Gov’t should address MDG bottlenecks — UN

THE GOVERNMENT should address bottlenecks that tend to drag the country’s achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a United Nations official said yesterday.

“To fast-track the achievement of the [MDGs by the] Philippines, it is suggested that the government undertake a comprehensive planning exercise where it will develop its own action plan by systematically identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the way of the achievements of the MDGs,” UN resident coordinator Jacqueline Badcock said in an e-mail response to a follow-up on yesterday’s briefing on accelerating achievements of MDGs in the Philippines.

She said that according to the latest 2010 Philippine MDG progress report, the country is least likely to achieve the goal on universal primary education (MDG 2) and improving maternal health (MDG 5).

According to the MDG Watch 2010 of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the net enrolment ratio in primary education was 85.1%, reflecting poor progress against the 1990 baseline of 84.6% and the target of 100%.

As for maternal health improvement, the maternal mortality ratio has declined as of 2010 to 162 deaths per 100,000 births from the 1990 figure of 209. However, this still falls below the target of only 52 deaths per 100,000 births in 2015.

“MDGs that have low to medium probabilities to be achieved need greater scrutiny and policy makers have to make informed choices to accelerate progress,” Ms. Badcock said.

She cited MDG 1 (halve poverty by 2015) as having a medium probability of being attained. Citing data from the National Statistical Coordination Board as of February 2011, she said that income poverty in the country was only at 26% of the population and that the Philippines has to reduce poverty by 2% annually from 2010 to 2015.

Ms. Badcock said that “across regions, the pace of progress of the MDGs in the Philippines is uneven with regions and provinces south of Manila lagging behind.”

Accelerating the pace of progress, she said, requires “the targeting of areas and socioeconomic groups that are in the other end of [the] spectrum.” But in the final analysis, she said, “actual acceleration will only come with effective implementation.”

Nevertheless, the UN official cited government efforts to achieve the MDGs.

“The current administration’s intent to reach the MDGs is very strong. There is heavy emphasis on social sector development…,” Ms. Badcock told reporters on the sidelines of a press briefing after the MDG event.

Asked what should be done if the country fails to achieve the MDGs by 2015, she said: “To expect everybody to have dotted the last line by 2015 is not the aim of the MDG. The aim is to get people to think about strategies in place to ensure that there is a sustainable development. If that is not achieved entirely by 2015, you don’t stop. You keep going and you find other ways to accelerate.”

As for the possibility of having other joint programs for development, she said: “There will definitely be future joint programs because in the UN, that convergence of initiatives from various sectors is vital.” –Businessworld