EDITORIAL

Disasters Set Back Efforts

To Conquer Poverty

With six years to go before the deadline for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Philippines continues to lag behind on its targets to reduce poverty by year 2015, and the series of natural disasters further threatens development efforts.

The MDG’s eight time-bound goals aim to significantly reduce, if not completely eradicate, extreme poverty by 2015. Of these goals, the Philippines lags behind its targets on eliminating poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, reducing maternal deaths, and combating HIV and AIDS.

"More than one-third (1/3 or about 30 million) of the population are still living on less than one dollar a day. Over five (5) million children are not in school, 93 newborn babies and 11 mothers are dying everyday. HIV and AIDS cases are growing, with the youth increasingly becoming more vulnerable. Environmental resources are depleting," said United Nations Population Fund Representative and UN Advocacy Group Chair Suneeta Mukherjee in a press conference for the 2009 Stand Up Against Poverty Campaign, which adopted the local theme "Stand United, Fight Poverty."

UN Millennium Campaign Deputy Director Minar Pimple also spoke of the necessity of "disaster-proofing" the MDGs, which means integrating disaster risk reduction into sustainable develop-ment policies and planning to contribute to MDG achievement.

"Efforts to avoid or at least mitigate further losses are a must by all concerned if achievement of the Goals by 2015 is to be a realistic proposition. Disaster proofing the MDGs is a need of the hour," he said.
According to former national treasurer Leonor Briones of Social Watch Philippines, "widespread measures need to be taken to minimize the impact of recurrent floods, droughts, and other hazards that exacerbate the poverty situation".

"Life has been a calamity for 3.7 million Filipino families with no food, no education, and no health care. The numbers are steadily increasing with the impact of extreme weather conditions regularly happening nowadays," Briones lamented. (The latest are typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng that devastated Luzon. It killed hundreds of people and destroyed properties worth billion pesos..)

Social Watch and UNMC launched the "I Vote for MDG" campaign, which encourages voters to know their candidates in next year’s elections and support those who will have the MDGs as their platform of government.

The Stand Up campaign is a global mobilization of people to happen on October 16, 17 and 18 to demand world leaders to deliver on their promise to end poverty by 2015. A series of activities organized by multi-sectoral groups will be held nationwide during the three-day campaign, like fund-raising marathons, environmental clean-up, community dialogues, and tree planting, among others.

More Food

With the continous increase of population, the government must encourage the people to produce more food. Must motivate the farmers to be industrious in food production

The youth must be encouraged to engage in farm works and replace the aging farmers. /MP