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UN Civil Society Assembly The UN CSA/CSAC in the Philippines was established in November 2006 to serve as the regular consultative forum between the UN country team (UNCT) and civil society organizations (CSOs) on experiences and issues that impact both CSOs and UN programs in the country.
UN Civil Society Assembly (UNCSA) and the Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC): 2009-11 (as of 29 June 2009) A) Role of the Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) The 15-member CSAC is elected by the CSA for a term of two years (each member is allowed a maximum of two successive terms). The CSAC: 1) Provides UNCT with strategic and substantive guidance on policies and programs to improve development effectiveness and enhance its relations with civil society in the Philippines through systematic policy dialogue and engagement to discuss issues that may impact on UN’s development effectiveness, civil society operations and implementation of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); and 2) Undertakes, with the UNCT, advocacy on identified cross-cutting development issues, and identify strategic issues that will accelerate the implementation of MDGs. Originally, the larger group of CSA (now composed of 68 CSOs, including 42 national CSO networks and 7 regional CSO networks) [see Members] was meant only to elect the members of the CSAC, who would then continue to engage with the UN country team and their 5 thematic groups for the UNDAF implementation. In later discussions, however, it was agreed that, after electing the CSAC, the CSA shall continue to actively engage the UN as members of the thematic groups, and that the CSAC shall continue to be accountable to and not operate independently of the CSA. C) CSA and CSAC Meetings The CSA meets twice a year. The CSAC shall also meet at least twice a year (in between the CSA meetings) and will meet at least once a year with the UN country team. The CSAC members were also requested to identify their regular and alternate representatives to avoid re-orientations for new faces every time meetings are held. D) Structure of the CSA and the CSAC The CSAC members elect from among themselves a CSAC co-convenor. The UNCT designates another co-convenor from the UN agencies. For 2009-11, the two (2) CSAC co-convenors are the United Nations Development Program (particularly UNDP Country Director Renaud Meyer) and the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO). The CSA has five thematic groups, following the 5 themes of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) – (a) Macro-economic Stability and Broad-based Development, (b) Basic Social Services, (c) Peace Building, Conflict Prevention and Human Rights, (d) Good Governance and (e) Environment. Each of the thematic group has a convenor, who is a CSAC member. Membership in the thematic group (TG) is voluntary and a CSA member may be a member of one or more thematic group. It is however encouraged that an organization designate separate regular representatives to the different TGs of which it is a member. E) Role of UNCT in the Plans of UNCSA Thematic Groups The five UNCSA TGs discussed and formulated their priority plans for 2009-11 at the recent UNCSA meeting (May 12-13, 2009, Binangonan Rizal) and in subsequent discussions/meetings and e-mail exchanges. In these plans (see Reports), the TGs in general request the following support from the UNCT provide expert and technical support to the TGs, including sharing of UN information and studies; convene/organize dialogues and conferences between the TGs/other CSOs and national/local government agencies; and facilitate the linkage between the plans/activities of the UNCSA TGs with the on-going and planned programs/projects of the UNCT. Members of the UNCSA (Total = 68 as of 29 June 2008) A) Multi-Sectoral National CSO Networks B) Sectoral/Thematic National CSO Networks C) Multi-Sectoral Regional CSO Networks D) Sectoral/Thematic Regional CSO Networks E) Policy Research and Advocacy and Other NGOs *Inactive Members (did not attend any of the 2 Assemblies in 2008 and did not respond to email invitations/ questions) = 6 organizations II) Other Invited Organizations [Awaiting Reply/ Decision] (5) Alternative Law Groups (ALG) Initial List of UNCSA Thematic Group Members A) TG on Macro-Economic Sustainability and Broad-based Development 1) AF 2) CODE-NGO 3) FDC* 4) FSSI 5) LCF 6) PEF B) TG on Basic Social Services 1) Civil Society Network for Education Reforms (E-Net) 2) Eastern Visayas Network of POs and NGOs (EVNET) 3) Health Action Information Network (HAIN) 4) Philippine NGO Support Program (PHANSUP) 5) PLCPD 6) Social Watch Philippines (SWP)* 7) Urban Poor Alliance (UP ALL) 8) Visayan Forum Foundation 9) WAND C) TG on Peace Building and Human Rights 1) CBCS 2) GenPeace 3) GZO-PI 4) INCITEGOV 5) MINCODE 6) * 7) Sulong CARHRIHL D) TG on Good Governance 1) AADC 2) ASPAP 3) CODE-NGO 4) NAPC-BSF 5) PAKISAMA 6) PILIPINA 7) TAN 8) WAND 9) WEVNET* E) TG on Environment 1) CORDNET 2) FPE* 3) HARIBON 4) PRRM 5) YPS UNCSAC and UNCT define priorities for 2010 United Nations Resident Coordinator (UNRC) Jacqui Badcock, UN Development Program (UNDP) Country Director Renaud Meyer and other members of the UN Country Team (UNCT) met with members of the UN Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) last February 16, 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City. UN Civil Society Assembly (UNCSA) Plans for 2009-11 Members of the UN Civil Society Assembly (UNCSA) met last May 12-13, 2009 in Binangonan, Rizal to identify the priority issues and draft the plans of the UNCSA for the next two years. They were joined by representatives of the UN agencies in the Philippines headed by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Country Director Renaud Meyer. The UNCSA and the UN Civil Society Advisory Committee (CSAC) in the Philippines were established in November 2006 to serve as the regular consultative forum between the UN country team (UNCT) and civil society organizations (CSOs) on experiences and issues that impact both CSOs and UN programs in the country. The UNCSA is now composed of 68 CSOs and networks, including 42 national CSO networks and 7 regional CSO networks. The 15 members of the CSAC were also elected by the UNCSA for a term of two years (each member is allowed a maximum of two successive terms). The CSAC members elect from among themselves a CSAC co-convenor. The UNCT designates another co-convenor from the UN agencies. For 2009-11, the two (2) CSAC co-convenors are the United Nations Development Program and the Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO). The UNCSA has five thematic groups, following the 5 themes of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) – (a) Macro-economic Stability and Broad-based Development, (b) Basic Social Services, (c) Peace Building, Conflict Prevention and Human Rights, (d) Good Governance and (e) Environment. Each of the thematic group has a convenor, who is a CSAC member. Membership in the thematic group (TG) is voluntary and a CSA member may be a member of one or more thematic group. The TG Convenors are: Freedom from Debt Coalition (Macro-Economic), Social Watch Philippines (Social Services), Foundation for the Philippine Environment (Environment), Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (Peace Building and Human Rights) and Western Visayas Network of Social Development NGOs and POs (Good Governance). The other elected UNCSAC members are Association of Foundations (AF), Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society Organizations (CBCS), Cordillera Network of NGOs and POs (CORDNET), Eastern Visayas Network of NGOs and POs (EVNET), International Center for Integrity, Transparency and Excellence in Governance (INCITEGov), Mindanao Coalition of Development NGO Networks (MINCODE), Pambansang Kilusan ng mga Samahang Magsasaka (PAKISAMA), Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), Women's Action Network for Development (WAND). Thematic Groups – Priority Plans These are the highlights of the plans of the 5 UNCSA TGs (The list of initial UNCSA TG members are in Annex 2) - 1) Thematic Group on Macro-economic Stability and Broad-based Development The TG's planned civil society action (in partnership with the UNCT) seeks to gain the following: Plan of Action: a) “Crisis Mapping” – this initiative intends to consolidate data and information of the following: (i) assessment on the extent of impacts of the crisis; who are most affected; (ii) initiatives by the business and vulnerable sectors to mitigate the impacts; (iii) response of government to the crisis and how it is implemented. b) “Crisis Watch” --- this initiative intends to gather CSO advocates that will ensure monitoring of the continuing impacts on the ground and governments response and action. While the members of this thematic group will initially anchor the initiative, it will be opened up with other UNCSA members for them to get involved. A dedicated space/platform (website) will have to be set-up to facilitate exchange of information and discourse related to the crisis watch. /dialogue with relevant government agencies on the economic crisis will be undertaken, particularly on plans on how to get out the country in crisis. The UNCT may be engaged as convenor, to facilitate engagement/dialogue between CSOs and government agencies and/or with official representative to global conferences, as avenues for policy or program reforms. c) Developing alternatives or road map – the idea is to create an alternative framework that will contain principles of social justice and equity, participatory governance, and environmental sustainability that will be the foundations for socio-economic policies for development. This initiative will have two main objectives: d) Constituency Building and Discourse Generation Through the “Crisis Watch”, a campaign will be launched to present the alternative framework and generate discourse to build-up ownership and consensus on the proposed roadmap. In the process, it is expected that the constituency building will make the general public claim their stake in national economic development, in particular the vulnerable sectors. As the alternative framework is aimed as input to the on-going review of MTPDP and as platform for the 2010 elections, it is very important that a critical mass will be formed. Specific activities under the first objective include, but are not limited to: Publish and circulate the alternative framework/roadmap into popular form National, regional and/or sectoral forums or round-table discussions to generate active discourse on the proposal as a common and binding platform Timeframe: Given that one of the goals of this initiative is to present the proposed alternatives as a platform for the 2010 elections and as input to the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) for 2010-16, the initiative will be implemented for 11 months, beginning June 2009 until April 2010. 2) Thematic Group on Basic Social Services The overall priority issue of the basic social services (BSS) is financing for the Millennium Development Goals particularly financing for: Maternal mortality The group also agreed on the advocacy for universal health coverage, which addresses not only the financing of health services but also health services availability. Objectives: The BSS group plans for 2009-2011 will have the following objectives: Activities: The plan of the basic social services thematic group will have three components. The first component is the basic social services assessment, wherein the activities will include development of the assessment tool, identification of areas and partners, conduct of research and write-up of the assessment and organization of focus group discussion to validate the results of the assessment. The second component is the advocacy for financing. The thematic group will conduct briefings/forum with the local and national officials, as well as election candidates, on the result of the assessment. The results of the assessment will be used to promote and advocate for more financing for health and education services at the local and national levels and housing for the urban poor (e.g. Mandatory Budget Allocation for Health at the local level to finance Essential Health Packages). Considering that MDG 2 (participation rate and cohort survival rate) and maternal health are the most threatened goals, a forum with UNDP, World Bank, AusAid, DepEd, etc. will also be organized. The advocacy for financing will also be linked to international campaign such as the W8 campaign by Oxfam. W8 is eight women ambassadors, chosen around the world, who are campaigning and lobbying for quality and accessible basic social services, with international leaders and institutions. The third component will be development of the concept of CSO funding facility for its advocacy and service activities related to MDGs. This will entail workshop discussion of the thematic group members to brainstorm on the concept, research and write-up, and consultation to present the draft concept. The objectives and planned activities of the Thematic Group are: a) To build the constituency for a national policy on peace, human rights and security, help to lower the levels of political violence (EJKs, election violence, etc) and protect especially human rights defenders c) Ensure that peace dividends reach intended communities d) Sustain and build the community of peace and human rights defenders 4) Thematic Group on Good Governance The objectives of the TG are: Initial Plans: 5) Thematic Group on Environment Recent mining-related disasters point to the inability or unwillingness of government to enforce laws and protect the communities and the environment and bolster the belief that government and industry views on mining are one and the same. With these in mind, the group agreed to maintain its focus on the issues related to mining. It decided to interweave the problem of climate change with mining, and propose a study on the impacts of mining on climate change in the Philippines. Another, just as critical, focus would be on on clean development mechanisms. On Clean Development Mechanism Climate change, specifically global warming, is the most serious threat to the continued existence of mankind on earth. While this phenomenon is naturally occurring, scientists have warned that man’s activities, especially dumping greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere, have contributed largely to that change. To reduce GHG emissions, the Kyoto Protocol has devised the “clean development mechanism,” wherein countries with emission-reduction commitments may implement emission-reduction projects in less-emitting countries and earn emission-reduction credits. With its payments given to the less-emitting country or its communities, the CDM has been bruited about as a measure that could mitigate climate change globally while at the same time be a solution to the problem of poverty in low- and middle-income nations, in which the emission-reduction projects are expected to be implemented. But is it really? The UNCSA Environment Cluster proposes to study the merit of CDM, its status in the Philippines and worldwide, and its impact on the recipient countries and communities. The study would also feature a research into locally based climate-change mitigation and adaptation techniques, including the “old-fashioned” measures, adopted at the community level, with and especially without the benefit of the CDM exchange. On Climate Change and Mining The World Resources Institute estimates that the mining and metals industry is responsible for approximately 21% of global GHG emissions from industry. in another study across sectors, including residential and land-use changes, the extractive industries – minerals, oil and gas – account for 15% of GHG emissions worldwide. Coal, in particular, is the “dirtiest fossil fuel,” according to NASA scientists James Hansen, and “air pollution, arsenic and mercury from coal cause devastating effects of human health and the unborn.” There is a need for a study in the Philippine setting of the impact of mining, with particular emphasis on coal, on climate and people’s health. A study could investigate the number and location of operating metal, non-metal, especially coal, mines and/or plants, the volume of emissions from these mines and plants, the contribution of such mines and plants to climate change, and an identification of less polluting, more adaptable and affordable, healthier solutions to the energy problem. |
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 18 April 2010 03:59 |
