Cymdeithas Sifil Cymru a nodau datbygu’r Mileniwn
Dowload Document here.
Wales Civil Society MDGs Task Force, 2004-2014
MDGs Task Force – Mobilising Civil Society internationalism post-devolution
The Wales Civil Society Millennium Development Goals Task Force – usually shortened to ‘MDGs Task Force’ – was established by WCVA, Wales Council for Voluntary Action to bring together civil society actors beyond the traditional aid sector:
- Trade Unions
- Town and Community Councils through One Voice Wales
- Educationalists
- NHS Health volunteers and staff exchanges
- British Council Wales
- Network of Development Researchers
- Dolen Cymru
- WOAG (Welsh Overseas Aid Group)
- WCIA (Welsh Centre for International Affairs)
From 2005, WCVA brought in Peter Davies, Sustainable Development Commissioner, as Chair of the Task Force to bring coordination, networking and invigorated energy. The Task Force actively developed a range of distinct projects that have shaped the post-devolution internationalist landscape of Wales:
- Wales for Africa
- UN Gold Star Awards and Wales Africa Community Links network
- Size of Wales forests conservation
- Welsh Civil Society and the MDGs
- Hub Cymru Africa
- SDGs and Future Generations Commission
Read Peace Garden tribute to Peter Davies
June 2021 planting of a “Peace Rose’ by the Size of Wales team
Inspired by CIVICUS, the World Alliance for Citizen Participation
The MDGs Task Force’ was established under the leadership of WCVA’s internationalist Chief Executive Graham Benfield, following participation in the 2004 CIVICUS World Assembly in Gabarone, Botswana (view 2004 CIVICUS report). CIVICUS Secretary General Kumi Naidoo challenged civil society leaders of all nations to take leadership in bringing ‘substance to the vision‘ of the Millennium Development Goals.
As one of the founding partners in the 1990s of CIVICUS – the world alliance for citizen participation – WCVA had invited Kumi Naidoo to address their Annual Conference in Llandudno in 2001, where he ‘wowed’ Welsh Civil Society leaders with an internationalist vision for the (then) newly devolved nation. WCVA actively participated in the CIVICUS ‘Civil Society Index‘ (CSI) pilot over 2003-5, and in annual World Assemblies, establishing prospective collaborations with movements worldwide.
- 2005 Wales Civil Society Index Report by Brian Collis, WCVA
- CIVICUS / UN MDGs Campaigning Toolkit
- 2011 WCVA Blog Archive ‘CIVICUS: Supporting an outward looking Wales‘ by Craig Owen, for the Canada World Assembly.
Make Poverty History and Wales Africa ideas, 2005
The Make Poverty History campaign of 2005 captured the public imagination at an unprecedented scale. Within Wales, a coalition of organisations coordinated through WISEN at the Welsh Centre for International Affairs – supported by Oxfam Cymru and Christian Aid Wales – mobilised communities Wales-wide with popular campaigning activities that included:
- Tsunami Relief Concert in the Millennium Stadium (WalesOnline gallery)
- Creation of ‘Idris the Dragon‘, Wales’ Make Poverty History puppet ‘mascot’ (still conserved within Wales’ Temple of Peace)
- Mass mobilisation to the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland and G8 Rally in Edinburgh – chartering a ‘Make Poverty History train’ from Cardiff to Edinburgh.
- Wrapping the summit of Snowdon in a White Band, to send a message form the ‘summit of Wales’ to the UN Summit in New York. (Daily Post)
- Producing a ‘Pantomime of World Trade’ at the Wales Millennium Centre, to mark the WTO Summit in Hong Kong.
Far from being satisfied with participating in actions targeting global bodies however, the Welsh public and wider civil society voiced an overwhelming demand that Wales should make its own distinct contribution to world development. Organisations and policy makers worked hard to identify what that contribution might look like, within the devolved powers of the National Assembly for Wales:
- A Manifesto for an Outward Looking Wales: Oxfam Cymru, 2005
- Make Poverty History – what the Assembly can do: European & External Affairs C’tee June 2005
- The Fair Trade Nation campaign, 2003-2008
Civil society efforts led to the announcement in September 2005, of the Welsh Government’s new International Development Strategy – with the idea of a ‘Wales for Africa’ programme at its heart, which the MDGs Task Force went on to shape.
Wales for Africa – a Welsh Government and Civil Society partnership
The Welsh Government’s ‘Wales for Africa’ framework programme was launched in June 2006, with the aim of enabling Welsh Government to support civil society-led initiatives that would build Welsh relationships with the wider world, skills building and knowledge exchange, whilst supporting valuable development projects between communities and practitioners from different sectors such as health and education.
- Wales for Africa Framework, 2006
- Wales Africa NHS Health Links, 2006; Annual Report 2011 and 10 year review, 2016; present NHSWA website.
- One Wales, One Planet – Welsh Govt Sustainable Development Scheme, 2008
- Wales Fairtrade Nation Report 2008; Wales – the world’s first Fair Trade Nation, Assembly Statement 2008; short film 2014, International Fairtrade Towns host, 2019
- Scotland and Wales in Africa: Chatham House Report 2011
- ‘Wales for Africa – 7 years in‘ short film 2013.
- Wales for Africa – 10 Years On: Welsh Govt Anniversary Report 2016
- PHD Case Study of Wales for Africa, 2017 by Kathleen Mulready: ‘Devolution, Nation-building and Development Assistance‘
- What’s the point of Devolved International Development? Thoughts from Wales – 2019 Centre on Constitutional Change
- ‘Wales in the World’ Inquiry, 2017-18
- Wales Africa programme, Welsh Government (current programme)
- Wales and Africa 2020-2025 Action Plan
Gold Star Awards and Wales Africa Community Links
In 2006, the MDGs Task Force and WCVA responded to the Welsh Government’s strategy by proposing a partnership pilot, alongside the UN (United Nations Innovation Hub in Geneva) and BUILD, for a ‘Gold Star Awards’ scheme that would support and recognise the work of community based Wales – Africa linking organisations. An initial 6 partnerships participated in the pilot:
- PONT Pontypridd – Mbale (Uganda)
- Dolen Ffermio, Montgomeryshire – Kumi (Uganda)
- Hay – Timbuktu (Mali)
- Brecon – Molo (Kenya)
- Crymych – Hlotse (Lesotho) through Dolen Cymru
- Amlwch – Sankwia (Gambia)
The network expanded to 20 more Wales Africa Community Links by 2008, when the first UN Gold Star Awards were presented by First Minister Rhodri Morgan at the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff. By 2014, the network had grown to 140 linking organisations supporting several hundred projects throughout Africa (see Google Map) – supported by a modest WCVA small grant scheme that enabled organisations to follow a good practice scheme, the ‘Gold Star framework’, that was linked in to complementary schemes by BOND, NIDOS, CADA and the European Alliance for Citizen Initiatives.
- WACL Flickr account (legacy) and Youtube account (legacy)
- Pontpridd Gold Star Conference, 2008
- ‘Going for Gold‘ PONT film created for first awards.
- Gold Star Awards 2008, Cardiff National Eisteddfod – presented by Rhodri Morgan and UN Ambassador for Women Edith Wakumire
- Machynlleth WACL / Gold Star Conference 2010
- Wales Africa: our Global Community – Powys photography exhibition 2010
- Gold Star Awards 2010, Senedd – presented by Carwyn Jones and UN Representative Berta Pesti
- Gold Star Awards 2012, Senedd – presented by Carwyn Jones and Jane Davidson (Swansea Gambia article)
- Voices from Ethiopia on linking, 2013
- Wales’ UN Gold Star good practice framework, 2012-14
- Framework applied to current Hub Cymru Africa grants toolkit
- Wales Africa Community Links: A Communitarian Approach to Development – Dev Cymru blog article 2014, reproduced 2018 for Wales for Peace / IWA.
- Wales Africa Community Links IMPACT REPORT 2013
‘Size of Wales’ tropical forests conservation and Climate Change education movement
From 2008, the MDGs Task Force and WCVA, supported by the Cardiff-based Waterloo Foundation, supported a pilot for an initiative to turn the phrase ‘Size of Wales’ – usually a measure of rainforest destruction – into a challenge for Wales to conserve an area of forests the Size of Wales. Capturing the public imagination, the project was established as an independent charity from 2010, launched by HRH the Prince of Wales at the National Botanic Gardens in Carmarthenshire, and has remained under the leadership of co-founder Peter Davies through to 2021, when he passed on the reins of Chair to former Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones.
- Size of Wales website
- Plant! Scheme 2008 – a tree for every child born in Wales
- Blog Tribute to ‘Size’ co-founder Peter Davies, June 2021 – marked by the planting of a Peace Rose memorial in Wales National Garden of Peace.
- Peace Rose planted in Wales National Garden of Peace by Size of Wales.
Welsh Civil Society and the MDGs Survey & Report
In 2010, as the world reflected on a decade’s progress (and in some cases, lack of progress) against the Millennium Declaration and MDGs, the Task Force enlisted the support of the BIG Lottery Fund to undertake a survey of the extent of Welsh Civil Society activism and contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.
- View ‘Wales Civil Society and the MDGs’ Report on People’s Collection Wales
As well as spotlighting case studies of good practice, the report identified 930 organisations active in Wales’ International civil society sector linking with 107 countries, from branches and local movements of international organisations such as Oxfam and Christian Aid, to education and campaigning organisations, twinning, diaspora linking and community groups (including approximately 25% beyond the geographic scope of the Wales Africa programme).
Hub Cymru Africa
From 2015, the operational and project work of the MDGs Task Force was subsumed into Hub Cymru Africa, with WCVA becoming one of the board partners, and coordinators of the supporting Wales Africa grants scheme.
- Hub Cymru Africa 2021 Manifesto for Global Solidarity in Wales
- Hub Cymru Africa responses to DfID-FCO Merger and UK Government Aid Cuts, 2021
- Hub Cymru Africa Flickr albums
From MDGs to SDGs: the Future Generations Commission
The work of the MDGs Task Force continues in a wider policy sense beyond 2015 through the establishment of Wales’ Future Generations Act and Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. Useful additional references:
- The Welsh Doughnut: 2015 Oxfam Report for Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice
- Wales and the Sustainable Development Goals, 2019 Report to the UK Voluntary National Review of Progress towards the SDGs
A Place in Wales’ Peace Heritage
The role of Peter Davies and the MDGs Task Force in Wales’ Peace Heritage was celebrated in June 2021 with the planting of a ‘Peace Rose’ in Wales National Garden of Peace.