jamaica civil society coalition 2013 agm report

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

2013

The Jamaica Civil Society Coalition

Presented By: Rev. Dr. Paul Gardner, Chair

Friday July 19, 2013

1 Tucker Avenue Kingston 6

Alhambra Inn,

“STRENGTHENING CAPACITY, MANAGING TRANSITIONS AND DEEPENING IMPACT”

1.0 Overview

The Jamaica Civil Society Coali on is now three!! As with all toddlers, in the year since June 2012, the Coali on has been fi nding a fi rmer foo ng, learning through some trial and error, launching into uncharted territory and con nuing to learn its limits and poten al.

The Chair’s report to the Annual General Mee ng of 2012 concluded by saying :

We have much more to do…

Strengthening Our Capacity For Stronger Advocacy

- internally and in the wider society. JCSC must deepen its internal learning and sharing process to be er address and incorporate cross-cu ng concerns including gender and women’s rights, poverty and social exclusion, the economy and its transforma on, and issues of social equity and broad-based par cipa on.

“

“Strengthening Capacity, Managing Transi ons & Deepening Impact

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The report also concluded with an exhorta on to us to take the following next steps :

…...more outreach to strengthen the par cipa on of the member organisa ons so that we remain representa ve of a wide cross-sec on of civil society in prac ce and not only on paper. Included in such outreach is the need to engage member organisa ons’ members in policy dialogue and the need to assist the ins tu onal and leadership strengthening of the community-based member groups.

…...con nue to build strong and eff ec ve alliances,

… off er informed opinions and recommenda ons and

…be exemplary in (our) own commitment to integrity, principle, accountability and inclusiveness.

The answer is encouraging and sobering at the same time.

We have con nued to build alliances…

We have con nued to build strong and eff ec ve alliances and to off er informed opinions and recommenda ons. This has been possible because of the signifi cant number of hours, intellectural and experien al value that members have contributed. As well, Friedrich Ebert S ung (FES) from our incep on and stedfastly for these three years, has provided support for our several mee ngs. Since 2012, the support of our partner, Na onal Integrity Ac on has fuelled a signifi cant part of the achievements to date. We have also been ac ve par cipants in mul -agency collabora ons during the year. These include:

Our very valued collabora on with Na onal Integrity Ac on. The sub-grant which the JCSC received from NIA in May 2012 has enabled us to re-establish a secretariat to support the project’s implementa on and management and signifi cantly increased our public engagement on policy issues and our advocacy for needed poli cal reforms and a stronger an -corrup on mechanism.

With Jamaica Environment Trust and the Private Sector Organisa on of Jamaica we maintained a vigilant and vocal presence on the Inter-Ministerial Commi ee on Solid Waste up un l February 21, 2013 when we offi cially and publicly withdrew from the commi ee by means of an open le er to the Chairman, John Junor. The le er contributed to strong media coverage of the issues. The struggle con nues as, to date, NSWMA s ll operates without a permit. JET is now taking steps to fi le an ac on in the Court seeking a judicial review of the func oning of the NSWMA, and expects to be able to fi le the ac on in the coming month of August.

With Jamaicans for Jus ce (JFJ), the Griffi n Trust, Hear the Children Cry, Jamaica Advocacy Youth Network and other groups, JCSC has been represented in the JFJ Child Rights Working

2013 JCSC AGM Report - July 19, 2013

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Today, we ask ourselves...... How have we done this past year?

Strengthening Capacity, Managing Transi ons & Deepening Impact

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Group(CRWG) in an advocacy campaign “Li Up, Not Lock Up Our Children” launched in December 2012. This campaign has, among other things, been aimed at ending the State’s prac ce of children in confl ict with the Law and Children deemed ‘uncontrollable’ by the Courts being placed in adult lock-ups and prisons. The sustained advocacy has, we believe, contributed to the removal of girls, from the Horizon Adult Remand facility, only two weeks ago. Much more needs to be done as girls remain in the Fort Augusta prison. In addi on to the CRWG, JCSC is also represented by Board member Joan Grant-Cummings and member Judith Wedderburn on the Child Support Task Force established by the Ministry of Youth and Culture.

We strengthened our own commitment to integrity and good governance principles

We have been mindful of and have put eff ort into strengthening our own commitment to integrity, principle, accountability and inclusiveness, through:

Capacity Strengthening of the JCSC Secretariat - with the NIA Sub-Grant JCSC has been able to reac vate its ins tu onal capacity by re-establishing its secretariat. The sub-grant enabled the hiring of project staff in August and September of 2012. Myrna McKenzie and Lydia Brown – Grant were hired as Execu ve Director and Administra ve Assistant respec vely, serving un l March 2013 in the case of Ms. Brown-Grant and un l June in the case of Ms. McKenzie. The Coali on hired Ms. Angella Sco as Administra ve Assistant beginning in May and seamlessly transi oned the role of its former Chair to that of a Co-Execu ve Director. Former Chairman Carol Narcisse and member Jeane e Calder, have stepped in as Co-Execu ve Directors un l December 2013 and will lead the recruitment process for the posi on in the period up to December. The grant also allowed us to acquire addi onal equipment – laptop, mul -media projector and screen, that have enhanced our public communica ons capacity and effi ciency in our work.

Ins tu onal statutory compliance - JCSC is compliant with the requisite statutory fi ling of tax and company returns and remi ng employee statutory deduc ons.

Self-evalua on/internal monitoring & Evalua on - An online survey of members’ opinion of the organisa on was conducted in April 2013. 18 members completed the survey; the respondents were a good mix of members with organisa onal affi lia on and of individual members. The survey captured opinions on the logo, clarity of goals, how well goals were being achieved, eff ec veness as a Coali on, if the Coali on was staying true to its purpose, and extent of sa sfac on with the way that the Coali on was func oning. Members also ranked the programme areas in the order of the priority with which they should be dealt with by JCSC. The fi ndings of the survey were instruc ve and should con nue to be used as an ac ve guide to the organisa on. The fi ndings were discussed at the plenary of April 19. Members should recall that it was agreed that the core business of JCSC is pursuing good governance – that is par cipatory, transparent and accountable; and, that this should be the framework that anything done by the Coali on should fi t.


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Membership Growth and Outreach Our main shortcoming…Through no direct recruitment of our own, we welcomed new members this year – we are pleased to have on board the Bob Marley Founda on as our newest member, and the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network which joined earlier this year!

Where we are con nuing to fall short is in ins tu ng a purposeful strategy for membership growth and for outreach to member organisa ons. Membership liaison to deepen rela onship and iden fi ca on with the coali on has not happened in this year and we have not evolved a sustained programme of taking the issues/policy discussions directly to member organisa ons. Members are reminded that at the plenary of April 19 it was recommended that the membership be extended to include trade unions; addi onal representa on of organisa ons of youth, women, grassroots/community-based groups and the environment sector.

Our membership is rela vely stable but note should be made of a declining trend.

2010 2012 2013

Total Organisa ons 26 21 19 (14 ac vely a ending)

Organisa onal Type

2010 2012 2013 Ac ve

Non-Government Organisa ons

14 12 10 8

Private Sector Umbrella Groups

5 5 5 3

Umbrella Com-munity-based organisa ons

2 2 1 1

Umbrella Church Groups

4 2 3 2

Media Umbrella 1 0 0 0Individuals 6 8 12 11

There was 80% reten on of members between 2010 and 2012 and 73% reten on of members by 2013

While our reten on is high the trend in decline in our organisa onal membership should not be overlooked and underscores the need for more outreach to and engagement with members on na onal policy issues and in ways that strengthen members’ capacity.

In this regard, members should be aware that strong concern has been expressed by NIA and DFID, that the membership of JCSC is not more engaged in discussions on an -corrup on policy and legisla ve issues and in other aspects of implemen ng the JCSC-NIA an -corrup on policy advocacy and public awareness project. This deeper involvement of the membership is going to need to be ensured for the upcoming year if the JCSC is to con nue to be a sub-grant recipient.


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2.0 Our Programme of Work & Issues Addressed

Although JCSC has not signifi cantly expanded in membership it is to our collec ve credit that most organisa ons that came together in 2010 remain commi ed and engaged three years later. The coali on’s working process has remained true to the commitment shared by members at the outset to open internal dialogue and consensus, transparency in decision-making and having majority sign-off on public statements especially in the case of new issues being addressed. We have remained relevant by our focus on governance policy advocacy backed by research. In this past year we signifi cantly increased our advocacy eff orts, with some notable and in some cases far-reaching results.

Transparency, accountability & an -corrup on eff orts

1. Poli cal reforms - JCSC representa ves par cipated in a July 4, 2012 consulta on of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica on its Electoral Reform Agenda 2012-2016. Along with NIA and Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC) which was represented in its own right, JCSC made a number of recommenda ons. A Bill on Poli cal reform measures is before the House but has not been discussed. Campaign Finance legisla on has been pushed back to next year’s Parliamentary calendar. Although we have sustained commentary on these issues we shall need to iden fy addi onal strategies for increasing public demand and spurring the legisla ve process.

2. Transparency in public procurement - We kept up eff orts to achieve transparency and good governance in procurement of services for the major infrastructure projects – Gordon Cay and Fort Augusta port development and the North-South Highway comple on. Following our wri en submission to the Minister in 2012, we con nued both a direct and public lobbying eff ort with le ers to the Minister with responsibility and the Prime Minister, some of which were made into advertorials in the media. We followed up a detailed response from the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing to our submission with further comments and queries. There have been press releases, Op Ed ar cles and consequent media commentary. Although the Minister and Ministry have been responsive to JCSC’s submissions and requests for mee ngs, the government’s dealings with the private partners remain shrouded in mystery with no public disclosure of the terms of the Memoranda of Understanding. A key part of the strategy has been to give support to an oversight role for the OCG. Further eff ort can be put into using the Access to Informa on Act to pursue details.

3. Strengthened an -corrup on framework – Our focus over the year has been two-fold – on the Offi ce of the Contractor General, its independence, oversight and public communica ons and on the recommenda ons


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and progress toward legisla on for a single an -corrup on agency. In rela on to the OCG JCSC:

- Took a strong posi on in support of the Offi ce’s oversight role in rela on to the major infrastructure projects and the government’s approach to the public –private partnership.

- Advocated strongly for a transparent process of recrui ng the replacement for the outgoing CG, Greg Chris e. Our ac vism helped to catalyse signifi cant media discussions and editorials on the issue of the approach to recruitment of a CG, raising new levels of public awareness about the importance of transparency in public sector recruitment.

- Took the OCG to task for failure to give a mely public update on the progress of its inves ga ons into the ac ons of Junior Minister, Richard Azan, with respect to the illegal erec on and subsequent rental of shops at the Spaulding Market in his cons tuency. JCSC’s le er, calling for a public update resulted in the OCG reques ng a mee ng. A public update was issued by the OCG on the day of the mee ng May 17.

In rela on to a single an -corrup on agency JCSC, in partnership with NIA:

- Raised the level of public informa on through four public forums on the recommenda ons for and the status of the legisla on on a single an -corrup on agency. Between November 2012 and May 2013 forums were held in Kingston; May Pen, Clarendon; Portmore, St. Catherine; and St. Elizabeth. The event in St. Elizabeth was an example of how members can support the implementa on of the JCSC-NIA programme of work as the presenta on was made one of the ac vi es of the Moravian Church Synod. Through the four forums over 800 persons were reached directly and more than 100,000 via live radio broadcasts and delayed cable television broadcasts. The forums provided a pla orm for public declara ons of bi-par san support for the recommenda ons for the Agency; for the Minister of Jus ce’s fi rst public announcements on the developments in the process - fi rstly when there had been sign-off on the recommenda ons of an Advisory Group and in May when he reported that the Cabinet had issued dra ing instruc ons and the Commonwealth Secretariat had seconded a legal dra er.


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Other ini a ves under the NIA supported process include the following:

JCSC has ini ated a pioneering programme of engagement of youth and communi es in responsible ci zenship, good governance and an -corrup on using ‘edutainment’. The programme will (a) train high school aged youth leaders between ages 12 - 17 to equip them with knowledge, skills and a tudes to become Integrity Ambassadors. The main features of the programme to commence in September 2013 will be:

- A total of 90 students to be trained in the introductory phase

- A cadre of Integrity Ambassadors who can go on to be involved in NIA’s youth focused ac vi es

- A specifi c manual for use by future facilitators of the programme

- An cipated approval of the programme by the Ministry of Educa on including for its incorpora on and replica on across the system

A gender and corrup on project being proposed to be implemented by Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre. JCSC is awai ng WROC’s fi nalised proposal.

Eff orts in fostering par cipatory governance4. Governance Scorecard

Also falling under the JCSC and NIA programme this area of our work this year is worthy of treatment as a fully fl edged programme focus for JCSC going forward. This year, with NIA, we pioneered the research and publica on of a governance scorecard analyzing implementa on of government’s policy and legisla ve commitments. The publica on on May 1 in two major newspapers, proved mely as it coincided with the 2013/14 budget presenta ons and a new round of Parliamentary promises.

Posi ve responses received include:

• A Government Senator who called to thank JCSC, expressed the view that the scorecard would help to keep fellow Parliamentarians on their toes

• Face book comments such as “ congrats on the Jamaica Governance Scorecard 2012-13. It’s the absolutely best thing in the Gleaner today…It is a small but signifi cant step forward in ge ng some accountability

• A leading media house repor ng that the scorecard was made required reading and on-going reference for staff

A researcher assessing Jamaica’s economic performance for a mul lateral ins tu on called to report its


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usefulness for the exercise.

In 6 radio interviews the discussions addressed, among other things:

- The value of the scorecard

- Tardiness in government’s implementa on

- Need to recognize that meframes indicated by Parliamentarians are o en unrealis c

- Need for Parliament to meet more regularly to get policy and legisla ve agenda done

There has since been reference by other groups to applying the methodology to monitoring implementa on in specifi c sectors. JCSC is also being called upon to create on-going dialogue and analyses using the scorecard and to con nue the annual publica on.

5. Participatory Budgeting

JCSC received funding from the Democra c Governance programme of the Canadian Interna onal Development Agency (CIDA) for a project - Towards Enhancing Civil Society Par cipa on in the Na onal Budget Process. The project had strong, eff ec ve partnership from member, Women’s Resource and Outreach Centre (WROC), JCSC founda on funding partner Freidrich Ebert S ung (FES), UN Women and the Northern Caribbean University. Under the leadership of member Horace Levy, who we must pause here to salute, the JCSC economy and budget working group put in tremendous me and eff ort to ensure an impac ul project implemented between January and May 2013.

JCSC met with three Ministries (Educa on, Security and Jus ce) on their budge ng process and to advocate for a par cipatory approach, commissioned research and held a series of six forums with communi es, women’s organiza ons, ter ary ins tu ons, church representa ves and other civil society organiza ons to raise awareness about the budget-making process and the concept of par cipatory budge ng and to gather their views on priori es for the Na onal budget 2013/14 and beyond. There was live media broadcast of two of the forums.

The project resulted in: A JCSC Civil Society Posi on Paper People Par cipa on in the Crea on of Jamaica’s


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Na onal Budget: A Posi on of the Jamaica Civil Society Coali on and a primer for civil society on the budget-making process ; produced and disseminated to over 100 groups and individuals

Discussion taking place within the Ministry of Finance on the idea of par cipatory budge ng and gender budge ng. The JCSC working group has requested a follow up mee ng with the Ministry

Support from a na onally recognized fi nancial analyst, Aubyn Hill, in an ar cle tled “GOJ budge ng and par cipatory democracy” published on May 24.

A mee ng confi rmed for today, July 19, for follow up discussions with the Ministry of Educa on

It is JCSC’s goal to see a na onal policy on par cipatory budge ng, and a model agreed and piloted in at least one Ministry for the next budget cycle.

Other Participatory Activities on the Economy

JCSC con nued to facilitate civil society consulta ons with Jamaica’s mul -lateral lenders and Na onal decision-makers and infl uen al actors. Broad-based mee ngs were held with

The IMF Mission team on October 2, 2012 for discussions on the then pending IMF Agreement and to enable civil society feedback to the IMF representa ves on key concerns.

A Civil Society Briefi ng and dialogue with the Minister of Finance on October 31, 2012

A civil society consulta on held June 6, 2013 with the World Bank on its next fi ve-year country strategy for Jamaica

A JCSC ‘teach-in’ on the IMF Agreement and the role of the Economic Programme Oversight Commi ee. A presenta on and discussion was had with Mr. Richard Byles, Co-Chair of the Commi ee and supported by the interven ons of JCSC Board member PSOJ President and member of the EPOC, Christopher Zacca. Other teach-ins are planned on the IMF condi onali es and their implica ons.

JCSC hopes to convene a civil society conference on the economy in October 2013.

Security in A Human Rights Framework

6. West Kingston Incursion Report & Commission of EnquiryJCSC was formed in the a ermath of the crisis of 2010 and the incursion into Tivoli Gardens and surrounding communi es. We remained relentless in our determina on that there be an inves ga on into what took place. With the long delay in the publica on of a report from the Public Defender’s Offi ce, JCSC maintained public pressure for a report to be tabled in Parliament. Our ac vi es included a pe on delivered to the Parliament, media statements, le ers to the Speaker of the House etc. The consistent pressure from the coali on, the media and many other groups, the Speaker of the House launched an inves ga on into the delay, which resulted in more resources being made available to the Public Defender and the eventual tabling of an interim report. The Coali on has since turned its


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advocacy focus on calling for a Commission of Enquiry and on infl uencing the Terms of Reference and selec on process for Commissioners of such an enquiry. Our eff orts, which included a full paged adver sement on suggested areas to be covered by the TOR and a mee ng with the Minister of Jus ce, we believe signifi cantly contributed to our sugges on for an approach to receiving public submissions be taken on board. The government’s call for public submissions represent a major step forward in the framing of a Commission of Enquiry . Our recommenda ons for the TOR were submi ed on June 20, 2013.

Like other groups however, JCSC should now register concern about the delay in any report being made to the public on the progress of the TOR. As well there is growing concern about the ini al ac ng appointment of the former Head of the army, Major General Stewart Saunders, as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Na onal Security ahead of a Commission of Enquiry. It is troubling that despite several public statements poin ng out the appearance of a poten al confl ict of interest the Services Commission is reported to have now confi rmed the permanent appointment. These and other development jeopardise the public trust of the impending COE and call for JCSC’s con nued advocacy.

7. Community Renewal/Crime Preven onJCSC did limited follow up of the status of implementa on of the Community Renewal Programme. A mee ng held with then Director General of the Planning Ins tute of Jamaica indicated that only limited progress was being made. The Inter-Ministerial Advisory Group has not met in several months. JCSC ac ve follow up is called for.The long –in-coming an -gang Bill has been tabled. JCSC member JFJ will take the lead in preparing a response for discussion and agreement by the Coali on. A joint submission to the Select Commi ee of Parliament is expected to be made.

Other JCSC Ac vi es

Whilst the foregoing have been the major ac vi es for the past year JCSC has also done the following:

Successfully lobbied, along with several member groups, for the resump on of the social partnership mechanism. The formerly known Partnership for Transforma on now called the Partnership for Jamaica- was reconvened in October 2012 and remains a key mechanism involving all social partners in monitoring and oversight of progress with na onal policy and legisla on,. Expansion of civil society representa on to include women’s organiza ons was achieved in this period through the eff orts of women’s organisa ons and of JCSC.


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Made a wri en submission on a proposed na onal policy on ‘squa ng’. This followed from a civil society consulta on with the Minister with responsibility for Housing, Dr. Morais Guy and a technical team. This consulta on was convened by JCSC on October 10, 2012.

Launched Consider This a one hour, weekly radio programme on the Na onwide News Network heard on Wednesdays between 11:00-12:00. The programme began broadcast on May 15, 2013 and is designed to provide an in-depth look at the issues being addressed by the Coali on, in par cular those consistent with the JCSC-NIA programme of advocacy. While it was hoped that the programme would be sustained for six months to a year, budgetary constraints necessitate that it ends in July.

3.0 YEAR THREE SEES SMOOTH TRANSITIONS IN JCSC LEADERSHIP!

Although s ll but a toddler, JCSC managed a mature, and smooth transi on of leadership in May 2013 when founding Chairperson, Carol Narcisse, stepped down to take up the responsibili es as ac ng Co-Execu ve Director of the Coali on. This move was ra fi ed at a plenary of members on May 17.

We have had an ac ve Board which has met every month as scheduled and has ins tuted sub-commi ees par cularly for personnel and fi nancial oversight. As Deputy Chair, I assumed the posi on of Chair at the beginning of June. WROC’s representa ve to the Board, Ms. Carole Rowe was replaced by Ms. Joan Grant-Cummings who has brought a wealth of experience to bear on the Board’s ac vi es.

The founding members of the Board, Robert Stephens, Carolyn Gomes, Horace Levy, and Trevor Munroe have now ended their tenure. All except Horace have off ered themselves for nomina on at this AGM. I ask you to join me in acknowledging these members, and in par cular in saying a very special thanks to Horace.

4.0 Conclusion

THE NEXT YEAR’S FRONTIERThe past three years have shown JCSC to be a resilient organisa on. We have not been spoilt by a perfect me, instead we have been given numerous learning opportuni es – in ma ers of ins tu onal capacity

building, leadership, strategy for maintaining credibility and in pa ence. We have had the collec ve wisdom to discern that we need not stretch ourselves too thinly but rather focus on core issues of good governance that is par cipatory, transparent and accountable.

The year ahead off ers us an opportunity to step up our game in the area of project management and accountability and in ownership by members of the programmes underway. In this regard we must ensure that we develop and implement a programme for membership growth, and for deeper engagement with member agencies in policy discussions and other capacity development.


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JCSC must also put in place a sustainability plan. This is a priority of the Co-Execu ve Directors and Board for the remainder of this year.

In the area of our ongoing programmes this coming year should see us giving focused a en on on

JCSC must also put in place a sustainability plan. This is a priority of the Co-Execu ve Directors and Board for the remainder of this year.

In the area of our ongoing programmes this coming year should see us giving focused a en on on

impac ng the process of par cipatory budge ng and economic decision-making and accountability

achieving further results in the legisla ve and policy agenda items which we have been advoca ng on by strengthening our strategies for measureable policy impact;

Strengthening our strategies for impac ng integrity and transparency in governance and raising the accountability bar

END-

jamaica civil society coalition 2013 agm report

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