The official launch of the Commonwealth People’s Forum took place today at Bastion Square, Mdina.
The People’s Forum will be a chance for representatives of civil society from across the Commonwealth to share ideas and engage with government leaders.
The launch was a joint venture of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2015 Malta Taskforce and the Commonwealth Foundation.
It took place in the presence of the Dr Helena Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties. She was joined by Jacqueline Micallef Grimaud, who chairs the People’s Forum Sub-Committee and Sir Anand Satyanand, the former Governor General of New Zealand, who chairs the Commonwealth Foundation, accompanied by a video montage of global voices and faces from Commonwealth citizens.
The People’s Forum will take place on 23-26 November 2015, shortly before the Queen, the Prince of Wales and 52 heads of government join Malta’s Prime Minister, Dr Joseph Muscat, for a three-day summit.
The theme for the Forum is “What Makes Resilient Societies?” It will build on work developed in Malta on resilience and vulnerability providing a civil society perspective to complement the overall CHOGM theme of “Adding Global Value.”
Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Dr Helena Dalli said that the Ministry and the Commonwealth People’s Forum (CPF) 2015 acknowledge the dialogue between civil society organisations and the institutions and, hence, the people of the Commonwealth, its citizens, as erstwhile contributors and partners to policy making.
Dr Dalli said that the Commonwealth People’s Forum would be debating the theme ‘What makes societies resilient?’, with civil society organisations expected to highlight the fact that resilience can be a strategy for sustainable development if it draws on civic assets such as participation, diversity and innovation.
“It seems only natural that Malta, as the promoter of the resilience discourse of many years standing, is a protagonist in the developments played out during the Commonwealth People’s Forum 2015. We pledge our commitment to strengthen civil society, not only by exchanging good practices but, above all, by listening to and learning from our Commonwealth counterparts,” stated Dr Dalli.
Sir Anand said: “This year the Commonwealth People’s Forum will take place at a time which provides an opportunity for civil society to reflect on and plan for several important international discussions that will shape the future of human development. Malta will be the place where civil society considers the implications of these global processes and what they might mean for us.”
Ms Jacqueline Micallef Grimaud emphasised the principle underpinning participatory governance embedded in civil society’s ownership of the platform and process generated by the People’s Forum: “An honest voice can be louder than that of a crowd. Imagine the magnitude of all the honest voices of the Commonwealth people coming together as one.”
A total of four forums are being held in the run up to the Commonwealth summit in Malta. The Business Forum, the Youth Forum and the Women’s Forum have already been launched.