Thursday, August 07, 2008 [ sunstar.com.ph ]
THE United Nations and the Philippine government on Wednesday signed a three-year joint program designed to strengthen the country's capability to adapt and react to the effects of climate change.
Titled the "Strengthening the Philippines' Institutional Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change," the program, which has a US$8 million funding from the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Achievement Fund was signed at Edsa Shangri-La Hotel in Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.
UN resident coordinator Nileema Noble signed the Joint Program Document (JPD) for the UN and National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) director general Ralph Recto signed on behalf of the Philippines, while Alvaro Trejo of the Spanish Embassy witnessed the signing.
The six participating UN agencies in the joint programme, namely, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UN Habitat, International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) also signed the JPD with their implementing partners Neda, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (Dost), Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Albay Provincial Government.
In her speech, Noble said the program is timely given the worldwide effects now being felt from global warming and climate change.
She said the JPD will pursue the following outcomes:
* Climate risk reduction mainstreamed into key national and selected local development plans and processes;
* Enhanced national and local capacity to develop, manage and administer plans, programs and projects addressing climate change risks; and
* Coping mechanisms improved through pilot demonstration adaptation projects.
Aside from these, Noble said the program will help "determine the vulnerability of critical sectors of the Philippines to climate change and strengthen the country's adaptive capacity by enhancing the policy making, planning, programming, and implementation capacities of key stakeholders, particularly the responsible National Government agencies.
The program, she added: "will contribute to the Philippines' achievement of its MDG targets by enhancing socioeconomic development through reduced vulnerabilities of key affected sectors and the target stakeholders on the 43 or more provinces."
"It will also showcase innovative and document best practices on climate change adaptation," she added.
Recto, on the other hand, pledged the Philippine government's support to the attainment of the MDG goals.
"We stand ready to cooperate and work hand-in-hand with the UN to achieve the goals set under the MDG," Recto said.
The MDG Achievement Fund is a global US$700 million facility contributed by the Spanish government to the UN in December 2006. It aims to accelerate progress towards attainment of MDGs in select countries by supporting programs in areas widely acknowledged as central to the achievement of MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals.
These areas are in environment and climate change, gender, culture diversity, democratic economic governance, private sector development, conflict prevention, food security and employment and migration.
The Philippines is a signatory to the 2000 Millennium Declaration that rolled out the time-bound MDGs as a global agenda for development by 2015.
The MDGs are designed to: halve extremely poverty and hunger; universal primary education; gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve women's health; stop and reverse the spread of human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids) and other diseases; environmental sustainability; and global partnerships for aid, trade and debt relief. (AH/Sunnex)
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