MAJOR recommendations reached during islandwide workshops last November on how civic groups can impact on sustainable development goals will be debated at a national consultation at the Jamaica Conference Centre today.

Keith Evans, a representative of the Inter- American Development Bank (IADB), one of the sponsors of the national consultation, told a press briefing at the Dyoll Building in Kingston last week that the role of civil society was being examined specifically in relation to two international initiatives on sustainable development –The Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA) and the Millenium Declaration.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the other sponsor of the consultation which more than 200 persons from community based groups and non-governmental organisations are expected to attend.

Evans said that the conference would discuss ways to enhance and improve the implementation of BPOA and attainment of the Millenium Development Programme.

The (BPOA) initiative was adopted at a UN global conference on Sustainable Development of the Small Island States, held in Barbados in 1994. At the talks, a special case was made for the preservation of the environment and the island states of the region because of their vulnerability.

The BPOA agreed that the priority areas for the development of small island states should include climate change, sea level rise, land resources, tourism, human resource development, science and technology, fresh water resources and management of waste.

The other initiative, the Millenium Declaration, was adopted by 147 heads of state and governments at the UN headquarters in New York in September 2000. The Millenium declaration set eight goals to be achieved by 2016, namely poverty and hunger, gender equality, empowerment of women, child mortality, maternal health, HIV AIDS and environmental sustainability.

Evans said that part of the discussions at the national consultation would have to be the responsibility of citizens, the government and funding agencies like the IDB.

“I believe it is recognised that government does not have all the answers and that genuine consultations are useful,” he said.

Judith Wedderburn, alternate chairperson of the IDB-Civil Society Advisory Committee, said that the report on the workshops would “pull together the major recommendations coming out of the workshops and will lead the discussions for a plan of action.”

She said that the strategy section of the report would speak to four or five clear areas that can be developed into policy guidelines to help overcome some of the problems.

Participants in the November workshops included community- based organisations for re-afforestation, coastal water concerns, women empowerment and organisations among the most vulnerable people, such as groups dealing with AIDS and the disabled.

The national civil society report will lay the groundwork for representation to a special consultation sponsored by IDB with respect to the Millenium Development Goals (MDG), scheduled to take place in Ocho Rios, St Ann from February 18 to 19.

This special consultation, which will follow a regional conference on February 16 and 17, will further serve to focus preparations for the Fifth International conference on MDGs to be held in Mauritius in August.