Plans and progress

“The beginning is the most important part of the work” — Plato

This is the first year in a new decade and a year where we should have the opportunity to select a new president. With all of the controversies now swirling around the upcoming elections (and even issues around holding them), it is even more apparent that this is one of the most important in decades. We hope that certain elements will ensure that the elections go off fairly and honestly and not try and bend the process to their whim.

In 2000, the United Nations released the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), in 2001 192 member states and 23 international organizations agreed to them - the Philippines included. These goals are targeted to helping impoverished or developing nations improve their social and economic conditions. They are a framework to help guide government and non-government policy decisions. There are eight goals: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; 2. Achieve universal primary education; 3. Promote gender equality and empower women; 4. Reduce child mortality; 5. Improve maternal health; 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases; 7. Ensure environmental sustainability; 8. Develop a partnership for global growth.

Under each goal are specific ‘hard’ targets. For example, under Goal 2 (“Achieve universal primary education”) the target is “Ensure…children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling”. The metrics used to evaluate achieving this goal include enrolment rates in primary education, graduation rates from primary education and the male/female literacy rate of 15-24 year olds. Simply put, these goals create a roadmap for policymakers to improve a country. The target date set in 2000 was 2015. The Philippines (and our next president) has five years left to show substantive improvements — not for fear of UN sanctions (which do not exist) or such — but for the benefit of the Filipino people.

Any change in this country will start at the polls. This is why we are worried by any hint of impropriety in the upcoming election. But before we even get to the elections, we are concerned by our presidential candidates. Instead of running on action plans and concrete achievable targets they are falling into the old, tired and familiar “election by personality” campaign style. This country is not going to be improved by bumper sticker slogans and vague campaign promises. If a candidate promises to improve education, we need to know how they will achieve it. What programs will they institute? How will they fund it? What are the metrics to be used to evaluate the programs? Really, right now there is no demonstrable difference between them except oratorical skill. To be fair, a few have presented ‘platforms’, but we want to see some more substance to back up the promises. The Millennium Development Goals provide an apolitical and non-partisan platform for the candidates to present their ideas and plans for improving the country.

Right now, our candidates seem to lack concrete long-term plans for improving the country. The Millennium Development Goals provide a framework around which to create such plans. By presenting a six to 12-year plan for the country, organized around the Millennium Development Goals, we the people will have a way to evaluate the potential of each candidate. Based on the importance of the upcoming election, this is necessary. More than that, it will prove that the candidates are less inclined to be a continuation of self-interested politics of the past and are focused on helping the Filipino and the Philippines.

For more information on the Millennium Development Goals visit www.un.org/millenniumgoals.