CPF-an excellent forum to share views

by P. Krishnaswamy

The Commonwealth People's Forum (CPF) 2013 will be officially launched today at a glittering opening ceremony at the Galle Fort presided over by President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Secretary General of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma and Chair of the Commonwealth Foundation Sir Anand Satyanand, attended by 1,000 delegates and invited guests.

The CPF is the largest gathering of civil society organisations on the Commonwealth's calendar. Convened by the Commonwealth Foundation(CF), the Commonwealth's inter-governmental agency for civil society and civil society partners from Sri Lanka, the CPF brings civic organisations together in the wings of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), to learn, exchange and provide inputs to the ministerial discussions.

General Secretary of the Sarvodaya Movement Dr. Vinya Ariyaratne told the Sunday Observer that the Sri Lankan civil society organisations see the gathering as an opportunity to share views on subject challenges as well as best practices developed by the civil society organisations on development issues.

They also see it as an excellent platform to meet leaders from the Commonwealth who are decision makers. "Therefore we can influence the development agenda their governments are planning", he said. About 250 Sri Lankan civil society organisations and 150 to 200 civil society organisations from the Commonwealth countries are participating in CPF, he said.

CPF 2013 will focus on the post-2015 development agenda from a Commonwealth civil society perspective. Workshops and panel discussions will cover topics including equitable growth, women's empowerment, peace-building, food security and the sustainable development goals. Delegates will also have the opportunity to take part in a series of learning journeys, visiting community projects and organisations in Sri Lanka. A round-table between CPF 2013 delegates of the CPF and the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers will cap the end of the process where a statement will be discussed. Chair of the CFP 2013 Sub Committee Dr. Lalith Chandradasa remarked "The 2013 CPF provides us an opportunity to share our experience, views and concerns within the post-2015 development framework".

The CPF 2013 is organised by the Commonwealth Foundation, hosted by Sevalanka Foundation, Federation of Sri Lankan Local Government Authorities and Sarvodaya , with support from the Government of Sri Lanka.