Civil Society and the Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings

Civil society consultations are often organised prior to Commonwealth Ministerial Meetings and civil society groups sometimes decide to also submit their own statement to Ministers. The following is some information about the sort of civil society interaction that has occurred at recent meetings, along with some recent submissions from civil society:

Foreign Affairs Ministers:

Past civil society submissions include:

• Submission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative to the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers Meeting, September 2004.

Finance Ministers: the 2002 meeting included civil society for the first time, in the form of pre-meeting regional consultations in five Commonwealth countries, which fed into one meeting in London and a Civil Society Statement on Financing for Development. This was facilitated by the Commonwealth Foundation. Civil society held discussions with Ministers before they went to the meeting, and 5 representatives were accredited to the meeting and presented the statement to ministers. It and the regional reports were used as background documents for the preparation of the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Financing for Development. In recent years there have also been electronic consultations, as well as meetings in person.

Past civil society submissions include:

• Civil Society Statement to the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative to the Commonwealth Finance Minister’s Meeting 2006.
• Submission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, August 2005.
• Civil Society Statement to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, 18-20 August 2005.
• Submission of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, September 2004.
• Civil Society Statement to the Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, 2004.
• Recommendations of the UK Civil Society Consultation for the 2002 Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting, London, United Kingdom, 10 June 2002.
• The Commonwealth Civil Society Communiqué on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), Freetown, Sierra Leone, 1-2 March 2004.

Law Ministers: relevant Commonwealth associations were accredited to the last two meetings, and were also invited as full participants to the senior officials meeting that happens between ministerial meetings. Some groups also work with the Commonwealth Secretariat on implementation of ministerial recommendations.

Past civil society submissions include:

• Civil society statement to the 2005 Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting, Accra, Ghana, 14-15 October 2005.

Women's Affairs Ministers: civil society was included in a very genuine way at the last Commonwealth Women's Affairs Ministers Meeting, held in 2004. This included being able to speak in all plenary sessions and participating in working group sessions and the drafting of documents, as well as participation in the senior officials meeting.

Past civil society submissions include:

• Statement from the Meeting of Civil Society held in preparation for the 7wamm Nadi, Fiji, May 31-June 2, 2004.

Youth Ministers: this meeting has a fully integrated civil society and participation process. Consultations are held between ministers and youth NGOs prior to the meeting, some government delegations include youth representatives. The Chair of the Commonwealth Youth Caucus also attends the ministerial meeting. There is also a process for reporting back to youth NGOs in every Commonwealth country, including ways for NGOs to be involved in implementation.

• Background Paper submitted by CHRI to the Commonwealth Youth Minister’s Meeting 2006.

Education Ministers: the past two of these meetings have included parallel civil society events including civil society symposia, seminars and meetings, and joint plenary sessions. There was regular movement of government and NGO representatives between the two events; and the recommendations of the ministerial meetings drew from the outcomes of the civil society meetings.

Past civil society submissions include:

• 2003 Commonwealth Education Ministers' Meeting : Policy Brief

Health Ministers: civil society organisations met in parallel to the last two ministerial meetings. Civil society recommendations were distributed to ministers, some NGOs were accredited as observers and some joint plenaries and round tables were held. Following the meetings, Commonwealth associations were invited to partner in implementing the recommendations.