MANILA, Philippines, July 6, 2010—The President is in place. Now the real work begins. This is what the United Nations Millennium Campaign and partner organizations reminded the Philippines government, following the inaugural address of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III on June 30.
“It was good to see Filipinos hopeful and in high spirits during the inauguration, especially when the 15th President of the Philippines talked about good governance as a catalyst for improving education, poverty levels, investor relations and employment levels,” said Jacqui Badcock, UN Resident Coordinator. “These are the same targets enumerated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But meeting the targets has to start with translating these principles into a feasible MDG Breakthrough Plan.”
The MDGs are time-bound, concrete and specific goals that 189 world leaders committed to achieve for their nations by 2015 at the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000. These goals are: 1) end extreme poverty and hunger; 2) achieve universal primary education; 3) promote gender equality and empower women; 4) reduce child mortality; 5) improve maternal health; 6) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; 7) ensure environmental sustainability; and 8) develop a global partnership for development.
The year 2010 is a crucial year for the Stand Up and Take Action Campaign organized by the UN Millennium Campaign, during which millions of people gather at events around the world to demand that governments achieve the MDGs. As the 10th-year anniversary of the signing of the Millennium Declaration, world leaders, including President Aquino, are scheduled to present their MDG Breakthrough Plans at the UN Summit on September 20-22 in New York. The MDG Breakthrough Plan consists of best practices, achievements, and most importantly, action items to address the challenges that derailed progress in some MDG areas, and fast-track their achievement in the remaining five years before the 2015 deadline.
“President Aquino’s inaugural speech holds great promise, and I am confident the new Administration will use the coming weeks to provide specific policy focus and direction, especially for the Philippines’ off-target MDGs,” said Badcock.
For example, MDG 2, to achieve universal primary education, is considered to be among the goals that are least likely to be achieved in the Philippines. In his inaugural speech, President Aquino promised to provide additional classrooms to accommodate more students, which will help ensure enrolment can be universal and that student/teacher ratios are sustained at adequate levels.
According to UN reports, Sulu Province has the smallest percentage of children enrolled in public primary schools, at 62 percent, compared to the national average of 81.7 percent. “Efforts to promote primary education enrolment should be concentrated in identifiable high-priority regions such as Sulu,” said Badcock.
“However an even bigger problem in the education situation is the increasing dropout rate in elementary levels,” said Badcock. According to 2006-2007 statistics from the NSCB, the dropout rate increased from 8.6 to 9 percent, very far from the 2006 target of lowering it to 5.5 percent and the 2009 target of 4.3 percent. A targeted programme to identify causes and solutions for high dropout rates is also urgently needed to reverse this alarming trend.
Poverty reduction, or MDG 1, which is closely linked to the unemployment problem, has also been identified by the United Nations as an “endangered goal.” According to UN data, 33 percent of Filipinos still live on less than US $1 per day, while the number of unemployed people increased by 6.7 percent from 2.7 million in 2008 to 2.9 million in 2009. President Aquino’s inaugural speech identified leveling the playing field for investors by eradicating bureaucracy, providing emergency employment to Filipinos, and strengthening the government’s vocational and technical education as among his priorities.
“While the government aims to curb the unemployment rate, we will also advocate for other poverty alleviation measures such as livelihood projects and the continuation of some of the Philippines’ strong social protection programmes,” said Badcock.
“We are pleased to know that he is willing to take on the MDG challenges and that he will listen to the people. With commitment from the government, headed by a listening President, we are very optimistic that an MDG Breakthrough Plan will be developed in time for the 2010 Summit, and that this Plan will be based on honesty and good governance. If this is in place, we are confident that five years is enough to make the MDGs happen in the Philippines and for the President to herald their achievements by the target date of 2015,” Badcock concluded.
