Unicef official assesses RP's compliance with the MDGs

from The Sun Star

By Syril G. Repe

THE Senior Programmed Officer Colin Davis of the United Nations Children Fund (Unicef) shared his evaluation of the Philippine's compliance with the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) during the opening ceremonies of the National MDG Summit for young leaders held last week at the Luce Auditorium.

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Mark Garcia, Silliman University (SU) Information Officer, said 900 students attended the summit. About 125 of them are delegates coming from different parts of the country.

Davis shared 14 issues and concerns on which he based the Philippines' ability to meet the eight MDGs. He revealed that the Philippines has 30 percent dropout rate compared to other countries. He also said most of those who quit school in the Philippines are men.

"Highlights the need for the government to provide a more conducive learning atmosphere that will allow the youth to focus on their studies," Davis said.

Based on his assessment, he added that while overall statistics show the Philippines going in the direction of reaching the targets, the rate at which it is doing so is very slow that it might not be able to meet the goals by 2015.

He added that the Philippines as a United Nation member is a signatory to the Millennium Declaration, and it takes on the challenge of meeting the eight MDGs; eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development.

Davis said: "Young people can help in achieving the MDGs by being the best student that they can be in school, and knowing what their contributions can be to achieving them."

He stressed, on the part of government, that there is need for it to ensure transparency and accountability in its transactions, strengthen government-private partnership, address wide disparities across regions, slow the high population growth rate, improve performance of the agriculture sector, and accelerate the implementation of basic education and health reforms.