Manila, 29 November 2022--UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines Gustavo Gonzalez addressed today an Asia-Pacific regional consultation workshop that was convened in aid of the preparation of the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023.  The GSDR aims to strengthen the science-policy interface and to provide evidence-based guidance on global sustainable development issues and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The report is an important instrument to inform the deliberations at the quadrennial Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit (to be held in September 2023), where it is presented to heads of state, who take stock on the progress towards the 2030 Agenda. The 2023 report will be launched at the half-way point on the 2030 Agenda when decision-makers will be looking for practical solutions that can accelerate progress. The message (as prepared) of Mr. Gonzalez is as follows: With only eight years left to 2030, the UN Secretary General has called for “an urgent rescue effort” for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which we are at risk of not achieving. For our region – the Asia-Pacific – the UN ESCAP SDG Progress Report for 2022 put it in simpler and more sobering terms: “The region is not on track to achieve any of the SDGs.” At the current pace of progress, the Asia Pacific region will only attain the SDGs in 2065. For the Philippines, similar to other countries worldwide, progress on achieving SDGs was significantly derailed by global challenges such as COVID-19, Conflict and Climate Change. The Philippine Statistics Authority, in its latest report, noted that that 13 SDG targets that had been previously been on track regressed in 2022. The 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR) to be launched next year is therefore very timely as we reach the half-way point of the 2030 Agenda. We need practical solutions that can accelerate progress on the SDGs and make up for lost ground. I am glad to know that the 2023 GSDR is being framed in this manner, with a scientific lens to provide evidence to guide decision-makers in reinvigorating country-led efforts on the SDGs. I am confident that you will have very rich discussions over these next two days as you share experiences and lessons that will provide valuable inputs to the GSDR. As with any global development agenda, the real action happens at the national and subnational level as we collectively seek to localize the SDGs. But at this halfway point of the 2030 Agenda, we need to recognize even more explicitly that the national and subnational actors are leading the way on SDGs, so we therefore need to bring the local to the global. Many of you are practitioners, doing the work, day in and day out, to advance sustainable development, improve human wellbeing, make our food systems and energy systems more resilient, and leave a healthy planet and fulfilling life for future generations whether they live in cities or the countryside. It is your experiences—your successes and also your failures, the obstacles you have faced and the tools you used to overcome them— that we seek to capture for the GSDR and thus shape the second half of the 2030 Agenda. In the spirit of sharing our local experiences in pursuing our global agenda, allow me to share briefly the UN Country Team’s efforts here in the Philippines. To strengthen the UN’s response to both long-standing and new inequalities and development challenges brought about by the pandemic, we updated our cooperation framework with the government in 2020 through the UN Socioeconomic and Peacebuilding Framework for COVID-19 Recovery in the Philippines 2020-2023. In this revised document, we underscored the importance of addressing the causes of inequalities across all the three pillars of our strategy, namely People, Prosperity and Planet, and Peace. At present, we are in the process of updating our cooperation framework with the Philippines to align with the priorities of the new government under the leadership of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr to be outlined in the soon to be released Philippine Development Plan for 2023 to 2028. It will be another opportunity to pool our collective UN capacities, knowledge and resources to support the Philippines in the next six years in its challenging journey towards attaining the SDGs by 2030. During these next two days, I hope our Philippine partners will be able to share with you their experiences and recommendations related to the three priority entry points for accelerating sustainable development in Asia that will be the focus of this conference, namely: (a) achieving energy decarbonization with universal access to energy; (b) promoting sustainable urban and peri-urban development; and (c) securing the global environmental commons. On the part of the UN, we recognize that energy decarbonization is a complex matter that needs to take into account a country’s environmental, economic, technical, social and political aspects.  In the Philippines, effective policies that are not fragmented need to be put in place to facilitate investments, financing, access to technology, and lifestyle changes. The UN is currently collaborating with the Philippine government to promote renewable energy adoption for productive activities in the seaweed value chain through a bankable public-private partnership model and will also be working with national and local governments to assist small and medium enterprises access financing for the adoption of energy efficiency approaches.   The UN is also helping secure the global environmental commons by working with the government and private sector industries address challenges in chemicals and wastes management and meet the country commitments to multilateral environmental agreements. In closing, I would like to encourage the Independent Group of Scientists to keep the stories and examples you hear over these next two days in the front of your minds as you work toward the final draft of your report. The stories from the Asia-Pacific region and the other regions around the world will animate the recommendations that you include in your report and ensure that the GSDR is concrete and meaningful for Member States. I wish you the best in the coming months, and I look forward to the launch of the GSDR in September 2023 at the SDG Summit in New York. Thank you.

Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo and European Union Ambassador to the Philippines H.E. Luc Véron led the inauguration of the Gender and Development Corner at the Supreme Court Library in Ermita, Manila on 25 November  2022. The inauguration comes after the turnover of a series of publications on feminist jurisprudence entitled “Feminist Judgments”composed of eight books donated by the United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) Programme: Governance in Justice (GOJUST) funded by the EU. The inauguration of the Gender Corner on 25 November marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, launching the 16 days of activism to be concluded on the 10th of December — the day that commemorates the International Human Rights Day. Joining the Chief Justice and Ambassador Véron are (from left) Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh and Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Co-Chairpersons of the Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary (CGRJ); Mr. Mario Ronconi, Head of Unit for South and South-East Asia from the European Commission Directorate-General for International Partnerships; Senior Associate Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Chairperson of the SC Committee on Computerization and Library; and Associate Justice Amy C. Lazaro Javier, former Chairperson of the CGRJ and President of the Philippine Judges Association. Senior Associate Justice Leonen delivered the welcome remarks, while Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting gave the closing remarks during the Inauguration and turnover. Associate Justice Maria Filomena D. Singh also presented the UNOPS’ Legal Feminism Study, funded by the EU. The event was moderated by Atty. Joyce Jazmin G. Dimaisip- Cunanan, Senior Chief Staff Officer, SC Library. Also present were Court Administrator Raul B. Villanueva, Assistant Court Administrator and Public Information Office Chief Brian Keith F. Hosaka, Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief Technology Officer Jed Sherwin G. Uy, UNOPS Senior Project Manager Joy Jakosalem-Balane, and UNOPS Communications Officer Mario Villamor.

Manila, 28 November 2022--The UN Country Team in the Philippines met today with the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material, Mama Fatima Singhateh. Singateh is in the Philippines from 28 November to 8 December 2022. She will examine the protection of children against sexual exploitation, child marriage, child-trafficking for sexual exploitation, the exploitation of children living in the streets, and the sale of children through illegal adoptions, among other concerns. She will also assess the situation and the progress made in combating and preventing the sale and sexual exploitation of children in light of international human rights norms and standards. Singhateh is visiting the Philippines at the invitation of the Government, and will hold discussions in Bohol, Cebu, Cotabato, Manila, Pampanga and Valenzuela with representatives of the executive, legislature and judiciary, local and municipal authorities, civil society organisations, child shelters, members of the international community, children as well as the local communities. Singateh will hold a press conference at the end of her visit, on 8 December 2022 to share her preliminary observations. Access will be strictly limited to media and journalists. She will present a comprehensive report of her country visit to the Human Rights Council in March 2024.

Manila, 24 November 2022--The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) organized today a United Nations (UN) Day event that was participated in by the UN Country Team and members of the diplomatic community. The message of UN Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzalez (as prepared) follows: In most cases, United Nations Day offers opportunities for a stocktaking perspective of achievements of the Organization as well as of its work with Member States. On this occasion, however, I would like to focus on my hopes for the future as inspired by what I have seen of the immediate past that, in my view, will determine the work of the UN Country Team in the country. The year 2022 marked an important political transition for the Philippines including the inauguration of a new national leadership. In just a few months thereafter, a number of significant developments have shown us that trust in multilateral cooperation is strong in the Philippines and in fact has been reinforced, despite the complex global challenges that have affected Filipinos.  The first observation that comes to mind, and this has been supported by the recent COP27, is this government’s decision to place climate change at the top of its development agenda, including the need for developed countries to support those most affected by climate change -those who have contributed the least to the current climate emergency-. Speaking to the 77th UN General Assembly last September, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stressed that climate change is the greatest threat affecting our nations and peoples and that there is no other problem so global in nature that it requires a united effort, one led by the United Nations. At COP-27, the Philippines was a strong advocate for a mechanism to address the impact of climate change on vulnerable countries, and indeed we have seen the creation of a ‘loss and damage’ facility. Now, it is crucial for the UN Country Team to pool its knowledge and capacities to support the Philippines in modeling a strong business case to get access to such critical resources. Climate resilience will certainly be one of the expanded UN areas of support to the Government for the coming years. My second observation relates to the political will that this Government mustered to reopen face-to-face classes. According to a recent Social Weather Survey (SWS), around 94 per cent of Filipinos were satisfied with the process of school reopening. This national sentiment sets the bases for a very much needed recovery investment in the education system. In this context, he Department of Education has just started implementing the RAPID framework for learning recovery, promoted by the UN. Some regions have already conducted rapid literacy assessments, more non-teaching staff are being recruited to ease the burden of administrative work on teachers, and dedicated sessions are being conducted to focus on children’s reading and comprehension. The UN Country Team is proud of the outstanding cooperation with the Department of Education in the preparations for the historic Transforming Education Summit, for which Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte served as national convenor. As we said, Education is more than what we see in a classroom: it is a society in action, crafting sustainable futures. The UN Country Team will be supporting the Philippines in the implementation of the five recommendations conveyed by the Government in its Statement to the Transforming Education Summit.  My third observation is the priority given by this Government to rebuilding food security and agricultural recovery. Food security is already at the heart of the UN’s current Cooperation Framework with the Philippines. In partnership with the UN, the Government has made strategic commitments in various food and nutrition platforms, namely, Nutrition for Growth, the Global Action Plan on Child Wasting, the recent Food Security Summit, the Scaling Up Nutrition alliance and established non-financial and financial commitments related to Nutrition for Growth worth USD 411 million to transform food systems and to address malnutrition in all its forms. Lessons learned from a completed UN joint programme on shock-responsive social protection systems are being applied towards responding to food and energy price increases over the medium and long-term. My fourth observation is the priority given by this Government to peace and its commitment to an inclusive peace forged through extensive multi-stakeholder engagement, or “multilateralism at home”. An all-inclusive approach to peace was clearly reflected in the constitution of the new Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) bringing together all key factions from the Moro Islamic Liberation and Moro National Liberation Fronts for the first time, together with higher representation from women, civil society and other sectoral groups. The UN Country Team is proud of being part of such historic peacebuilding investment in BARMM and will continue supporting sustained peace dividends by  strengthening governance, fostering social cohesion, improving community security, providing economic security for ex-combatants, enhancing gender equality and expanding equitable access to livelihood and basic services. The recent release of 1.000 self-constructed houses in Marawi is another demonstration of multilateralism in action where central and regional government, the UN Country Team and the international community join efforts for durable solutions.  Finally, I would like to refer to Philippines’ commitment to human rights. As you know, I met with the President in June, shortly before his inauguration where the President reinforced the importance of ensuring a high level of accountability in terms of human rights. Since then, important milestones have been achieved in the implementation of the UN Joint Programme on Human Rights, which is now emerging as a very promising global practice. As he stressed in his speech at the UN General Assembly, “the Philippines’ United Nations Joint Program on Human Rights is an example of a constructive approach that puts our people, not our politics, at the center of this work.” The recent Universal Period Review held on the 14th of November in Geneva represents a fundamental landmark in the convergence of a wide range of stakeholders -the Government of the Philippines, member states, civil society and the UN – to jointly engage, in a constructive manner, in a common human rights agenda. Voices from member states during the UPR session have been encouraging, and we congratulate the government for its most recent decisions towards an enhanced judiciary system.   The UN Country Team will continue working hand-in hand with the government, the Commission on Human Rights and civil society to ensure further investments to leave no one behind. But beyond these broad areas of work, I would also like to emphasize the ongoing policy support of the UN Country Team in those strategic areas that are defining the 2030 journey. Our teams are fully engaged with a wide range of State institutions in developing population-related policies, in the field of migration, forced displacement, gender equality, sexual reproductive health, universal health care, social protection systems as well as in the definition of the Future of Work, decent and green jobs policies, digital technology-inclusion and the overall post-COVID19 recovery. This strategic policy work will certainly be enhanced within the framework of the UN reform and reflected in the new cooperation framework. At the General Assembly, the President said, “As host to 17 UN agencies, program and funds, the Philippines strongly supports reforms to ensure that the UN Development System delivers as one through its UN Country Team.” I strongly believe that the UN reform will enrich and amplify our value proposition in the country, particularly in a moment where jointness, alliances and coalitions are becoming an imperative. In this sense, let me also express my gratitude to His Excellency Secretary Manalo and his team for championing the reform of the UN Development System while he was Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN and now is opening new venues of collaboration and consultations with a reinvigorated UN Country Team. The UN Country Team is committed to carry out to its completion the UN Development System Reform towards a reinvigorated UN System in the country in the service of Filipinos. [Ends]   Thank you!