Civic awareness, civic information and civic education are important to any modern-day democracy because it creates a well-informed citizenry. They all deal with information dissemination and sharing.
First and foremost, they empower individuals like you and me to understand our rights and responsibilities and how to actively and voluntarily participate in democratic, decision-making and development processes of the country.
Well-informed citizenry lead to active citizenship and ultimately contribute to empowered communities that embrace goodwill and societal values that build an equitable and just society.
By fostering knowledge of government structures, laws, policies, initiatives and institutions, critical thinking is promoted, and active citizenship is created. Put simply, civic awareness and education lays the foundation for a more engaged and responsive society.
But they all start with knowledge. Without this raw material, citizens cannot make democratic decisions and act.
This week I read an article about a social justice network questioning Government’s public outreach capacity.
The Social Empowerment and Education Programme (SEEP) said low turnout was noted at recent public hearings and submissions on the Electoral Act 2014, the Code of Conduct Bill, the Access to Information Bill and the Accountability and Transparency Commission Bill. It said poor response from members of the public resulted from Government’s failure to promote awareness prior to the public consultations.
A driver can only drive if the driver has knowledge of driving and car parts and a nurse can only inject a patient, if he or she was taught how to carry out the medical procedure.
Without knowledge, the car won’t move and the best medicines in the world won’t remedy an illness.
The same applies to the importance of having effective public awareness aka outreach, so that the public can be effectively mobilized to take part in a public event. Inadequate public outreach equals poor public turnout or participation. Period!
The problem, in my opinion, is that communication is always an under-budgeted activity. During the planning stage, people are tempted to dream of a comms figure and slot that in the budget, without sitting down to carefully consider the gravity of a public awareness campaign and the high cost involved.
Hence, public information dissemination (which always involves professional media organisations) associated with a public event is often under-budgeted and inadequately carried out.
It might be prudent to do realistic activity budgeting and put a lot of money in outreach, if active public participation is to be achieved. Otherwise, if cost is an issue, then creative ways of reaching members of the public are to be strategically designed.
So I understand where SEEP is coming from and its concerns.
Over a decade ago, I was involved in a nationwide civic education project tasked with the job of preparing Fiji’s citizens for democratic elections. Our training sessions and advocacy work in the field took a few years.
Citizens at the grassroots were given general information on democracy, human rights, good governance and elections with the belief that once they understood their roles and responsibilities in relation to these concepts, they would then decide to make a behavioural change or know how to participate in democratic processes whether that be a budget submission, peaceful protest, petition or parliament public hearing et cetera.
All our public awareness activities were done in the three official languages to ensure the widest possible cross section of Fiji’s communities attended at least one of our outreach sessions and learned something.
We have a historic and important Truth and Reconciliation Commission exercise that’s coming up just around the corner but there is little civic education on it. It would have been smart to have civic outreach and education sessions before the TRC rolls out its operations phase next month.
I say this because there are still many things that citizens need to know, apart from information on how and when to participate. A robust civic education system will significantly contribute to the success of the TRC in fostering true healing, reconciliation and justice. While not necessarily a prerequisite, it plays a vital role in prepping citizens and communities for an inclusive TRC exercise.
It equips citizens with all the necessary knowledge, skills, and values needed to understand their rights and responsibilities, engage in constructive dialogue, and contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society. It helps them, after all the hearings are completed, inculcate dispositions or character traits that contribute to nation building and peace.
According to historical records, all of Fiji’s coups happened after general elections. The coup that was the furthest away from an election was the George Speight coup of 2000, which was around the first anniversary of the Fiji Labour Party-led People’s Coalition Government’s rule.
This shows that Fiji’s coups directly relate to people’s reluctance to accept the results of democratic elections. The Fijian Elections Office needs to focus its attention on this volatile period around polling, when the new government starts to consolidate itself and its programs.
There needs to be a robust civic education/awareness campaign, with positive, reassuring and peace messaging.
Very often officials get too focused on voter information (about how and where to vote on polling day) that they fail to tell voters why they need to vote, the linkages between voting and having a healthy democracy, and the need to respect election results.
In fact, civic education should be organised throughout the electoral cycle and not just centred entirely around polling day.
Having organised legal reform public hearings, municipal council elections that are coming, public consultations and the TRC exercise (also the recent Constitution review initiative by Government), without well thought out civic education and awareness sessions to prepare citizens to participate meaningfully in these important national events, seem like just a tick in the box on the eve of the next national elections.
Like SEEP, I call on Government and hope that it supports its initiatives with adequately-funded public awareness and outreach to ensure the effective participation of all Fijians.
Until we meet on this same page same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!!
