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Filipinos these days will be hearing more about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), literally. The United Nations Development Programme in the Philippines has asked the help of the country's most popular recording artists to sing MDG-related songs to make Filipinos more aware and supportive of them. The launching of the songs came just a few days before the celebration of World Development Information Day.
In an interview, UNDP Philippines advisor Anna Senga said the songs are part of public awareness efforts: “The United Nations, together with the government, will be launching an MDG popularization campaign in its efforts to disseminate and generate support for the MDGs. The MDGs advocacy campaign has already generated support from various sectors including the business community, civil society organizations, media and the like.”
On a global level, the World Development Information Day (WDID) is being celebrated along with the United Nations 60th Anniversary.
The WDID was first celebrated in 1972, in the midst of the Cold War to widen worldwide conscientiousness to developmental problems and instigate cooperative action to respond to them. It coincides with the UN anniversary to underscore the central role the agency is taking in developmental work. Celebrations and meetings will be held around the world to mark the occasion.
In Africa, local NGOs planned a three-city video conference to promote the work of South Africa's National Development Agency. In the same event, the Southern African NGO Network (Sangonet) introduced a new NGO Development Information Portal as a venue for information and support exchange. In this day and age, the United Nations identifies the Internet and other technologically advanced means of information and communication as essential tools and partners to development work.
The Millennium Development Work
The Millennium Summit in 2000 ended with a landmark goal for countries around the world. The Millennium Development Goals, an eight-pronged strategy to target the world's most pressing concerns, were agreed upon. The MDGs touched on all aspects—from poverty, education, and human rights—and set the year 2015 as the time by which most of the goals should be achieved.
The United Nations calls the MDGs the “blueprint” to spur efforts to meet the needs of the world's most underprivileged. “Unlike other international commitments and agreements,” Senga said, “the MDGs provide countries a set of time-bound and measurable targets and goals that countries can aspire for.”
Senga also said that the MDGs, being a UN covenant, make all countries realize that everyone is committed to achieving these goals, and affect their strategies in directing foreign assistance. In this regard, Senga said that “the government of the Philippines has been working with the international community to reorient foreign assistance to projects and programs to achieve the MDGs.”
The United Nations' eight MDGs and their specific targets are:
- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger—by halving the proportion, between 1990 and 2015, of people who suffer from hunger and who earn less than $1 a day.
- Achieve universal primary education—by providing a full course of primary schooling to both girls and boys.
- Promote gender equality and empowerment of women—by eliminating gender disparity, especially in education.
- Reduce child mortality rates by two-thirds.
- Improve maternal health—by reducing the maternal mortality rate ratio by three-quarters.
- Reduce and lessen the spread of HIV/AIDS and the incidence of malaria.
- Ensure environmental sustainability—by achieving sustainable environmental standards in country policies, providing wider access to safe drinking water and improving of lives of 100 million slum dwellers.
- Develop a global partnership for development—by developing non-discriminatory financial systems, addressing the special needs of Least Developed Countries, landlocked and developing states, and assisting developing countries with their debt-related problems.
Achieving the MDGs: The Philippine Context
In every country, goals and indicators are set in line with the MDGs. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said that “addressing poverty requires understanding its causes. Overcoming poverty requires a comprehensive set of social and economic policies and programs with an equity orientation, underpinned by good governance and adherence to the rule of law.”
On the country's response to the MDGs, Romulo explained, “Our development agenda is geared not only for sustained growth, but also higher growth in sectors where the poor are mostly concentrated. The president has unveiled a 10-point development agenda which gives priority to the creation of jobs, education for all, provision of adequate power and water supply nationwide, and peace agreements, among others. The National Anti-Poverty Commission was created by the government to effectively coordinate and manage anti-poverty programs at all levels and will monitor the country's commitment to reduce poverty under the Millennium Development Goals.”
UNDP advisor Senga recalled that as soon as the MDGs were laid out, there were already five major areas of concern in terms of development assistance for the Philippines from 2005 to 2009. These are macro-economic stability and broad-based development, basic social services, good governance, environmental sustainability and conflict-prevention and peace-building.
“During the identification of these major areas of concern,” Senga explained, “achieving the MDGs was a major consideration, as well as support to government to comply with international commitments which the UN has been providing assistance to.”
Senga also discussed the multi-sectoral approach the Philippine government is taking with regards to monitoring the achievement of MDGs in the country. The Philippines Progress Report on the MDGs, according to her, assesses which goals are more likely to be achieved and which are least likely to be achieved.
“The methodology used here is by looking at past trends and rate of progress,” Senga explained. “From the report, the Philippines is most likely to achieve most of the MDG targets, but might have difficulty in achieving the targets on reduction in malnutrition rate among children below 5 years old, maternal health, including access to reproductive health, universal primary education, and cohort survival.”
When asked what MDG goal the Philippines should invest in, Senga said that it would be difficult to choose one “since these goals are interrelated. However, based on studies made by the UN system in the world, countries should invest in social services, such as health and nutrition services, reproductive health services, education, access to safe drinking water, if we are to achieve the goals.”
Making the Goals Known
“Alleviating poverty is too daunting a task to be left to the government,” Foreign Secretary Romulo said. “It needs an integrated and holistic approach of all stakeholders to harmonize their activities at national and state levels for all the people of the world.”
Senga agrees with the foreign secretary and is hopeful. “One of the best things about adopting the MDGs as a development agenda is that it has mobilized international support to investing in achieving the goals,” she said.
Local awareness and support is also something Senga is positive about. “The UN system in the Philippines has been lauding the efforts of the Philippines for raising awareness and generating support for the MDGs, not only at the national and local levels, but also regional and global levels. I believe there is sufficient awareness campaigns conducted and being planned on what the country is doing to address the MDGs.”
Indeed, as the world celebrates progress in development these days, Filipinos will be singing the MDGs' tunes and working on their achievement, for a sustainable future for their country.
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