one big file - Social Watch

Missing Targets: An alternative MDG midterm report
in government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of
law and control of corruption.
Mistrust of government is a huge challenge to the
attainment of the MDGs and therefore should be accorded
due treatment in the Report.
The state of our environment needs deeper assessment.
The data paint a more positive picture than
many environmentalists would expect. Policies and
legislations (eg PA21, protected areas, solid waste management,
clean air, clean water, etc) are in place. The
ratios pertaining to protected areas and access to water
and sanitation seem to be improving. Housing for slum
population are supposed to be addressed.
But PA21 has hardly transformed the national
and local development plans. Increase in protected
areas is due mainly to the enactment of a law on
protected areas. The reported increase in forest cover
stands to question and needs rigorous ground checking.
The claimed progress in both indicators must be
examined more closely, especially in light of aggressive
mining operations, competing claims to natural
resources, and land use changes, among others. A great
majority of LGUs have yet to comply with ecological
waste management. Falling water tables and rising
temperatures have begun to threaten our food security.
Many of the health problems, old and new, are
linked to environmental degradation, not to mention
climate change. And considering that environment
ranks very low in budget priority, one cannot really
expect much.
A future within reach
None of the Asian and Pacific countries, certainly
not the Philippines, is on track to meet all the goals
by 2015. Asian countries reportedly making progress
on poverty are doing so mainly because of economic
growth. But growth in national income, though necessary,
is not enough to reduce poverty, much less inequality.
Some of these fast growing countries, like China
and India, are doing badly in education and health.
And yet our government stubbornly insists that these
are our models for the Philippines.
Reducing inequalities is the biggest challenge to the
fulfillment of our MDG commitments. The strategy
of propoor growth and good governance means little
where the development process and outcomes are so
vulnerable to elite capture. To move from a baseline of
high inequality, we need a regime that can implement
genuine reforms in assets, curb corruption from top to
bottom, and provide equal opportunities for all.
It still needs stressing that the country needs more
resources dedicated specifically to achieving the MDGs.
The government that budgets more for paying debts
than for poverty reduction, education, health, and
environmental protection cannot hope to deliver on
its MDG commitments.
The alternative budget initiative (ABI), led by Social
Watch Philippines since 2006, is setting an example
for how policy makers could be motivated to reorient
budget priorities toward the MDGs. This is the sort of
partnership between government and non-government
actors that should be replicated across the board, from
the national down to the local government units.
Government will have to change the way it governs.
To deliver the “public goods” (eg education and
clean air), and to eliminate “public bads” (eg corruption,
pollution, communicable diseases, brain drain or
human trafficking) government, requires much more
than just having a strategy described in nice words.
People have a very deep mistrust of government and
would want to see action and meaningful changes. They
want to see that services are really made to work for the
poor. And they want to have a real say in how that’s
going to be done. Above all, government must undergo
profound renewal in order to be an agent for a kind
of governance that can bring about not only inclusive
growth but sustainable development.
The MDGs have been helpful in generating debate
and collective action at different levels. But these
debates must translate into real changes in national
priorities, development goals, and how they are monitored
to assess progress towards the MDGs. •
References
1. Philippines Midterm Progress Report on the Millennium Development
Goals 2007.
2. The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the
Pacific 2007. Asia-Pacific MDG Study Series. ESCAP/ADB/UNDP.
Bangkok.
3. The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the
Pacific 2006. UN- ESCAP, UNDP; and ADB. Bangkok.
4. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007. United Nations.
New York.
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