Press Release: PIANGO
"Give Development a Human Face", Pacific Civil Society Leaders Say
Suva, Fiji Islands, 11 July, 2011 ─ A Pacific regional meeting on aid
and development effectiveness has reinforced an international call for
people to be brought to the centre of development and that development
co-operation and aid effectiveness processes are people centered,
respect human rights and achieve social justice as cornerstones of aid
and development effectiveness.
In recent years, the Pacific region has experienced structural
adjustments, political instability and policy changes in its
development assistance landscape. Threats to human rights, peace and
security being experienced in some Pacific countries have impacted on
the enabling environment for civil society and affected the way in
which civil society works.
This was revealed at the Pacific Islands Consultation on Aid and
Development Effectiveness which ended in Nadi at the weekend. The
meeting was attended by civil society leaders from Australia, Cook
Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Nauru, New Zealand,
Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Organised by the Pacific Islands Association of Non Government
Organisations (PIANGO) in partnership with the Reality of Aid Asia
Pacific, based in the Philippines, the meeting acknowledged the
critical importance of donor support for CSOs. It congratulated the
Australia Government on accepting the recommendations of an
independent aid review to increase development assistance to the
Pacific and its emphasis on support to Non Government organisations.
Participants also congratulated the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat
(PIFS) on its positive decision to reinstate the post of Non State
Actor Officer saying they looked forward to working closely with PIFS
in supporting Pacific governments to engage more effectively with
civil society.
Civil society leaders called on Pacific Island governments to revisit
their commitments to Pacific people and CSOs at regional and
international levels within the context of the Pacific Plan and Cairns
Compact.
"As umbrella CSO bodies, we have an important role to play and
collaborate with other development actors to influence regional and
global agendas and give voice to the poor, disadvantaged and
marginalised that we work with. We need to bring together youth,
women, men and community voices to advocate on very real and pressing
issues affecting our region such as climate change, food security,
human rights, gender, disabilities and trade," said Ms Emele
Duituturaga, PIANGO's interim Executive Director.
"Commitments made on donor harmonisation in international agreements
such as the Paris Declaration need to be extended to dialogue,
resourcing and collaboration with CSOs. Civil Society needs to have
partnership agreements with governments and development partners to
ensure that development takes on a human face," she said.
Ms Ava Danlog of Reality of Aid, said that in some instances aid
effectiveness processes have been very disempowering for citizens.
"There is a need for CSOs to focus on concrete, tangible outputs as
there is usually a tendency to focus on donor 'hot topics' Aid should
be about partnerships. Development partners must foster basic
principles of partnership and acknowledge the contribution of
recipients. In addition, trade and other economic activities need to
also focus on human development," Ms Danlog said.
An emerging issue in the Pacific region and one that is also a part of
the larger development agenda issue concerns the rights of people
living with disability in the region who continue to be marginalised
and excluded from development processes.
Mr Katabwena Tawaka, of the Pacific Disability Forum told the meeting
that present statistics (June, 2011) illustrate that over 800,000
people are living with disabilities in the Pacific.
"There is a need for governments and development partners to recognise
disability as a development issue. Disability may increase the risk of
poverty. In the Pacific, people with disabilities rely on their
families for support, assistance and medical care and this must be
acknowledged by stakeholders. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
also do not make specific reference to people with disabilities," he
said.
The Pacific meeting was organised by PIANGO and was part of Reality of
Aid Asia Pacific regional consultations in the lead-up to the HLF4 in
Busan, South Korea, in November, 2011. HLF4 will assess whether or not
key government commitments on aid effectiveness have been achieved
since the last high-level meeting in Accra in 2008. The Busan meeting
is a key opportunity for governments to go beyond promises and commit
to more effective, sustainable development assistance in terms of its
real impact on the lives of all people.
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