads issued a Statement of Principles, recommended to guide the Civil Society Process for participation both nationally and regionally.

The Statement mandated a Civil Society Task Force to be set up, coordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat. The Task Force held its first meeting in November 2002 and at its last meeting recommended that a CARICOM Civil Society Council be established that would provide the link between Civil Society and the Heads of Government.

The recommendation went to the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) meeting April 24 th 2003 and reached the Heads of Government in July 2003. This is nothing short of another opportunity for Civil Society to gain in-roads into the decision making process.

The challenge is for us to develop a transparent process of representation through consultations, with consensus and concerns impacting on the national and regional policy machinery. This process is required to start from bottom up with the participation of all CSOs. BANGO recognises that all CSOs must be given the opportunity to participate and we encourage you to get on board immediately.