Monday, May 12 2008

MORE THAN 100 civil society representatives assembled in Miami, Florida on May 1 and 2 for the Hemispheric Civil Society Forum as preparations continued for the Fifth Summit of the Americas to be hosted in Trinidad and Tobago.

Engagement of civil society in the process forms a key part of the mandate of the National Secretariat for the Summit to be convened in April 2009.

According to National Coordinator of the Port-of-Spain based Secretariat, Ambassador Luis Alberto Rodriguez, “civil society organisations can contribute in a significant way to monitoring the implementation of mandates agreed to within the framework of the Summits of the Americas process, and to the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes at the national level.”

The Secretariat has been charged with incorporating the inputs of government officials and civil society and fostering their active participation in all aspects of the summit process.

“Thus far,” Ambassador Rodriguez said, “preparations for the Fifth Summit have coalesced around a strategy of consensus-building.”

Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS), Ambassador Albert Ramdin described the Forum as “a clear example of the progress that has been made in institutionalising the partnership between civil society and the Summits of the Americas process.”

“I believe that this type of dialogue and the discussions and debates engendered, can only serve to enrich the work of our Governments, because governments alone cannot achieve peaceful societies, stable democracies and prosperous economies,” he said.

Several hemispheric groups described the Forum as an important mechanism in promoting the concerns of the people of the Americas.

The Concept Paper prepared for the Summit says “progress made at the previous four Summits of the Americas and the two Special Summits provide a solid basis for developing a focused, integrated and results-oriented Inter-American Agenda.”

A paper submitted by Transparency International noted “with satisfaction the Concept Paper’s emphasis on the implementation of the Summit’s mandates and the results-oriented approach to monitoring outcomes.”

“Civil society organisations must stand ready to play their part in order to ensure the achievement of this objective,” the organisation said. The Forum was organised to enable civil representatives to become more familiar with the theme for the Summit.

Recommendations made by the Forum are being compiled as part of a report which will advise the deliberations of the Summit.

Discussions focused on the key issues for the Summit which has as its overarching theme: “Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability.”

Participants examined issues such as Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Economic Development and Competitiveness, Energy Security and Sustainable Development and Democracy, Good Governance and the promotion of Human Rights.

The Forum was convened with assistance from the United States Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Inter-American Foundation (IAF), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Open Society Institute.