The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) appealed to the private sector to augment funds used to finance the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in less than a decade.
Neda Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters Tuesday that through its convergence budgeting efforts, the government estimated it would have P16 billion from the excise taxes to finance projects and programs.
However, Edillon said many of the projects and programs related to the achievement of the SDGs will require more financing and flexibility in funding.
“Well, government is doing something. Kaya nga may program convergence budgeting kami. But for many of these (projects), you really have to go the extra mile. That’s where private sector has the flexibility,” Edillon said on the sidelines of the launch of the country’s SDG investor’s map Tuesday.
Edillon said the flexibility of the private sector could be useful in bringing SDG projects and programs to remote areas of the country, such as geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDA).
The Neda official said government funds can only be used to benefit large chunks of the population. This now limits the use of public funds for areas where there are low populations, typical in GIDAs.
Apart from geographical challenges, Edillon said the private sector could also be used to finance the achievement of goals pertaining to high context issues.
The private sector has greater flexibility in addressing nuances in responding to the challenge of attaining certain SDGs, particularly in goals where the country’s performance is regressing.
“I know that many of you (private sector) have already identified your programs that are SDG related, but for those who still have additional resources, this is where we need those resources,” Edillon said. “Just focus on the regressing indicators.”
There are 16 indicators spread across 10 of the 17 SDGs where the country’s performance was regressing, such as those on nutrition; addressing teen pregnancy; violence against women; youth not in education, employment or training; and civil registration of children.
For SDG 2 on zero hunger, indicators where the country was regressing were on meeting the 100 percent recommended energy intake and reducing the prevalence of malnutrition.
For SDG 5 on gender equality, violence experienced by women and girls as well as the marriage of girls before the age of 15 years old and 18 years old.
Edillon said for SDG 6 on clean water and sanitation, the country was regressing in the implementation of programs and projects identified in the integrated river basin master plans.
For SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth, she said the country was regressing in increasing real GDP per capita growth and reducing the unemployment rate and youth not in education, employment or training (NEET).
Based on the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the youth who are considered NEET, reached 2.789 million in January 2024. This is composed of 1.09 million males and 1.699 females.
Meanwhile, for SDG 9 on industry, innovation and infrastructure, the country is regressing in increasing the expenditure for research and development as a proportion of GDP.
Edillon also said in SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, the country was regressing in terms of reducing the share of the population living below 50 percent of the median income.
For SDG 11 on sustainable cities and communities and SDG 13, the country is regressing in reducing the number of deaths and missing persons cause by disasters per 100,000 population.
The country was also regressing in the SDG 11 indicator on increasing the number of highly urbanized cities and urban areas with ambient air quality guidelines.
In SDG 16 on peace, justice, and strong institutions, Edillon said the country is regressing in increasing the number of children registered with a civil authority. She said child registration has been stagnant for a number of years.
“The problem is it has been stagnant. So it has not increased by much. This means that it gets even more difficult to really reach those who are not yet registered. So again, we will need the help of civil society, private sector,” Edillon said.