CSO’S FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE

COLLECTIVE WORKING

CSOs For Good Governance

Enhancing Civil Society’s Contribution To Governance And Development Processes In Trinidad And Tobago (April 2017 – March 2020)

The ‘CSOs For Good Governance’ action was a three-year project, April 2017 – March 2020 led by United Way Trinidad and Tobago (UWTT) with a core group of twenty-three (22) leading Civil Society Organizations, referred to as the Sustainable Development Goals Catalysts Network (SDGsCN). listed below. The overall goal of the project was to empower civil society to become effective advocates and to actively engage in an inclusive and holistic approach to national development. It was funded by the European Commission and co-financed by UWTT and CANARI.

The four key objectives are detailed in the image below:

The project consisted of four inter-linked components designed for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to hold Government accountable for delivery of priority commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Trinidad and Tobago’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The project was completed in 2020 and the goals and objectives were achieved by working the four key components working in collaboration with the SDG Catalysts Network and their partner CSOs at the core.

Some of the key achievements under this project included:

The establishment and facilitation of the SDGs Catalysts Network as a mechanism for civil society engagement in the SDGs comprising:
Agricultural Society of Trinidad & Tobago
Association of Civil Society Organisations of TT (ACSOTT)
Caribbean Kids and Families Therapy Organisation (CKFTO)
Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI)
Caribbean Youth Environment Network Trinidad and Tobago (CYENTT)
Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago
Environment Tobago (ET)
Families in Action
Family Planning Association
Habitat for Humanity
IAMovement
National Centre for Persons With Disabilities (NCPD)
Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women
SERVOL
The Coalition Advocating for Inclusion of Sexual Orientation (CAISO)
Trinidad & Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI)
Trinidad & Tobago Unified Fisherfolk (TUFF)
United Way Trinidad & Tobago (UWTT)
UWI Institute for Gender & Development Studies (UWI-IGDS)
Veni Apwann (VA)
Women’s Institute for Alternative Development (WINAD)
Youth Business Trinidad & Tobago (YBTT)

Establishment of an Advocacy Action Small Grant Facility designed to build the capacity of SDGsCN in advocacy actions centred on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The facility, managed by United Way Trinidad and Tobago, facilitated the funding and implementation of 19 Advocacy Project. The learnings from these projects will be documented via case studies, lessons learnt, videos, social media posts and tool kits to be shared with the wider Civil Society network via the project’s Knowledge Platform.
Knowledge sharing by CSOs for awareness and advocacy on the SDGs in T&T via an online SDGs Knowledge and Advocacy Platform: CANARI launched the Knowledge Platform to facilitate knowledge and information sharing by the SDGs Catalysts Network members and wider civil society for awareness and advocacy on the SDGs in T&T.
Development and implementation of an advocacy campaign to amplify civil society’s voice on the SDGs: A national consultation workshop was held with members of the SDGs Catalysts Network and other civil society participants to distil a collective civil society position on the SDGs in T&T, including priorities for the national SDGs agenda. A joint advocacy campaign was also developed and implemented to widely promote and amplify civil society’s position, especially in government-led processes.
Provision of Organisational and advocacy capacity building and networking of CSOs:

Veni Apwann, based on focus groups and needs assessments, provided coaching, mentoring, and action and peer learning activities to build the capacity of the SDG Catalysts Network Members and their wider civil society networks to further develop their capacity. This enabled them to be more effectively networked and collaborate with each other, government and the private sector to advocate for and deliver sustainable development results under the SDGs.

Strengthening the legal, fiscal and funding framework for CSOs in T&T: This component advocated for and contributed to the implementation of a revised legal, fiscal and funding framework for Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

With a 2018 statistic of 7,479 non-profits registered in Trinidad and Tobago it is evident that CSOs in T&T needed a coherent legal, fiscal and funding framework that supports them to deliver and be accountable for results that contribute to national development and good governance. The Government and private sector can also benefit from a more effective system for registration of and reporting by CSOs for accountability.

UWTT led this component which:

Updated the 2016 Civil Society Organisation Position Paper, with input from over 40 CSOs, into a Civil Society Organisation Advocacy Paper. It recommended four priority actions for improving the legal and fiscal frameworks to incentivise a more sustainable and equitable funding framework:
Create an electronic dual-registration process with the Companies Registry and Revenue Authority (and regulator, if independent).

Introduce a new company status, Social Enterprise.

Revisit the tax provisions that affect the CSOs.

Establish a CSO regulator with authority for significantly greater scrutiny and compliance

15 CSOs supported to submit Risk Assessment Questionnaire to Registrar General in keeping with NPO 2019 Act as part of the pilot online Non-Profit Organization (NPO) Registration portal launched in 2019. Details on how to submit the Risk Assessment Questionnaire is available by the link here.