DILG, UN committed to strengthened partnership

MANILA, 28 MAY. Yesterday’s strategic dialogue between the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the United Nations in the Philippines exceptionally gathers DILG national and regional leadership and country representatives of more than 20 United Nations entities operating in the country. They re-committed to work closely together to promote excellence in local governance and empower local governments to contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. and the United Nations Resident Coordinator in the Philippines, Gustavo Gonzalez have pledged to align their respective programmes and interventions towards building a peaceful, prosperous, resilient, sustainable and inclusive world where no one is left behind.

The meeting served as a venue for the organizations’ senior leadership to share observations on the major challenges faced by Philippine cities and municipalities and discuss how to expand and enhance their partnerships with the United Nations to mitigate these challenges. 

“The United Nations has chosen well in choosing the DILG as its partner because of our scope and reach- from National to Local, including the Local Governance and Interior sector.  This effort is groundbreaking and we hope that it serves as a model for how the Department and our international partners cooperate moving forward,” Sec. Abalos said.

“Further, with its prospective success, we are optimistic that this cooperation paradigm will also be replicated by other Government agencies in the future,” he added.

The DILG identified several areas of collaboration to leverage the United Nations’ global knowledge and expertise, including data-driven governance, human resource development, innovations in governance systems and processes, streamlining of local governance policies, and the enhancement of organizational effectiveness and technical competencies.

Meanwhile, Mr Gonzalez highlighted the role of the DILG in localizing and accelerating progress on the SDGs. “The DILG performs a critical function in coordinating and guiding local governments across the Philippines, whose actions directly translate into measurable results for their constituents,” he said. “Today’s exercise of identifying points of synergy will allow the United Nations to better support the excellent work of the department in line with the Philippines 2024-2028 United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (CF).”

During the meeting, United Nations entity heads underscored the value of the DILG as a partner in achieving the three key outcomes outlined in CF – developed jointly with the Government – namely human capital development and inclusion, sustainable economic development and decent work, and climate action. 

They recognized the potential of working closely with DILG, other departments and local governments in the areas of agrifood systems transformation; health, including maternal and reproductive health, access to health services, infrastructure, and medical and nutritional supplies; education; human rights; gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse; drugs control and response, crime prevention and safety, access to justice services, law enforcement and cybersecurity, as well as jail management; digitalization and digital inclusion; strengthening local governance through SDG localization and planning, developing harmonized data systems, and encouraging youth and women leadership and participation; decent work, economy formalization and migrants’ and refugees’ rights; anticipatory action; improved water, sanitation and hygiene; disaster preparedness and resilience; climate change adaptation; waste management and others.

The United Nations contributes to DILG priorities through technical assistance, capacity building, policy advice, leveraging partnerships, promoting systems thinking, and catalyzing development finance, among others.