The UN Civil Society Advisory Committee (UN CSAC), led by CODE-NGO and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), recently organized the “Tri-Sectoral Conference on the MTPDP 2010-2016: Reviewing Development Strategy, Integrating and Financing the MDGs.” Supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under its Human Development Platform Project or Platform HD 2010, the conference was held last August 4, 2010 in Quezon City, where civil society organizations (CSOs) presented to government and donor agencies their recommendations on integrating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the new administration’s Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).
Government representatives led by Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad and officials of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) responded to specific recommendations of CSOs concerning their respective agencies. UN Resident Coordinator Jacqui Badcock, AusAid Minister Counsellor Titon Mitra and Ms. Camila Hagstrom of the EU pledged their continuing support to civil society work on MDGs. The results of the conference will be incorporated into the crafting by UNCSAC and other CSOs of an Alternate Roadmap to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs. This will be launched on September 14, 2010 during the MDG Week at the Philippine Congress.
The UN Civil Society Advisory Committee (UN CSAC), led by CODE-NGO and the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC), recently organized the “Tri-Sectoral Conference on the MTPDP 2010-2016: Reviewing Development Strategy, Integrating and Financing the MDGs.” Supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) under its Human Development Platform Project or Platform HD 2010, the conference was held last August 4, 2010 at the SEAMEO Innotech in Quezon City, where civil society organizations (CSOs) presented to government and donor agencies their recommendations on integrating the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the new administration’s Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).
Among the key policy recommendations of CSOs are:
- On the macro-economy, inclusion of equality targets on top of growth targets in the next MTPDP to guide an asset reform program, and a rational population policy;
- On governance, mandate all government agencies to post on websites Statements of Allotment, Obligations and Balances (SAOB), procurement and bidding documents and ensure meaningful people’s participation in local and national governance;
- On social justice, expansion of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program that is be clearly linked to job and livelihood generation for the poorest of the poor and asset reform (agrarian reform, fisheries reform, ancestral domain and urban land reform);
- On health, a universal health care system, including Universal PhilHealth coverage and increased PhilHealth share of medical costs, re-orient public primary healthcare towards a “Health for All” approach, and encourage the return migration of health professionals;
- On education, institute measures that will strengthen Local School Boards (LSB), promote the use of mother tongue-based education, and set-up a universal pre-school sub-system in all public and private schools nationwide by SY 2015-2016;
- On the debt, the repeal of Section 26(B) of the 1987 Revised Administrative Code to stop automatic appropriation for debt service;
- On spending, automatic appropriations for education, pegged at 6% of GNP as recommended by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and for health to ensure total health expenditures at 5% of GDP as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Other proposals focused on financing the MDGs, agriculture, and the environment. CSOs also identified vulnerable sectors of society that need more focus and attention, namely women, indigenous people, and urban poor.
Government representatives led by Budget and Management Secretary Butch Abad and officials of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) responded to specific recommendations of CSOs concerning their respective agencies.
Secretary Abad vowed to improve budget transparency and accountability in government. “We want the budget to benefit the poor in a substantial way,” he said. He outlined specific steps to improve government programs including limiting the “pork barrel” menu; discontinuing of or re-designing of ineffective programs such as the food for school program and the rice subsidies of the National Food Authority (NFA); and expanding the conditional cash transfer program for the poorest families. The results of the Tri-sectoral conference will be incorporated into the crafting of the Alternative Roadmap to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs, which will be launched on September 13, 2010 in line with the MDG week in Congress.
The Human Development Platform Project or Platform HD2010 was launched by the United Nations in recognition of the fundamental role of civil society in the campaign to reduce poverty, achieve universal education, promote gender equality, improve health, and sustain the environment. Ten years after 189 world leaders signed the Millennium Declaration in September 2000, some progress has been achieved on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but so much more remains to be done. The year 2010 is also very special year for human development, as it is the 20th year of the launch of the UNDP Human Development Report. It is also the 15th year since the World Conference on Women in Beijing.
The Philippines was chosen as one of six recipients of Platform HD2010 support. Led by the UN-Civil Society Advisory Committee, three projects are being undertaken: (1) an MDG monitoring tool that will address the call for MDG localization, led by Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM); (2) an MDG citizen’s report that puts emphasis on the MDG status of the marginalized and unrepresented sectors, led by Social Watch Philippines (SWP); (3) an alternative roadmap to accelerate the achievement of the MDGs, which will be advocated for inclusion in the 2011-2016 MTPDP, led by CODE-NGO and FDC. The recently held Tri-Sectoral Conference was organized as part of this third project.