Philippine CSOs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a global commitment to achieve targets of reducing poverty and improving people’s well-being by 2015. With only two years left for nations to catch up on lagging targets, the discussion on what will happen after the 2015 deadline, or the post-2015 development agenda, has also started getting the attention of civil society.

CODE-NGO has been participating in this process through its membership in the Asia Development Alliance (ADA), a regional network of national CSO platforms and international organizations. It has also been engaging with the United Nations (UN) Philippine country team, and has joined the Beyond 2015 Philippines umbrella organization and its activities.

CODE-NGO helped organize and facilitate the two national and four subnational consultations of Beyond 2015 Philippines which is led by the Philippine Social Enterprise Network (PhilSEN). It has also submitted its inputs to consultations hosted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and to its draft report, to inform the position of the Philippines as a member state of the UN.

CODE-NGO’S 5th Congress last November 2015 also highlighted the network’s engagement in the process. A learning session on the post-2015 development agenda was organized to disseminate information on its processes to member networks and organizations. Ms. Luiza Carvalho, UN Resident Coordinator, also gave a plenary speech to the more than 900 representatives of CODE-NGO’s members on the role of civil society in the post-2015 agenda.

These efforts kick-started the continuing consolidation by CODE-NGO of its position and input to this process, even as it monitors the developments and outcomes of the relevant international and regional events. It continues to push for the inclusion in the global and national post-2015 agenda of targets to address inequality and exclusion, to have a more holistic measurement of human well-being, and to emphasize the role of civil society in the formulation, monitoring and accountability processes of the new development agenda.