The Commonwealth and Civil Society

The Commonwealth may be a grouping of 53 states, but it is also a family of over 2 billion people or roughly a third of the world’s population. It therefore includes hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of civil society organisations. Let the leaders of the Commonwealth not forget that they work not just in the interests of member states but of all these citizens and the voluntary groupings they have formed.

In recent years, the Commonwealth has publicly recognised the value of civil society and committed itself to working with this important sector. The Coolum Declaration of 2002, for instance, talked of the Commonwealth “family” and the “need for stronger links and better two-way communication and coordination between the official and non-governmental Commonwealth”. Again in 2005, in Malta, heads of government “noted the steps taken by the Commonwealth and its institutions to mainstream civil society in all its activities and called for these efforts to be increased.”

Such recognition is laudable, but needs to be underpinned by action at the pan-Commonwealth and national levels. If the Commonwealth is serious about collaborations with civil society, then we need to see evidence of this across the board. It is true that some Ministerial meetings have limited access for civil society but the depth and breadth of this varies and so the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) provides an opportunity for Heads of Government to declare that all Ministerial meetings will include involvement of civil society. This would ensure important civil society perspectives are considered, give a practical example of the Commonwealth acting on past commitments, and assist the Commonwealth in complying better with international good practice.

We must also look at what is happening at the national level. The space for civil society and civic activities appears to be shrinking around the Commonwealth, particularly in the context of the global “war on terror”. New legislation and law enforcement measures may be justified as “protecting” their populations but, sadly, in many countries these have been used to facilitate infringements of human rights. In a number of instances, governments have taken advantage of this context to intensify their own crackdowns on political opponents, advocacy groups and civic activists.

The record of the host nation of this CHOGM, Uganda, is far from unblemished. In 2006, the NGO Registration (Amendment) Act was quickly passed, without genuine parliamentary debate and ignoring virtually all suggestions made by civil society during the previous years of discussions. Our civil society members and partners in Uganda have highlighted how this law, along with others such as the Sedition Act, is restrictive of their work and limits the space for dissenting views to be expressed.

Sadly though, Uganda is not alone and many other nations in all regions of the Commonwealth have chosen to ignore international human rights principles and limit their citizens’ enjoyment of freedoms of expression, association and assembly. If the Commonwealth is serious about strengthening civil society and its relations with this sector, then its members must ensure civil society in their countries has the space to flourish.

Some ways to do this that the Heads of Government may wish to consider during their deliberations in Kampala include:

These are just a few of the ways that the Commonwealth could forward its civil society agenda. Those at the Commonwealth Peoples’ Forum, as well as citizens around the Commonwealth, will be waiting eagerly to see if this opportunity is grasped. We will then be looking to each member of the Commonwealth to make true its commitment to the Commonwealth Harare Declaration and all other Commonwealth commitments by actions that truly benefit their people. After all, when we look across these 53 nations, it is citizens and civil society who truly are our Common Wealth.

The writer is the Secretary General of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, an international alliance working to support and strengthen civil society around the globe. More information: www.civicus.org