UP CIFAL Philippines holds SDG orientation for Philippine Commission on Human Rights

UP CIFAL Philippines held an orientation on sustainable development goals (SDGs) for 28 technical staff members of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on May 17-18, 2018 at the CHR Main Office in Quezon City.  The SDG orientation was done in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Philippine Office.

The orientation aimed to mainstream SDGs to develop plans and policies, and strengthen CHR’s partnerships with various stakeholders.

UP CIFAL Philippines Project Associate Jeanena Mae Rafer provided an overview of the SDGs and the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to SDGs and led an activity where the participants chose a marginalized group and identified how achieving the SDGs could benefit that sector.

Jaime Antonio, Jr., UNDP national program coordinator and gender equality focal person, focused on SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions and highlighted the importance of developing a monitoring methodology. He cited best practices from El Salvador, Mexico, Tunisia, Indonesia, and Georgia, among others.

As an exercise, CHR employees were asked to choose one SDG and determine whether they monitor their projects at the provincial, regional, and national levels based on that SDG.

UP CIFAL Philippines Project Associate Jorica Pamintuan also conducted a lecture on communicating SDGs, particularly crafting key messages and using different media platforms.

Finally, UP CIFAL Philippines Director Dr. Edna Co discussed policy integration and synergies, as well as leveraging resources and working with the private sector. She also emphasized the need to balance the trade-offs in integrating policies. As a workshop, the participants did a fishbowl discussion on how migration and foreign policies impact on Philippine labor migration and foreign relations.

The Commission on Human Rights is mandated to monitor the progress and enforcement of human rights.