PH-UN Celebrate 72 Years of Partnership
24 October 2017 TAGUIG CITY – The Government of the Philippines and the United Nations Country Team celebrated this year’s UN Day with a program consisting of cultural performances, video presentation and ceremonial lighting of the Filipino Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) cubes. A reception for the diplomatic corps and top PH government officials was held at the Market! Market!.
The program’s activities highlighted the 72 years of PH-UN partnership, particularly the ongoing collaboration towards ensuring that Philippine SDG commitments are pursued and achieved by 2030.
The SDGs is a set of 17 aspirational goals that seek to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals and seek to address the economic, social and environmental aspects of development.
The celebration featured a video presentation in Filipino of “We the People for the Sustainable Development Goals,” showing local celebrities and influencers as well as students, humanitarian workers, and volunteers actually involved in promoting the SDGs.
The event highlight was the ceremonial lighting of the Filipino SDG cubes as a symbolic kick-off to the launch of the 17 SDGs in Filipino, and a means to impress upon the people the importance of SDG awareness and implementation.
The programme also featured cultural performances, including song numbers and folk dances depicting Philippine commitments to SDGs, like protecting people, promoting prosperity, preserving the planet, building peace and forging partnerships.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Jose Luis G. Montales, who delivered the keynote message on behalf of Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, stated that “close to the Philippines’ heart, are the socio-economic objectives under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, such as alleviating poverty and addressing hunger, providing quality education, gender mainstreaming, protecting the environment, securing lasting and impartial justice, as well as providing adequate attention to the needs of vulnerable groups.”
UN Philippines Resident Coordinator Ola Almgren, in his remarks, underscored that, “for over seven decades, the United Nations and the Philippine Government have been working together to support development, humanitarian and peacebuilding efforts at the global level as well as in the Philippines.” He stated that the UN has a strong partnership with the Philippines, with 18 UN funds, programs, and specialized agencies present in the country. He added that the UN will continue to support the achievement of the SDGs to end poverty, safeguard the planet, and guarantee prosperity for all Filipinos.
The Philippines is one of the states which actively participated in the formulation and adoption of the SDGs in September 2015. For the last two years since the SDGs were launched, the Philippines has made great strides in integrating the SDGs into the plans and programs of the government within the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) framework. The PDP agenda is geared towards achieving inclusive growth, a high-trust and resilient society, and a globally-competitive economy through the PDP’s three main pillars of “malasakit,” “pagbabago,” and “patuloy na pag-unlad.”
The UN Day event was attended by senior government and UN officials, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives from the academe and the media. It featured performances by UNICEF Ambassador Gary Valenciano, youth organizations from De La Salle University Manila, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Miriam College, and University of the Philippines-Diliman and celebrity host Antoinette Taus. END
