Building Partnerships between Civil Society and Governments: The Caribbean Experience

• Author: Jacqulyn Josephs
• Pages: 475-492

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J A C Q U L Y N J O S E P H

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat

Introduction

The nature of the relationship between

governments and other actors in society and

the roles and responsibilities of all the players

have been engaging the attention of

researchers, citizens, governments and

international institutions over the past two

decades. This interest stems from a recognition

of the different ways in which civil society can

contribute to and enhance poverty reduction

and sustainable development interventions;

and also from the recognition of the growing

influence of non-governmental organizations

at the global level. But the interest also stems

from a recognition that civil society can impact

on the quality of political life and governance;

and contribute to building social capital.

Consequently, there is a need to better

understand how to reduce levels of conflict

among the diverse and complex mix of state

and non-state actors, allowing each to retain

its unique autonomy while promoting greater

collaboration and partnership.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

Heads of Government have also recognized

the importance of the relationship between

governments and civil society in the process

of good governance (Charter of Civil Society

for CARICOM).1 In 1997 the Heads of

Government signed the Resolution adopting

the Charter of Civil Society for the CARICOM

Building Partnerships between Civil Society and

Government:

The Caribbean Experience

and indicated a determination to ‘enhance

confidence in governance and to create a

participatory political environment supportive

of genuine consultation in the process of good

governance’. The Heads of Government also

declared their resolve to pay due regard to

the principles by which they committed to

respect and strengthen the fundamental

elements of civil society (Charter of Civil

Society).2 In 1999, a call was made for

dialogue between Governments and Civil

Society which should facilitate ‘free and wide

ranging inter-change of ideas aimed at a

consensus for a strategy for development’,3

which led to the convening of a regional

meeting entitled FORWARD TOGETHER.

In subscribing to the development of the

Charter for Civil Society, the Heads of

Government signaled their intent to create the

conditions to address the issues identified in

the West Indian Commission Report, Time for

Action (1992).4 This Commission had

surveyed a wide cross section of CARICOM

nationals living in the Caribbean and in the

diaspora.

Since these earlier pronouncements, we

have seen more definitive statements from the

Heads of Government individually and

collectively on their expectations of the role

of the civil society in particular with respect to

the establishment and functioning of the CSME.

The Prime Minister of Barbados has stressed

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the importance and urgent need for a

definition of the manner in which the

partnership should be structured.5 There is also

a call for a clearer articulation of the role of

private sector and civil society in the process

of the establishment of the Caribbean Single

Market Economy (CSME).6 A recommitment

was made in the Rose Hall Declaration on

Regional Governance and Integrated

Development to the application of the Charter

‘as an instrument for strengthening democratic

governance’. This Declaration was adopted

at the XXIV Meeting of the Conference of

Heads of Government held in 2003.7

CARICOM NGOs have also called for the

creation of a new engagement / partnership

between stakeholders at the national and

regional levels. The Caribbean Center for

Policy Development (CPDC) in its Strategic

Vision for the period 2002–2004 emphasized

the importance of a new partnership extending

to the highest levels of policy formulation and

implementation. The objectives of the 2002–

2004 Strategic Plan included the

strengthening of capacity for greater

participation in the policy formulation,

implementation and evaluation.

The call for building partnerships by both

governments and civil society should not be

treated as a trivial or simple matter. Successful

outcomes and achievement of objectives can

be enhanced if the task is seen as the building

of new governance structures. Indeed the task

is well articulated in the OECD publication

Open Government8 as achieving ‘greater

citizenship engagement in public policy

making within the bounds of democratic

democracy’.

This paper seeks to examine the extent to

which the pronouncements of governments

have been translated into practice; the extent

to which the expectations of CARICOM NGOs

have been achieved as this relates to

participation in the decision making process.

It goes on to identify the areas of convergence

between governments and civil society and

where the new challenges lie in moving the

process of participation to another level. The

analysis is done in the context of an

appreciation of the complexity of the concept

of governance; the difficulties inherent in

government-civil society relations; and the

factors that contribute to conflict.

New Dimensions of Governance

The meaning of the term ‘governance’ has

evolved significantly over the past decade

from a simple definition that describes the

structures and processes in both private and

public sector to a much more complex concept.

The level of complexity of the concept is

evidenced by the range of issues addressed

in the debates which not only seek to

differentiate between governance and good

governance, a conditionality for bilateral and

multilateral financing, but also humane

governance9 which includes good political,

economic and civic governance. The

complexity of the concept is also demonstrated

by the lack of agreement on definition among

international agencies10 on a concept which

has not only influenced changes in

governments policy but also changes in

international funding agencies.

The circumstances under which the concept

of governance entered the international public

policy debate provide some understanding of

the concept. Weiss11 explained that it became

politically correct to introduce discussion at the

international level on domestic polices only

after it became evident and accepted that that

the problems faced by developing countries

and members of the socialist block, were linked

to domestic policies and priorities. Probing

these matters became the norm after there

was agreement on and acknowledgement of

the following: the non-acceptance of glaring

illegitimate and outlandish regimes; a

recognition that form, spirit and content of