New Zealand Government Neglects Voices of the Needy
New Zealand Government Neglects Voices of the Needy
The 42nd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’
Meeting in Auckland is drawing to a close without hearing
the needs of ordinary Pacific people. The New Zealand
Government’s ongoing retrenchment of funding for Pacific
civil society groups and its refusal to assist civil society
to have a say in this year’s Forum Leaders’ meeting is
an embarrassment for a country that should be acting as a
regional role-model for good democratic
principles.
NZADDs, an aid and development think-tank,
says that while recognising the importance of the private
sector to the Pacific, leaders at this meeting also needed
to hear from civil society groups like churches and
non-governmental organisations (NGOs). “Pacific leaders
continue to rely on the tradition of strong Pacific families
to provide a social safety net for their people, but under
modern pressures families are no longer able to cope alone
and many are suffering. In the absence of Governments’
capacity to do so, it is the civil society organisations,
such as churches and NGOs, that provide vital services and
speak on behalf of people who often do not benefit from
elite-led economic growth projects,” says spokesperson
Joanna Spratt.
“It is particularly disturbing to
hear that in the lead-up to the Forum the NZ Government
refused to assist Pacific civil society in getting a
pre-prepared statement to Pacific Leaders. Instead, the NZ
Government suggested that civil society should go through
individual country governments,” says Ms. Spratt. “This
is despite the fact that the NZ aid programme continues to
cut funding to the very organisations that could best
achieve this. This disregard for civil society does not bode
well for the concerns of Pacific people over the year of New
Zealand’s term as Chair of the Forum.”
In his
speech marking the Pacific Island Forum’s 40th
anniversary, Prime Minister John Key made no mention of
civil society as an important partner in development
efforts, suggesting an apparent neglect of the importance of
functioning democracies for sustainable economic
development.
If the NZ Government’s aim to achieve
prosperity in the Pacific is genuine, and not just a cover
for advancing NZ business interests through the aid
programme, civil society voices must be at the table.
Without listening to these voices we risk repeating the
mistakes of the past, where endeavours to achieve economic
growth have simply further advanced the few already powerful
politicians and business leaders, leaving everybody else
behind.
ends