MONITORING AND REPORTING DATA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL NUMBER 1

MONITORING AND REPORTING DATA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL NUMBER 1

Sustainable Development Goal Number 1 (SDG 1) has a very noble objective: to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere" by the year 2030. As a founding member of the United Nations, the Philippines has both a legal and moral responsibility to report its progress honestly and accurately.

The question is: How do we know if we are really reducing poverty?

My first thesis is that all data must come from below. National statistics should not be created through assumptions, projections, or so-called "ceiling estimates." They should be built from actual reports coming from communities.

My second thesis is that there is no need to gather new data if reliable data already exists. What we need instead is data integration. Government agencies are already collecting enormous amounts of information. The challenge is not the absence of data but the inability to interconnect and harmonize it.

My third thesis is that gathering data from below in the Philippines means starting at the barangay level. Any barangay chairman should know exactly how many families in his or her jurisdiction are living below the poverty line. The same goes for every mayor, governor, and other local executives. If they do not know these numbers, how can they formulate effective poverty reduction programs?

I would even go so far as to say that ignorance of local poverty data may already constitute negligence and dereliction of duty.

Fortunately, technology is no longer a barrier. My fourth thesis is that any barangay can already begin monitoring and reporting poverty data by using simple tools such as Excel, Google Forms, or other spreadsheet applications. All spreadsheet files can be converted into CSV or XLS formats. Any database can import these formats. Any mobile phone or personal computer can submit data electronically. In other words, every barangay can become a data-generating unit for the entire country.

A barangay database can export information to a municipal database. Municipalities can consolidate reports and transmit them to provinces and national agencies. As long as the data fields are compatible, the process is simple and inexpensive.

My fifth thesis is perhaps the most controversial: poverty alleviation is not the same as poverty reduction.

Poverty alleviation programs are designed to ease the burdens of poverty by providing assistance, subsidies, food, and temporary relief. Poverty reduction programs, on the other hand, seek to liberate people from the condition of poverty itself.

Yes, poverty is a condition. And people can be removed from that condition.

By this definition, many government programs, including those of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, are primarily poverty alleviation programs. There is nothing wrong with that. However, it would be technically inaccurate to describe them automatically as poverty reduction programs unless they can demonstrably move families above the poverty line.

Every barangay, municipality, city, and province should therefore establish measurable poverty reduction targets up to 2030. The national report on SDG 1 should simply be a consolidation of verified reports from below.

Otherwise, we risk committing national embarrassment by submitting data that are estimated, inflated, or fabricated. Sadly, many observers believe that our reporting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) suffered from this weakness.

Can we completely eradicate extreme poverty by 2030? Perhaps not. Fortunately, the SDG itself contains the qualifier "extreme," which provides some room for realistic interpretation.

Nonetheless, my advice to the government is simple: gather the data honestly and truthfully. Even if we fail to achieve the numerical target completely, we should never fail in reporting the truth.

After all, sustainable development begins not with ambitious declarations, but with accurate numbers and honest governance.

RAMON IKE V. SENERES

www.facebook.com/ike.seneres  iseneres@yahoo.com  senseneres.blogspot.com  09088877282/07-20-2027

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW IS THE CRIME RATE COMPUTED IN THE PHILIPPINES?

HOW IS THE CRIME RATE COMPUTED IN THE PHILIPPINES? When we talk about the crime rate in the Philippines, we often assume that the figures we see are accurate reflections of reality. But have we ever paused to ask—how exactly is the crime rate computed? Where does this data come from, and how reliable is it? The computation of the crime rate in the Philippines is officially handled by the Philippine National Police (PNP). The formula itself is straightforward: Crime Rate = (Total Reported Crimes / Total Population) x 100,000 This simple equation gives us the number of crimes per 100,000 people, allowing for fair comparison across regions and time periods. However, the reality behind these numbers is more complex than it appears. Data from the Ground The foundation of our national crime rate is empirical data collected at the grassroots level—from individual police stations scattered across the country. Every reported crime is logged in local police blotters, forming the buil...
Read more

GREY AREAS IN GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS

GREY AREAS IN GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONS Dear Mr. President: May I ask who is going to be the arbiter or referee whenever there are overlaps in functions between two or more government agencies? I imagine that there would be no problem if these agencies would just cooperate and collaborate with each other, but what if they are unable to settle their differences and they would just end up throwing blame at each other or finger pointing at each other? Allow me to cite some examples. Who is supposed to take the lead in waste to energy projects? Is it supposed to be the DENR that is supposed to handle waste? Or is it supposed to be the DOE that is supposed to handle energy generation? Or is it supposed to be the DILG since it is the one that could direct or influence the waste to energy projects of LGUs? Who is supposed to take the lead in producing and promoting the use of biofuels? Is it supposed to be the DA, since the production of biofuels is supposed to be all about planting biofuel ...
Read more

SOME IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE USE OF WASTE GLASS COLLECTED FROM OUR WATERWAYS

SOME IDEAS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE USE OF WASTE GLASS COLLECTED FROM OUR WATERWAYS It seems that wherever we go these days—rivers, creeks, esteros, even along our coastlines—we see not just plastic waste but also a good deal of glass bottles, jars, and broken fragments. While plastics usually get the headlines, glass is just as problematic. Unlike organic matter, it does not decompose; it just sits there, often breaking into sharp pieces that pose dangers to humans, animals, and the environment. So, what can we do about it? Collecting it is the first logical step, and in fact, collecting glass is easier than collecting plastic because glass is just one category. Plastics, by contrast, have about seven categories, and these require separate processing streams. That makes glass, in a way, less complicated to deal with. But what happens after collection? That’s where we need to get creative. In Bali, for example, they have the “Sungai Carafe”—a beautifully designed water container made fr...
Read more