A Government minister from Dominica on Friday warned that the Caribbean has “lost the fighting spirit” that once defined its ancestors, cautioning that unless civil society reclaims its historic role as a driving force for change the region’s development could be placed at risk.

Cozier Frederick, minister of environment, rural modernisation, and Kalinago upliftment, made the comments in a stark reflection on what he sees as a weakening of civic resolve at a time when the region faces mounting social, economic, and environmental pressures.

He was speaking to regional civil society leaders and development partners at the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Civil Society Organisations (CSO) Conference and World NGO (non-governmental organisation) Day observance in Kingston.

Drawing on the legacy of past generations who fought against oppression and hardship, Frederick suggested that modern Caribbean society has drifted from the determination that once fuelled collective action and transformation.

“I speak today as a minister of government in 2026, and I find that we have lost the fighting spirit, and this fighting spirit came from the ancestors who were indigenous to this land, who helped the brothers who came across, chained and shackled, and who fought the system. We are the children of that generation, and we complain, and we worry, and we seem to be helpless,” Frederick said.

The conference convened by the Caribbean Development Bank and its partners under the theme ‘The Shift: Igniting Civil Society’s Next Chapter’ brought together more than 120 participants from across the region to examine the future of civil society and its role in sustainable development.

Frederick stressed that civil society has historically been central to the region’s progress, but warned that divisions and misunderstandings between governments and civic organisations have undermined their collective effectiveness.

He said that from his vantage point as both a government minister and a participant in civil society discussions, the relationship between the two remains strained.

Frederick argued that civil society should not be seen as separate from Government.

“Civil society is not the other, civil society is part of, and sometimes, governments see civil society as separate from [them], and sometimes, based on the personalities in civil society as well, they see government as the other, and so, there’s an imbalance between this,” he said.

Civil society organisations, which include community groups, advocacy bodies, and non-governmental organisations, have long played a critical role in delivering social services, supporting vulnerable populations, and advocating policy reform across the Caribbean, often filling gaps left by limited State resources.

Frederick said both governments and civil society must recognise their shared responsibility for development and work to strengthen collaboration rather than deepen divisions.

“We have to have policy, which is Government-driven; we have to have laws, but also, we have to build capacity of civil society. To understand that, Government cannot do everything, or ought not to do everything, or should not be involved in everything, and civil society also has to understand that Government has to facilitate,” he said.

He framed the current moment as part of a much longer historical journey, arguing that civic engagement and collective action have always been embedded in the Caribbean’s identity, dating back to indigenous societies that functioned as interconnected communities across the archipelago.

“Before the colonial enterprise came into our space, we had an indigenous community, and communities that spread across our wonderful archipelago… and this indigenous community transcended borders. We didn’t see the ocean as a separation of islands, but as the access to all of our spaces,” said Frederick, who is a member of Dominica’s Kalinago community, which forms the largest remaining indigenous group in the Eastern Caribbean.

He said that spirit of unity and shared purpose later helped enslaved Africans and their descendants resist injustice and build the foundations of modern Caribbean societies, even in the absence of formal political power or institutional support.

“Our fathers, our grandfathers, had limited experience in geopolitics, they had limited experience in management, they had limited experience in how governments work, but they knew what they wanted for themselves, for their families, for their communities, and they selflessly gave their skills and talents,” he said.

However, Frederick acknowledged that civil society actors today often face frustration, fatigue, and a sense of being undervalued, even as their work remains essential to national and regional progress.

Despite these challenges, he urged civil society leaders not to retreat, but instead to recommit themselves to shaping the region’s future.

World NGO Day, observed annually on February 27, recognises the contribution of civil society organisations worldwide,while the regional conference examined how Caribbean organisations can strengthen their impact amid growing economic uncertainty, climate threats and development challenges.

Frederick said he intends to take the conference’s message back to his own Government and continue advocating stronger partnerships between public institutions and civil society.

“I will play my own part in my own time and share with my colleagues the importance of facilitating and the importance of breaking those barriers that appear to separate government as a system from civil society,” he said.

Dominica’s Minister of the Environment, Rural Modernisation, and Kalinago Upliftment Cozier Frederick listens during the last day of the Caribbean Civil Society Organisations Conference and World NGO Day observance at Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew on Friday. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)