Conference Call of 22 May 2012
Participants: Gillian Dell (GD); Julie Schindall (JS); Vincent Lazatin (VL); Melissa Lawson (ML); Saad Meknassi (SM)
Moderator: Lizzie Johnson (LJ)
Agenda Items:
1. Letter from Robert Palmer
Sign-up to letter request from Robert Palmer, Global Witness discussed.
CCC agreed:
- CCC would have until Wednesday 23 May to object.
- ML to double check with Robert Palmer whether the letter in urgent or not.
- Following this, the Rules of Procedure on Coalition Public Statements would be followed.
- CCC present supported the letter.
- ACTION: CCC to submit any objections by Wed 23 May.
- ACTION: ML to check with Robert Palmer re urgency of letter.
- ACTION: LJ to circulate letter to Coalition for one-week review if the letter is not urgent.
2. Report back on Open Government Partnership Meeting (OGP), Brasilia, April 2012
VL reported that a lot of optimism existed amongst the CSOs at the meeting, following the view that initiatives and efforts may bring about game changes in the OGP this year. A CSO meeting was held on the penultimate day of the conference, attended by about 200 individuals. VL noted that the CSO meeting itself was perhaps a little overambitious, given the goals and timeframe. A central discussion point of the CSO committee, although it was quite open-ended and no concrete conclusion were made.
Discussed was the structure of the OGP steering committee which is split 50-50 between government representatives and CSO representatives. This underlines the clear mandate for countries to engage with civil society which was emphasised by US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, on the opening day.
The CCC discussed how the OGP CSO Coalition and UNCAC Coalition work relates.
Noted was that OGP and UNCAC Coalition work does overlap re broad principles such as access to information.
Gladwell’s input could be welcome on this point because she sits on both the CCC and steering committee of the OGP.
3. Implementation Review Group Meeting, Vienna, June 2012 – information update
Julie Schindall, our communications and advocacy consultant, running the strategy meetings in Vienna, was re-introduced and gave thanks for helpful feedback from the CCC on IRG meeting planning so far.
Discussed by the CCC was who would determine the flow of the CSO briefing on 20 June, the length of the CCC meeting on 19 June, and whether the amount of time blocked out for CCC internal business meeting on 22 June is sufficient.
- CCC must sketch out our ideas for the CSO briefing and send to UNODC.
- Suggested that VL might speak on behalf of the Coalition.
- Suggested that 3 hours could be long enough for the CSO briefing, although we are not allocated a seat at the table of the IRG meeting for the rest of the week so we may not want to diminish allotted time.
- Emphasized was that if we have the opportunity for two-way interaction with government representatives then we should.
- Suggested that Saad might speak on Morocco.
- Suggested that someone might speak on the topic of whistleblowers.
The CCC agreed that:
- The Tuesday 19 meeting should be extended to discuss and organise.
- The CCC meeting on 22 June could be extended until lunch if need be.
- ACTION: LJ to edit proposed timetable to extend meeting time, starting at 11am on Tuesday 19 June.
- ACTION: CCC to give any feedback on IRG documents prepared by Julie by Friday 25 May.
- ACTION: Develop proposal for CSO briefing and submit to UNODC.
4. Access to Information (ATI) Campaign
Discussed was the potential to develop a campaign to lead up to the Panama CoSP.
Several questions posed:
- Is such a campaign necessary and achievable at this particular stage?
- What are the results we’re trying to achieve at the CoSP?
CCC and Julie Schindall raised several points:
- The Coalition may be lacking in capacity to run a fully-fledged campaign at this stage.
- Could identify key messages and ask Coalition members to utilise their individual capacity to publicise them.
- Alternatively, if the Coalition could get the necessary resources, commitment and organisation then a campaign on Access to Information could be something very positive in preparation for Panama.
- If the Coalition is going to launch a campaign we must set realistic goals and do it well.
- ACTION: Further discussion on this point at next CCC conference call.
Next Meeting
First preference: Friday June 1st and fall back date the following week, Thursday 7th June.