The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas is pleased to inform the general public that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service, the Hon. Fred Mitchell, MP, received representatives of the Civil Society Bahamas (CSB) organisation today, Tuesday, 5 October 2021, at the Ministry of the Public Service. The meeting served to present several members of the directorship of the organisation and to reintroduce the historical association between Civil Society and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Calling on the Minister were Dr Anthony Hamilton, President of the CSB; and Directors Vince Martin, Marilyn Zonicle and Wilfred Smith. They informed of the purpose of their umbrella organisation, the interests they represented – namely, non-profit and non-governmental organisations in The Bahamas – and their focus as a non-partisan, non-governmental, civil society organisation, which was on “the betterment of individuals through improvement of their general social, economic, spiritual and mental welfare”.

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In seeking to realign its engagement and collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the discussion turned to the operationalisation of the required consultative mechanism to bring together the participants from the Government and from the local and international organisations with the aim to “influence national policy and promote greater collaboration with government”.

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Minister Mitchell welcomed the opportunity in meeting with the CSB directorship and committed to the re-engagement with Civil Society through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with attention to be given on a focussed agenda on a broad range of matters of national and international interest such as climate change, natural disasters, women (social aspects) and the Family Islands, all taking into consideration the upcoming 50^th Anniversary of the Independence of The Bahamas.