|
|
COMMONWEALTH: Over to CHOGM. Anyone Listening?
By Ferial Haffajee
ABUJA, Dec 5 (IPS) - As the Commonwealth People's Forum heads toward the
finish line, attention has shifted to the organisation's Heads of Government
meeting which begins in Nigeria today.
A hectic week of discussions, a people's market and networking in the
capital, Abuja, ended in a statement from the forum warning the Commonwealth
that it needed to make itself relevant to the world by matching its
principles more closely with practice.
The Commonwealth represents one third of the world's nations.
Non-governmental organisations (NGO's) from 45 of the group's 53 member
states were at the forum, which was a summit for civil society, run
alongside the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting (CHOGM).
In their message, NGO's said that pledges made by Commonwealth
governments should be audited by the group's secretariat - to ensure that
leaders lived up to their commitments.
Civil society groups also turned the scrutiny on themselves by examining
what was needed to ensure that NGO's remained accountable and responsive to
those they claimed to represent.
This process was given added impetus by the people's market. In addition
to selling the usual fare of flowing fabrics, intricate baskets and books,
it also put lessons about solidarity, gender equality and grassroots
activism on show by bringing together NGO's to learn from each other.
The Country Woman Association of Nigeria, faced with a banking sector
blind to the needs of rural women, has begun to pack a female financial
punch. Its African Traditional Responsive Banking project takes deposits as
small as one naira - less than one American cent. Members save and then
borrow from the fund.
"It works," said Alhaja Agoro, a spokesperson for the association. "These
women could not talk and look someone in the face before. Now see them! They
are talking confidently with hands on their hips because they know who they
are, what they are worth - they don't beg anybody."
Every day, NGO's met to discuss how to merge the twin imperatives of
democracy and development, which jointly form the theme of the CHOGM.
The feeling amongst many was that for democracy to lead to development,
it was essential to give people a broader understanding of what democratic
rule was all about - that it went beyond putting a tick next to a
candidate's name on a ballot sheet.
For this to be brought about, the right to information had to be assured.
Civil society also had to become more active, particularly in countries
where repression was acute. NGO's were at pains to emphasise that these
countries did not only include nations suspended from the Commonwealth, like
Zimbabwe and Pakistan - but also states that were regarded as functioning
democracies.
As the forum got underway, Human Rights Watch issued a report on Nigeria
which found that political tolerance in the country was low. "President
(Olusegun) Obasanjo's promises of democracy mean little as long as people
are being detained, tortured and shot simply for expressing views critical
of the government," said Human Rights Watch representative Peter
Takirambudde.
Over 50 civil society leaders also wrote a stinging open letter to the
CHOGM imploring it to "give renewed priority" to repression in Zimbabwe. The
country was suspended from the Commonwealth 18 months ago for being in
breach of the organisation's Harare Declaration. This sets out the
Commonwealth's principles on democratic governance.
"We express grave concern at the Zimbabwean government's continued
violation of the Harare Declaration and Commonwealth principles reflected in
its continuing repression of civil society, the media, human rights
defenders and the opposition," they noted.
The leaders said the Commonwealth had to ensure that the array of
repressive laws which President Robert Mugabe has assembled to give a veneer
of legality to his actions should be repealed. Harare also had to be
persuaded to enter into "genuine dialogue" with the opposition about
restoring democratic rule to the country.
But, will leaders pay heed to these demands? A theme that bubbled tensely
beneath the surface of the people's forum, was the growing conviction that
civil society is cut off from the centres of power in the Commonwealth,
because it has no direct interaction with the heads of government.
This sense of alienation was given physical expression when it transpired
that civil society's access to the CHOGM will be limited.
Responding to Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon's statement
that access was determined by member governments and that the issue needed
to be aired in each country, a civil society leader said: "The truth, Mr.
Secretary-General, is that I find it easier to meet my government at
meetings like CHOGM."
McKinnon promised that he would compare NGO representation in the core
decision-making structures of the Commonwealth with that of other
inter-governmental fora. Earlier in the week, leaders of the people's forum
said that they were given a far louder voice at institutions like the World
Trade Organisation and the World Bank.
Nonetheless, a glance through one of the key CHOGM documents, "Making
democracy work for pro-poor development", reveals that civil society has
already had a noticeable effect on the thinking of the Commonwealth.
Not only is Third World Network leader Martin Khor a co-author of the
document. The report also begins the painstaking work of attaching concrete
action plans to terms like "pro-poor" development.
"It is possible to learn from history and challenge the pessimism of
those who question the association between development and democracy," say
the authors. As this weekend's talks get underway, Commonwealth leaders may
try to side-step that association, but it's unlikely they'll be able to
avoid it altogether. (END/2003)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
What is RSS?
