South African Civil Society Quadriennal Report.pdf

Civil Society Report - April 2012To drive this mandate in a focused manner a sub-committee referred to as the Arterial Network(SA) Working Group on the 2005 Convention was established. Members of the Working Groupswere democratically elected at this Conference. The following objectives were outlined:oooooooto encourage the active participation of civil society in their efforts to achieve theobjectives of this Convention;to consult with the South African creative sector in order to develop strategic plans,priorities and strategies in pursuing the goals and intentions of the UNESCOConvention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions;to implement strategies to deliver concrete outcomes on an annual basis that areconsistent with the UNESCO Convention;to engage with government (national, provincial and municipal), the private sector,international and continental partners (including other formations in the culturaldiversity sector) in the implementation and pursuit of strategies aimed at realising thegoals of the Convention;to keep the South African civil society sector - as well as other relevant players andstakeholders informed of progress with regard to the implementation of plans andstrategies intended to realise the goals of the Conventionto solicit and encourage the involvement and participation of the creative sector inthese; andto undertake educational work about the Convention, engage in debates anddevelop theoretical responses from the perspective of civil society in the ongoingdialogue around and implementation of the convention locally, continentally andinternationally, and to keep the South African creative sector abreast of thesedebates.2. Engaging the SA GovernmentNotwithstanding the South African government's ratification of the Convention and expression ofcommitment to engage Civil Society on a number of occasions by Government, the engagementhas been sporadic and left a lot to be desired. The SA Government regularly engages in publicmeetings and consultations with various sectors of society including the arts and culture sector.The arts and culture sector's consultative public meetings, “Izimbizo”, generally tend to discussissues affecting artists and their needs but these discussions but unfortunately not within thecontext of the Convention.After the successful hosting of a conference by Government and Civil Society in October 2011and a follow up meeting between duly delegated members of the Working Group andGovernment in February 2012, no tangible steps and actions have as yet been taken byGovernment to involve civil society in the drafting of the report. Engagements seem to havestalled and the credentials and bona fides of civil society representatives are questioned bysome Government officials. It is still not clear as to how Government will involve civil society inthe drafting of the report. Urgent reconciliation of these matters needs to be in place so thatadvancement of the objectives of the Convention can proceed.2