Millennium Development Goals: Has the Philippines Attained Anything?

Quezon City, Philippines - The Social Watch Philippines held the final installment of its three-part symposium series that evaluates the Philippine’s attempt to meet the Millennium Development Goals. Held at the Balay Kalinaw, University of the Philippines, Diliman, the forum was convened to present Social Watch’s evaluation of the position of the Philippine government in meeting the targets set to alleviate poverty in all its dimensions, five years before the MDGs’ monitoring period expires. It was participated in by several civil society organizations and individuals from the academe, who were expected to have a say on what the draft papers must contain. The symposia were done as a step towards the preparation of a consolidated MDG shadow report.

According to Ma. Victoria Raquiza, associate professor at the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines, the Philippines is off track in meeting poverty and hunger targets. Moreover, the government is having a tough time reaching the MDG 1 target on employment. The worsening level of poverty, accompanied by the shortage of productive and full-time employment, manifests the country’s flawed poverty alleviation policies. Social protection measures, however, are still seen as an effective part of any poverty alleviation scheme.

For more information, please contact the following persons:

CJ Castillo, LEARN Research Staff, meagon_cj@yahoo.com

Glenn Rivera, LEARN Research Staff, deanaure_riviere@yahoo.com

or visit the Labor Education and Research Network’s website