Regional NGOs urged to rekindle the spirit of solidarity

Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) under the umbrella grouping of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre, have been urged to rekindle their spirit of solidarity or face the consequences – one of which is the demise of the movement.

“Either we cooperate together or we die”, was the strong message from Chairman of the CPDC, Renwick Rose, when he delivered the feature address at the opening ceremony of a two day workshop for regional civil society organisations currently taking place in Grenada.

“We need to look seriously at the state of play for us in the regions, NGOs need to respect themselves as we move forward; as many of you are fully aware there is a lack of respect for us especially among our Governments,” said Rose, as he recalled the challenges of having to do a presentation at a recent Heads of Government CARICOM meeting.

“They attitude was like, do your presentation and go; after we had spent time preparing our paper to engage them in full discussion, we were treated as if they were doing us a favour. But, as you know and many of you have being around long to know that as a fact, we in civil society have made and continue to make our contribution to regional development,” Rose said.

“There is a serious erosion with regards to the spirit of solidarity to each other, we don’t support each other as we should,” he stressed.

“The civil society representatives are engaging in frank discussions as they review they present status and decide on the future of they involvement in the development of the region.

While Governments in the region have generally maintained a stable social and economic environment in the region, the involvement of civil society actors has also been critical in advancing key development goals. (LS)