Philippines may not meet millennium dev’t goals by ’15

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines may not be able to attain all of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but the United Nations is encouraging the present administration to keep up its “intent” and efforts to accelerate achievements and promote inclusive growth, UN resident coordinator Dr. Jacqueline Badcock told reporters Monday at the sidelines of an event celebrating UN Day.

“I think it’s unfair to give a rating,” Badcock said when asked how she would rate the Philippines’ progress on achieving its MDG targets. “What is important is that there is intent and activity—there is a huge push and desire to achieve the targets by 2015 and beyond.”

One MDG target, which the UN said all countries were struggling with, was reproductive health, particularly the rate of women who die giving birth.

[But the Philippine] government has got in place plans to [train more] midwives, improve access routes for mothers to reach healthcare, and so on,” Badcock said. “With the PDP [Philippine Development Plan], if you can keep that pace going and do some acceleration, you may not achieve all targets, but you’re going to achieve an awful lot of them by 2015. The targets must be sustained beyond 2015 anyway. You’ve got to go for it. Why not.”

According to Florante Igtiben of the National Economic and Development Authority’s (NEDA) Public Investments Staff, the government is integrating climate change concerns in planning and implementation to further strengthen efforts to meet MDG goals—such as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger—and promoting inclusive growth.

These are all aligned with the Philippines’ Development Plan, according to NEDA.

The country’s efforts are supported by a $23-million grant from the international cooperation mechanism MDG Achievement Fund (MDG-F), Igtiben said.

Also, the Department of Labor and Employment is implementing a catch-up plan on employment, particularly for out-of-school youth, said Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte.

The National Nutrition Council at the same time is pushing for better support systems for mothers even in the workplace, Executive Director Maria-Bernadita Flores said.

Private economists said there were still many goals that the Philippines could not achieve by 2015.

“These goals include … [attainment of] universal primary education, improving maternal health, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,” Dr. Cid L. Terosa of the University of Asia and the Pacific said in an e-mail. “I think that if the deadline for achieving the MDGs would be extended, the Philippines would continue to improve its status particularly in those areas where it needs to achieve more. The government must focus a substantial portion of its stimulus spending on health and education.” –Riza T. Olchondra, Philippine Daily Inquirer