The discussions were held at a workshop that was facilitated by Barbados-based Development Specialist and Consultant at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), Shantal Munro-Knight, who presented a number of challenges facing NGOs in the region and the Code of Conduct and Ethics.
Munro-Knight told SKNVibes News that she was in St. Kitts to talk about policy development, Code of Conduct and Ethics in relation to NGOs.
The one-day workshop was held in the FND Cooperative Conference Room.
She explained that the main purpose of the Code of Conduct is to allow the NGO sector, not only in St. Kitts and Nevis but throughout the region, to demonstrate a strong commitment “to our own internal transparency and accountability”.
Against that backdrop, she noted that it allows them to show governments and donors the best ideal of how those organizations would go about conducting operations – in a way that it assists them in showing it is being done ethically.
This, Munro-Knight highlighted, would enable the NGOs to be better able to account for resources given to them, and also to ensure that donors get the best representation in what they would have invested.
“Too often many of us say that we represent, but we do not engage our stakeholders. And the Code of Conduct asks us; begs us to ensure that whatever we do, whatever we say, that we do it on the basis of bringing along all of those people that we work with.”
Pointing to lack of funding as one of the fundamental challenges affecting NGOs in the region, the CPDC representative explained that “the lack of recognition of the work of the sector and how important it is what is hampering [it]”.
Munro-Knight emphasized that donors believe that the Caribbean – when they take into consideration many of the large international indices – do not fall into the level of poverty, thus not being able to access concessional levels of funding.
Against that backdrop, she noted that it then trickles down to the development and other areas of society.
She added that because of such, there are not enough resources in the region – thus the sector is not able to do the work it should be doing.
“And I think that is a big issue facing it,” she stated. “Many of the sectors, many of the organizations are running right now on just volunteers and don’t have staff.”
The NGO workshop was presented by the Ripple Institute SKN, which is a national non-profit social development and community service organization dedicated to changing lives and building strong, vibrant and sustainable communities.
According to its mantra, the primary objective is: "Promoting the Wholesome Development of Children and Youth, and Advocating for Vulnerable Groups."
The Institute was born out of the realization that with succeeding decades there are considerably more daunting social challenges, affecting several sectors of citizenry, and that many of the protective factors and provisions that have served well in the past simply cannot cope with the new realities.
Meanwhile, the CPDC is a coalition of Caribbean NGOs, which was established in 1991 to sensitize NGOs and the general public on key policy issues and to impact policy makers on decisions that put the interests of Caribbean people at the center of the Caribbean Development Strategy.
Since its inception, the CPDC has lobbied regional and international governments on behalf of sections of the Caribbean populations whose voices are less heard. In doing so, CPDC has become accepted as a significant social partner in the development of the region.
