2015 MDG poverty reduction goal may be met

The Philippines has expressed optimism that it would meet a number of its targets under the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for this year, citing inroads in reducing poverty and making basic education more accessible.

In a report submitted to the United Nations Economic and Social Council recently, the government said “there is a medium probability that the incidence of income poverty will be reduced by half in 2015.”

“The Philippines is also likely to meet its target of universal access to primary education, as greater resources are being allocated to the education sector to address backlogs in terms of classrooms, teachers and books,” a summary of the country’s report further read.

According to the report, the country appears to be “on track” to meet the following MDG targets: providing universal access to primary education; providing educational opportunities for girls; reducing infant and under-five mortality; reversing the incidence of malaria; increasing tuberculosis detection and cure rates, and increasing the proportion of households with access to safe water supply.

However, the Philippines admitted it was “lagging behind” its peers in the achievement of its goals in six areas: poverty; elementary education, in terms of completion rate; gender equality, as regards to women’s political participation and the fact that boys are at a disadvantage in terms of participation in elementary- and secondary-level education; maternal mortality; access to reproductive health care and HIV/AIDS.

“With regard to gender, boys are at a disadvantage in terms of participation in elementary and secondary education, cohort survival rate and completion rate… More females enroll in tertiary education and that there is a wide disparity in terms of functional literacy between males and females, with the latter having the advantage,” the Philippine government said.

As for the health targets, “infant and under-five mortality rates have been considerably reduced and the targets will likely be achieved by 2015,” the government said.

“Morbidity and mortality rates associated with malaria improved, as the number of provinces declared to be malaria-free increased to 27 in 2012 from only 13 in 2004. Similarly, the incidence, prevalence and mortality rates associated with tuberculosis have declined considerably, although tuberculosis is still one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the country,” it added.

“However, the increase in the maternal mortality ratio indicates that the target of 52 deaths per 100,000 live births has a low probability of being met,” the government said.

Also, “the number of new cases of HIV has been increasing, although its prevalence is still less than 1 percent,” according to the report.
The government attributed its MDG accomplishments to “clearly defined institutional arrangements; supportive policies on development planning, investment programming, localization, financing, and monitoring mechanisms; programs and projects supporting the goals.”