Transcript
DANNY SRISKANTHARAJAH: No its been an amazing week this is the first time in the 25 years of CIVICUS history that we brought an event like this to the Pacific. We have had more than 700 delegates from over 100 countries who have come here and spent the week discussing all of the world's issues. So it has just been amazing inspiring.
KOROI HAWKINS: The local PIANGO people have said it was an opportunity for the Pacific to showcase its issues. Has that happened?
DS: No it has definitely. There have been several hundred people from around the world who have come here, often for the first time that they are in the Pacific. And it has just been, one said that her life has been transformed, because she reads about the impacts of climate change, she sees it on the news. But she has never been to a country where the impacts of what is at risk here are so clear. So I think for our visitors to the Pacific this has been an opportunity to find out a bit more about a part of the world that most of them didn't know very much about. You know we have got people from Columbia from Burundi from South Africa from you know places where they have never even heard of many of the countries in the Pacific. So it has been I think life changing for a lot of them.
KH: Now one of the outcomes is a declaration on climate induced displacement can you speak to that?
DS: This is such a real issue, this is such a real issue, you know this is the part of the world which is going to be most affected by climate induced displacement. In fact there are already people, communities, nations that are going to have to move as a result of climate change. And yet this is a part of the world that has had the least to do with causing the climate change. And what we are calling for in this declaration is a comprehensive global approach that is based on principles and rights that obliges every country to receive and treat with dignity those people who are being displaced. We need to come up with a, you know if we call ourselves a civilised humanity, then we need a responsible and sensible way of approaching this issue.
KH: And where is this declaration going?
DS: Look the UN has been in a process to lead next year what is being called a global compact on safe and orderly migration. We are hoping that this decision will influence that process but we are also hopeful that our members. You know a lot of people here are activists they are part of non-governmental organisations, social movements. And we are hoping that they are going to take this issue and put it into those networks raise public awareness of this big challenge, but also, get their members and networks to put pressure on their governments to take this issue more seriously. So we are trying to influence the policy process but also get their members and networks to get their governments to take this issue more seriously. So we are trying to influence both the policy process and the public awareness process.
KH: What are some of the other outcomes from the CIVICUS meeting this year?
DS: One of the things I have been struck by is this growing realisation that many of the challenges facing the world are inter-connected you know many of our members work on their issues whether it is gender rights or climate change or democracy but I think what we are realising is there is something really important in being with each other working together, showing solidarity and that is the only way we are going to tackle some of the big, big challenges that face the world. But we have also been dealing with some of the issues that are live here in the Pacific, whether it is obviously climate change but, gender equality, has been a key issue here. A lot about youth voice and how to get young people more engaged in political and economic life in the Pacific. So those are the sorts of things that have been coming up.
KH: The hosting of CIVICUS I would assume is this the first time in the Pacific?
DS: Yes we have been around for 25 years we have held these sorts of events thirteen times before in places like Montreal and Mexico City, in Budapest, in Botswana, in Johannesburg and our board 18 months ago started looking at this idea of coming to the Pacific because you know everyone talks about this phrase leaving no-one behind and a lot of our Pacific colleagues were saying we are a global alliance and yet we were leaving the Pacific behind. So our board said this is time that we fix it and bring our big gathering here. And this is probably the second biggest in our 25 years of any gathering 700 odd people from all over the world so I am really glad we made the decision to come. And most of the participants here, I hope all fo the participants here have really found it to be a profound experience.
KH: Your decision to host in the Pacific is almost a reflection of the greater geo-political moves in the world at the moment. Some even describing it as a resurgence of colonialism we have got Russia, China, the US and even Australia and New Zealand increasing their focus and emphasis on Pacific issues. What are some of the dangers you see there.?
DS: Well look, one of the things that has been discuss this week is around, "Is the legacy of colonialism still left in this region?" there are a lot of activists that are here this week who are working on issues around West Papuan independence, about decolonisation of the territories in the Pacific. And so I think this is a part of the world that has yet to be liberated in many ways and that was made clear to us by our Pacific colleagues. And also if we flip it though we think of these countries as not small island states but large ocean states then in a world where there is increasing climate instability and climate risk the ocean is going to be such a critical asset and so what we need to do is preserve the biodiversity the stability of this ocean as well as the cultural, cultures and peoples of this part of the world and so the resistance that I heard a lot here is you know building a people's movement here in the Pacific that is linked in and in solidarity with people's movements around the world so that we really do protect the Pacific and what is so special about it.
