Towards Mutual Understanding

1
Towards Mutual Understanding

• The Development Roundtable Process

2
The inspiration of the WSF.
3
Coming together to build alliances
4
The success of the SNR!

• In 2003, various interest groups, social
  movements and individuals formed the Stop the New
  Round! campaign coalition to register their
  opposition to the launching of a new round of
  trade liberalization under the WTO, and to demand
  from the Philippine Government to defend their
  interests in the WTO and other trade negotiating
  fora.

5
Employing a variety of forms to voice out
perspectives and demands to reach various
audiences
6
The Need to Discuss Broader Concerns and Reach
Other Constituencies

• The lack of opportunity for different interests
  to resolve issues together, in a common vision
  that transcends personal and sectoral interests,
  makes the successful advocacy and implementation
  of good policies and the prevention of bad ones
  difficult.

7
The Proposed Process

• The Roundtable is an integrated process that
  includes on-the-ground research, mapping,
  informal discussions with various groups,
  literature review and the formal roundtable
  discussions.
• It is a political process of consultation and
  negotiation among different interest groups.

• More than just providing a venue for information
  exchange, the DRTS will be a venue to resolve
  policy issues, and to see how various competing
  interests can fit in common policy platforms. It
  will identify issues and actions, discuss
  pitfalls and dilemmas of competing interests, and
  work out policy alternatives (and possibly
  campaigns?) in a broad range of development
  concerns.

8
Specific Objectives

• to address the public interest deficit in the way
  policy making is being done
• to examine how the policy agenda fit or respond
  to the calls of the international community)
• for interested sectors to dialogue among
  themselves and answer common questions, at the
  minimum, and come up with a common agenda, if
  possible
• create a network that will advocate for this
  common agenda and
• popularize the process, the dialogue, and the
  common agenda.

9
Themes (1)

• Food and Agriculture

• Define issues, relationships and conflicts
  between food producers and consumers/ food
  producers- industrial users consumers.
• Present existing cases of alternative
  arrangements as a possible model for adoption by
  participating stakeholders.
• Recommend possible convergence of various
  stakeholders for mutual benefit

10
Themes (2)

• Water Resources and Services

• Right and access to water
• Water governance
• Alternative responses to water conflicts
• Financing

11
Themes (3)

• Trade and Industrial Policy

• Structure of Philippine capital
• Question on the feasibility and desirability of
  targeted and selective industrial policy
• Sectoral considerations (policies we want to
  lobby for)- investment, competition, labor,
  trade, technology, fostering linkages,
  competitiveness
• Negotiating our way around international
  agreements

12
Themes (4)

• Land Reform

• Is land reform a dead issue?
• Right to and governance of land and mineral
  resources
• How do people respond to the issue of access to
  land?
• Conflicts over land and land resources

13
Themes (5)

• Peoples Security

• Questions of military alliances, the countrys
  place in the international order, its positions
  on wars, etc. must be brought down from the
  level of diplomats and technocrats to those who
  will be directly affected by the decisions.
• Migrant workers, trade unions, social movements,
  community organizations, etc. must therefore be
  involved in imagining, constructing, and
  advocating for an independent foreign policy for
  the Philippines.

14
The Process-Output

• The DRTS will be a two-year process with set
  outputs
• an inception Roundtable
• 5 broad Roundtables
• an integrative Roundtable
• a publication
• a network
• a broad policy platform
• The most significant output of the DRTS will be
  the on-the-ground mapping, consultation-negotiatio
  ns, and public education work.
• The DRTS success will be measured by its reach,
  depth, and broadness of participation.

15
The Mechanism

• Core Group
• Thematic Working Group
• On-the-ground process sectoral/regional
  consultations, public education, mapping
• Roundtables

16
Who can participate and How to get involved

• EVERYBODY is welcome and encouraged to
  participate.

• High Participation
• Join a thematic working group.
• Join a lead group for on-the-ground activities.
• Basic Participation
• Attend public education activities.
• Attend consultations.
• Join special and mass activities.

17
Get involved!

• drts_at_focusphilippines.org