UN pledges support as local autonomy marks 10th year

The United Nations pledged yesterday to support the Philippine government’s efforts to encourage decentralization and local autonomy in order to promote good and effective governance.

The UN’s commitment came as the Department of the Interior and Local Government leads the preparation for a congress on local governance from Oct. 9-10, 2001 in celebration of the Local Government Code’s 10th anniversary.

The Local Government Code gave local government units (LGUs) more power to map out implementing rules and regulations in areas such as health, education, housing, tourism and other basic social services.

"The UN will continue to be an active partner of the Philippines in promoting good governance as a tool for development and a means for eradicating poverty," said Terence Jones, resident representative of the UN system and resident coordinator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The scheduled gathering of LGU officials, civil society, private sector and international development partners is the highlight of a series of pre and post activities under the Project 10.10.10 launched last Aug. 10 for the celebration of a decade of local autonomy.

President Arroyo is expected to come to give the keynote address.

The project is designed to take stock of the experiences and lessons learned during the past decade of the law’s implementation. According to officials of the DILG, the agency designated to lead the celebration, this event provides an opportunity to chart the direction of decentralization and local autonomy for the next 10 years.

The UN has been consistent with its support for decentralization efforts, starting with the UNDP, which has teamed up with local government agencies in a program designed to improve governance in the country and use it as a tool for alleviating poverty.

"Effective governance is often the missing link between national anti-poverty efforts and poverty reduction," according to Poverty Report 2000 published by UNDP, which captured the main motivation for UN’s support to good governance.

Other UN agencies, including UNICEF, UN Population Fund, International Labor Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization, have also incorporated the component of decentralization in their respective programs.

The DILG came up with the catch-all phrase Project 10.10.10 to dramatize the milestones in the implementation of the Local Government Code. Aside from the fact that the anniversary falls on the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year of the Code, "10" connotes excellence.

A triple "10" advocates for excellence in the management of people, institutions and resources in the local community.