August 16, 2000
The World Summit for Social Development's (WSSD) goal of reducing the incidence of poverty in half by year 2015 may not be an easy endeavor, but it is achievable if every poor country takes the right approach and pursues it with vigor.
Government officials and nongovernment groups made this forecast at a recent press briefing on the outcome of the WSSD+5, a follow-up conference that tackled the commitments made by 117 countries at the Copenhagen Summit in 1995. They also outlined the key reforms needed to achieve these goals.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has identified poverty eradication, or freedom from want, as one of the three major challenges this century that need to be addressed in the coming September Millennium Summit in New York to be attended by different heads of state. The other two are preventing deadly conflicts (or freedom from fear), and ensuring an environmentally sustainable future.
Vice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who headed the Philippine delegation to the WSSD+5 held in Geneva last month, said the country's strong commitment to social development "is seen and further enforced" in the goals, strategies and targets embodied in the Angat Pinoy 2004 or the Philippine Medium-Term Development Plan of 1999-2004, the National Anti-Poverty Action Agenda, and the Comprehensive Employment Plan.
"The Philippine government will continue to strengthen its strategic partnership with civil society and the international community so that a more meaningful achievement can he realized in social development beyond the Geneva Conference," Ms. Arroyo said at the WSSD+5 press briefing organized by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the United Nations Resident Coordinator's Office.
NEDA Deputy Director General Raphael P.M. Lotilla reported that the Philippines - through the Multisectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments - has strongly, "and to some extent, successfully" advocated some social issues and concerns relevant to the Group of 77 developing countries. Two provisions pushed by the Philippines in Geneva were those on the protection of migrant workers' rights and the Continuing provision of concessional financing for social development projects.
From the nongovernment sector, Rep. Wigberto Tanada as president of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, said the Philippines can draw inspiration from its NIC neighbors which had the distinction of virtually eliminating extreme poverty. The Philippines must aim for "sustainable and robust growth, one that is poverty-sensitive and equity-oriented," Mr. Tanada said. Specifically, he urged government to pay attention to agriculture and to the countryside where the majority of the poor are concentrated.
"We must modernize agriculture and increase productivity in the rural areas," he suggested. "We must implement and accelerate a sound agrarian reform; build the infrastructure; provide support and extension services; and adopt macroeconomic policies, including trade policies, that not only boost the productivity and competitiveness of the agriculture sector but also protect the nation's essential sources of livelihood," Mr. Tanada said.
He also stressed the importance of providing safety nets - not doles or one-shot solutions - to deal with economic adjustments. Equally important, he added, poor countries like the Philippines should reexamine their ties with donor and creditor countries "towards making these relationships responsive to our national development goals." "Safety nets should encompass the building of institutions and the delivery of public goods to enhance the capabilities of the vulnerable sectors to improve their well-being," he said, however, noting that the Philippines has failed in this area.
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