SYNTHESIS IN AGENDA 31 AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Graduate School

Sta. Mesa, Manila

SYNTHESIS IN AGENDA 31 AND MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Prepared by:

Mr. Raymark D. Llagas

Master in Educational Management

major in Instructional Leadership

Submitted to:

Dr. Josefina U. Parentela

Professor

Education Models, Paradigms and Procedures

(MEM 651)

April 2014

      In September 2000, member states of the United Nations (UN) gathered at the Millennium Summit to affirm commitments towards reducing poverty and the worst forms of human deprivation. The Summit adopted the UN Millennium Declaration which embodies specific targets and milestones in eliminating extreme poverty worldwide.

      To help track progress in the attainment of the 8 goals and 18 targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) over the period 1990 to 2015, experts from the United Nations Secretariat and International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank identified and selected a set of time-bound and measurable indicators. Data series on the 48 MDG indicators are compiled to provide the basis for the preparation of progress reports by member states of the United Nations (UN) on the implementation of the UN Millennium Declaration.

The MDGs are eight objectives which all countries and some of the leading development institutions in the world aim to accomplish by 2015.

The MDGs include the following: Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and women empowerment, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, combating human immunodeficiency virus infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), malaria and other diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a global partnership for development.

Philippine’s Poor Performance

The Millennium Declaration (MD) has not done very much to improve the development trajectories or the pace of progress in the Philippines with regard to the MDGs.

The MD contains the statement of values, principles and objectives for the international agenda for the 21st century, which was adopted at the conclusion of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Summit on September 8, 2000.

In despite the apparent improvements in the Philippine’s progress in achieving the MDGs, some of the goal indicators were already done before the MD was signed.

For instance, the target for the ratio of enrolled girls to boys in the elementary level, with a baseline data of 1.0, has already been achieved in 1996. The same figure is the target for 2015.

Based from the 2008 Economic and Social Commission of Asia Pacific-Asian Development Bank-United Nations Development Programme (Escap-ADB-UNDP) report, the country is doing poorly in achieving the MDGs because of “policy gaps, growth gaps, strategy gaps, resource gaps and implementations gaps.”

The Philippines’ poor performance is due to “governance failures, poverty traps, persistent pockets of poverty and areas of specific policy neglect.”

One of the problems with the MDGs is that that too many targets and success indicators were set that it became hard to decide which goal to prioritize.

With 2015 only a year away, the UN should not implement additional targets until the original objectives for the MGGs have been met by every country.

According to one of the Professor in University of the Philippines, “The MDGs did not fail us. We failed the MDGs,”

The Health Aspect of Millennium Development Goals

    As stated in the Goal 4 to Goal 8 it is all about health-related goals. The government wants to achieve the regression of child mortality, improve mental health, and combat some communicable diseases.

    But the Philippines is currently struggling in achieving the goals of the health-based MDGs. This is because, there is health inequity prevalence in the Philippines. This is seen as a gap between the health status of the rich minority and the poor majority. We still have lots of room for improvement regarding the health system.

    According to Dr. Juan Antonio De Jesus Ricarte, PhD from the Universal Healthcare Study Group, the healthcare quality in the rich provinces in the country could be likened to the quality of healthcare in first world countries, while healthcare quality in the poor provinces in the Philippines could be compared to the health services received by residents in the Sub-Saharan African countries.

      In order to solve the health inequity problem in the Philippines, Ricarte advocated for universal healthcare. It is the provision to every Filipino of the highest possible quality of healthcare that is accessible, efficient, equitably distributed, adequately funded, fairly financed and appropriately used by an informed and empowered public.

The Environmental Sustainability based on Millennium Development Goals

    The country’s natural resource base continues to be under threat. Soil degradation and erosion are worsened with the increased cultivation of upland areas and massive conversion of forestlands and grasslands into urban use. These have largely contributed to siltation of rivers and irrigation dams. Down the line, siltation also affects the coastal and marine ecosystems.

The country’s forests need attention due to systemic degradation attributed mainly to fire, logging, kaingin, pests, diseases, mining activities and population encroachment in critical areas.

While economic growth is still within the carrying capacity of the environment, its sustainability is under threat. According to the MTPDP, the country posted gains in arresting resource depletion but at the cost of slowing down economic activities.

In accordance with Millennium Development Goals, we must ensure the environmental sustainability of our country. To respond in this goal, the government create the Climate Change Commission (CCC) in 2009.

The CCC had a policy-making body tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate programs and plans on climate change. The CCC also formulated the National Framework Strategy on Climate Change and the National Climate Change Actions Plan (NCCAP).

Therefore, in this section, the Millennium Development Goal involves changes in mindset, culture and lifestyle for organizations and individuals.

Conclusions

    The Millennium Development Goals and also the Agenda 31, envisions of reducing inequality, respecting limits to growth, enlarging rights and freedoms. It means engaging in social entrepreneurship, adapting to changing climate, building resilient communities, building a resilient planet. As we noticed, it have to be the responsibility to everyone, not just in our institution. Thus, people must have to know, understand and respond.