| De: |
Bella Te Wairemana Tait |
| Sujet: |
RE: [ycdogender] Consultation-Happy Canada
|
| Envoyé: |
Nov 9th, 2003 - 19:07:01 |
|
| |
Good morning all
In response to the first question
Have I been involved in Policy and decision making at any level?
I work for a local authority in Rotorua and we have a new local
government act which was passed just after christmas 2002. A section in
the act talks about building the capacity and capability of maori
(aboriginal peoples) of New Zealand to participate in decision making
processes of local authorities.
One of basic decision making processes that Maori do not participate in,
is the electoral process and much of that is about the language that is
used to communicate this process and the assumptions that are made in
terms of understanding.
Some basic information and processes are not communicated. Many people
do not know that;
Individuals have been on a national electoral role, before they can
participate in the electoral process locally
Don't necessarily know where to get the forms or how to fill them out
Don't know or want to know the significance of exercising their vote
This is but one decision making process, others include public meetings
and how these are conducted within a local authority, that there are
protocols that go with attending meetings, which are not widely known or
communicated in simple everyday language, so participation is again
reduced.
Often policies or procedures are written in such an isoteric language
that ordinary people that don't have degrees or have a reading
comprehension of a 12 year old will be alienated from a process which
has been designed for their well-being and in this society silence is
often construed as agreement.
Perhaps I am making blanket statements, but the power of ICT and other
medium can break down communication barriers if used to inspire and
convey messages to children, if children understand then others will
have a greater chance of grasping the message.
Multi media incorporates visual moving pictures and sound, whereby the
reliance upon the written word is not significant, multinationals
utilise this medium to increase sales, how often are government or
public service agencies collaborating to use the same medium to
encourage participation and feedback about service delivery to the
community.
Just some thoughts
-----Original Message-----
From: Terri Willard [mailto:twillard (at) iisd.ca]
Sent: Saturday, 8 November 2003 4:09 p.m.
To: Tait, Bella
Subject: [ycdogender] Consultation-Happy Canada
Replies to this message will be sent to the group by default. The sender
of this message can be contacted at .
---------------------------------------------
I was intrigued by the questions asked this week re:
** Have you been encouraged to get involved in policy and decision
making at any level?
Canada has to rank as having more consultations each year than any other
country on the planet. When I moved here from the U.S. seven years ago,
I couldn't believe the number of different workshops, roundtables,
commissions, consultations, town halls, etc. were going on at all levels
of government at any given moment in time. I always used to think that
policy was something that was reserved for experts. But here, it's a
kind of general dialogue open to all.
It's gotten to the point that the government has even created a special
Web site (http://www.consultingcanadians.gc.ca/) to let people know what
national level consultations are going on and how to participate.
In addition, there are a number of quasi-governmental (in the sense of
having good connections to the government) civil society organizations
who frequently hold complementary consultations - like the Canadian
Commission for UNESCO (http://www.unesco.ca/) and the UN Association of
Canada (http://www.unac.org/). These groups, in particular, are
EXCELLENT at engaging young people in consultations to develop Canadian
positions in international policy development.
They develop special materials about the topic and often hold workshops
in cities around the country to make sure that they hear from a variety
of different young people.
All in all, I think it helps young people to develop confidence in
themselves and to build interest in continuing to participate in policy
consultations as they grow older.
Terri Willard
Project Manager
Knowledge Communications
International Institute for Sustainable Development http://www.iisd.org/
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Group archives are available at:
http://groups.takingitglobal.org/ycdogender
To subscribe a new email address, send a blank email to:
ycdogender-subscribe (at) groups.takingitglobal.org
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to:
ycdogender-unsubscribe (at) groups.takingitglobal.org
TIG Groups Home
http://groups.takingitglobal.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Powered By TIG Groups http://groups.takingitglobal.org/
Group Archives: http://groups.takingitglobal.org/ycdogender
To unsubscribe, email ycdogender-unsubscribe (at) groups.takingitglobal.org
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CAUTION - This message may contain privileged and confidential information
intended only for the use of the addressee(s) named above. If you are not
the intended recipient of this message you are notified that any use,
dissemination, distribution or reproduction of this message is prohibited;
If you have received this message in error please notify the sender
immediately via return email and erase all copies of this message and
attachments. Any views expressed in this message are those of the
individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of Rotorua
District Council.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
Message
Retour aux messages 
