It
was a rainy morning when I made my way to Ateneo University. It was July 29,
the day of the Youth Solutions Forum, an event organized by the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Solutions Network Youth - Philippines. With the encouragement of my colleagues
and friends, particularly the always-supportive Kevin of the Forum for FamilyPlanning and Development Inc., I submitted my application and represented the
Philippine Society of SRH Nurses, Inc. during the forum.
The
event was attended by other youth leaders, perhaps no older than I was when I
started in the advocacy. It was so nice to see so many young people gathering
together to talk about sustainable development. In 2015, the Philippines
committed itself to the realization of the United Nations Sustainable DevelopmentGoals, a conglomeration of 17 interdependent goals geared towards inclusive
growth and development. Since then those who have advocated for the Millennium
Development Goals have also been working towards the SDG, joined by new blood,
bringing with them the tech-savvy and invigorating creativity of Millennials. I only say "new blood", by the way, because I am much older than a lot of the attendees.
The
event kicked off with an inspiring presentation by Usec Philip Dy of the Office
of the Vice President of the Philippines. He delivered a presentation on behalf
of VP Leni Robredo, the “Laylayan” Economy. Taking the tagline of the SDG,
“Leave No One Behind”, the Office of the VP has partnered with various sectors
to bring much needed help to the Geographically Isolated and Depressed Areas
(GIDAs). “We cannot talk about sustainable development without youth
involvement,” the Vice President emphasized, highlighting the importance of
young people in the movement towards inclusive prosperity. The VP was explicit
on the responsibility of young leaders: “Great leaders are all powerful
advocates, fighting for things bigger than themselves”. She also shares an
important concept in helping people effectively: “Listen with empathy… Empathy
makes you ask powerful questions… A little empathy can go a long way to help
those in the margins” – a simple first step for any young person who wants to
help in the movement towards sustainable development, and a reminder for any
seasoned advocate to always go back to why they are fighting for what they are
fighting for.
Plenary session 2.1 was a briefer on what sustainable development
actually is. Dr. Rosario Ofreneo of the UP Social Work and Development gave a
simple definition of SD: “We who came ahead should be able to leave behind a
world you can live in.” This is consistent with the Bruntland Report
definition: "Sustainable development is
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs” Dr. Ofreneo also shared
the United Nation’s 5 dimensions of sustainable development, which are the basis
of the SDG: People, Planet, Prosperity, Partnership, and Peace. To me, the most important takeaway from Dr.
Ofreneo’s presentation was that sustainable development requires institutional
and structural changes. This, I think, is heavily linked to the integration of
sustainable development goals to the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 and
the long term aspiration of Ambisyon Natin 2040. For plenary session 2.2, this was discussed by Ms.
Girlie Grace Casimiro of the National Economic Development Authority, the head
agency for the Philippines’ commitment to SDG. During the briefing, she showed
the strategy framework of the PDP 2017-2022, and how the SDGs were embedded in
it. She highlighted that the agency will be pushing to do the same for the
subsequent PDPs in order to realize Ambisyon Natin 2040:
 |
| PDP 2017-2022 Framework shown with the SDGs embedded. |
The final plenary session was delivered by a
familiar face in the sexual and reproductive health advocacy, Commissioner
Perci Cendana of the National Youth Commission, who pointed out two of the most
pressing health challenges in young people – the rising numbers of HIV and teen
pregnancy. Commissioner Cendana reminded young people of the basics of
rights-based approach: that the government is the duty bearer while the youth
are rights holder. However, he also encouraged young people to be more
proactive and take a duty bearer role in their development.
In the afternoon, the participants joined different
breakout sessions depending on their interest. Naturally, I gravitated towards
health – after a bit of screw-up with my application, that is. Totally my
fault, and I’d like to thank the people at SDSN-Youth for letting me join the
session which I really wanted!
The first speaker was a familiar face – Dr. Joseph
Singh from the UNFPA. He provided a briefer on the various health problems
young people face. The trend was repeated: high rates of HIV and teen
pregnancy. One of major problems, he mentioned, was the unmet need for family
planning. “We cannot solve teen pregnancy with health interventions alone,” Dr.
Singh emphasized. This reminded me of a lesson from my online class on women’s
health and rights: that biomedical problems are not necessarily solved by just
biomedical solutions. “When you are rights-based, you can’t go wrong.” Dr Singh
reminded the young audience.
The final speaker for the day was Ms. Chi Vallido,
of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc. Her talk is a bit more
personal for me, as she relayed the struggles of Reproductive Health Law advocates.
It took more than 16 years for the country to have the RH Law, but even now it
faces certain challenges, such as budget cuts and the TRO on contraceptives. It
was a good lesson for all advocates: the fighting just doesn’t stop and it
takes dedication and commitment to continue doing what we can for those who
need it most.
The talks were followed by a quick workshop. I was,
of course, grouped with other health care professionals. We explored problems
related to health and came up with three challenges: the lack of enforcement of
existing laws, the lack of focus on primary health care, and the lack of
coordination among health care workers. It was an exhilarating mental exercise
to be sure. I am also glad that my fellow International Youth Council member,
Dexter Galban, was at the event. It was great way to flex the brain and fire up
the neurons, to look at these problems from a biomedical perspective, but
without disregarding the effects of politics and economy in health care.
The day was long and mentally stimulating (albeit
exhausting) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am especially hopeful, after seeing
so many young people come together to talk about the future we want – a future
where prosperity is enjoyed by all, where race, gender, and economic status
aren’t hindrance to justice, and where our children will still be able to enjoy
the resources our planet provides.#
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