Civic Engagement, the key to a prosperous future for the Pacific Region.

Threatened by climate change, the pacific island nations and territories are trying their best to come up with ambitious plans to deal, sustainably and resiliently with their future. Yet there is one key element, civic engagement and with it, volunteerism, that can truly make a huge difference, not only helping tackling the climate crisis but also building a more inclusive, cohesive future.

Kathmandu, 19nd Sept, 2022

When Fiji was heavily hit by the Covid-19 in 2021, local volunteers made huge contributions in trying to alleviate the catastrophic consequences the pandemic was having over the entire population.

Many citizens, driven by the selflessness spirit of community engagement, got mobilized to help those in need.

While, at the time, there was an immediate need, an urgency to act, we should not mistake those acts as the occasional “one off” initiatives.

Instead they were part of a pattern of self help, altruism and generosity that characterize the life of this Fiji and it is important to highlight that the same also applies in all the nations and territories of the region.

Unfortunately the recently approved Blue Pacific 2050 blueprint, formally the “2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent’ does not give the due recognition of the importance of volunteerism nor underscore how paramount is the role of civic engagement.

For example, during the pandemic, Marlene Dutta, a citizen of Fiji, decided to step up by reviving one of the oldest and purest forms of community solidarity, bartering, based on concept of reciprocity in which members of community help each other.

This is how Barter for Better Fiji was born, a Face book page aimed at facilitating the exchange of primary items and goods the people were in the most need of. The page attracted the staggering figure of 180,000 members as of August 2020.

Such selfless efforts are some of the best examples of people’s deliberate, self-driven commitment where citizens voluntarily dedicate their time and skills to make a huge difference in the communities.

Remarkably this does not happen only in Fiji but throughout the Pacific.

Nourishing, leveraging and promoting such forms of local volunteerism so embedded in the local fabrics and all originating from a strong sense of community belonging, local ownership, self-help, can make a huge difference for the citizens of this immensely diverse region.

From the hazards brought by climate change to pervasive unemployment to creeping holes in the public health systems, the Pacific Island nations face numerous challenges and oftentimes volunteerism is the best tool that, while offering an immediate response, complements and strengthens the actions taken by the policy makers.

With the international community signing on Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs in 2015, we now have entered in what has been declared a so called “Decade of Action”, precious years where governments around the world must redouble and accelerate their efforts.

Putting the people at the center of such processes is going to be essential and that’s why the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, have been promoting the idea of a New Social Contract, a new working relationship between the states and the people based on civic engagement.

Volunteering can be one of the best ways to promote a new sense of civic responsibility, facilitating new collaborations and partnerships between the government and the citizenry.

That’s why now that policy makers are gathering in Brisbane for the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction Conference, it is essential that civic engagement is included as a key component to reduce the impact of climate change.

The rationale can’t be more self-evident: with its distinctive, unique flavors in practicing and promoting it, often informal in the way it is operated, the entire region counts on many examples of people engaged in community work and awareness making, filling gaps and often saving lives and natural habitats.

Out there, there are plenty of these examples of citizens ‘passion and commitment and determination in action often focused on the towering issue of climate change, often with no recognition and zero visibility.

In the Pacific, while people are hopeful for a landmark climate agreement, complacency is not allowed as citizens do not have the luxury to just wait. Instead they are compelled to get in action.

In Kiribati, the government and the people have been working together to enhance the prospects for a more sustainable and resilient future, a great example of people’s engagement and ownership in dealing with the threat of climate change.

Only by involving and engaging the citizenry, the biggest challenges can be won and this is what is happening in Kiribati when the people are involved and consulted about dealing with the climate challenge.

In the Solomon Islands, citizens, mostly women, work at Plasticwise Gizo, an interesting example in mitigating the severe impact of plastic pollution.

Also in Tuvalu people have been also engaged in inclusive and participatory climate discussions, charting viable paths that will offer better chances of a thriving future.

All these efforts are key to ensure that the Pacific Island Nations will be able to be in a better position to achieve the SDGs.

With most of the countries of the region having already submitted their own Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs), the main report to monitor a single country’s efforts to achieve the global goals, leaders and policy makers are taking the Agenda 2030 very seriously.

This is essential, a must, considering how disappointing the Glasgow COP 26’s final outcomes were for the pacific island nations and disappointing for the Pacific island nations might be the upcoming COP 27 in Egypt.

Lacking a stronger global resolve to tackle climate change is pushing these nations to tackle this immense challenge on their own.

In this gigantic effort, finding better ways to involve and engage the citizens, also through a process of localization of the SDGs is essential. Some governments started to engage and leverage volunteerism to some extent.

Samoa even included in its own VNR 2019 the role volunteerism plays in the process of sustainable national development. The most significant example in the report is possibly the recognition of volunteers as valued partners in data collection efforts during the measles response plan along with other partners from Government, statistical offices and academia.

The VNR 2020 of Solomon Islands highlight an innovative West ‘Are’Are Rokotanikeni Association, which is a women-led, volunteer-run savings club that gives women a place to come together, learn more about managing finances and store their savings safely.

Samoa’s and Solomon Islands’ recognition should be followed by other peer nations in the Pacific.

But beyond just a mere recognition in the report, the missing piece of the puzzle seems to be in the integration of volunteerism into the national development plans/strategies and their implementation.

These development plans and strategies form the basis for partnerships, collaboration on the ground and provides legitimate basis for the diverse volunteering activities and their contribution to development. Kiribati, for example, included volunteering in its National Youth Policy Framework and Action Plan 2018–2022 to nurture youth participation, for example.

There is now a new recognition that volunteerism, as part of a broader continuum leading to higher levels of civic engagement, is uniquely positioned to make the difference in the lives of millions of people.

Through volunteerism and civic engagement, the Pacific has an opportunity to become a world champion of a way of development that puts people first.

That’s why it is so essential that the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum recognize at the earliest that volunteerism and civic engagement are the key ingredients to successfully implement their Blue Pacific 2050 strategy.

That’s why one of the long term policy interventions that should take place includes the development of strategies that recognize volunteering as a key tool for the common prosperity of the entire pacific.

The United Nations Volunteers Program, UNV is best suited to support the governments of the region but it will be indispensable that it will scale up its presence in the Pacific and drastically invest on it.

Building on local expertise and traditions, such support could offer a unique way for the entire region to sustain and invest and better strengthen volunteerism practices.

A partnership agreement between UNV and the Pacific Island Forum could provide the adequate framework to develop a regional volunteering and civic engagement strategy.

The strategy could envision concrete actions to support local organizations and informal grassroots groups that are the backbone of the pacific society while also provide technical capacity building for each nation and territory of region to develop its own national blueprint.

It could be even possible to imagine a Pacific Island Nations Volunteering Program where youths but also professionals from nations of the Pacific Island Forum spend time volunteering in another member state.

What is most important is that selfless dedication of local citizens must be upheld and strengthened if the nations of the region want to achieve a sustainable and more just future.

Recognizing that volunteering is an enabler and catalyst for positive people’s centered development is one of the best things to do to ensure that that this type of future will not be a remote and distant possibility but instead will become a concrete reality.

The journey to include volunteerism and civic engagement in the regional and national adaptation and mitigation plans should start now.

Brisbane offers a unique opportunity to re-frame the discussion and recognize the power of volunteerism in saving lives from climate disruptions and protect local social fabric in the Pacific

Simone Galimberti writes on social inclusion, youth development, regional integration and the SDGs in the context of Asia Pacific. The piece was written with technical inputs from the UNV Asia Pacific Regional Office.