Millenium Development Goal #1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

1. Millenium Development Goal #1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

2. Scope (Timeframe until 2015)

3. Target 1.A: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a day 1.1 Proportion of population below $1 (PPP) per day What does it mean to live on less than $1 or $2 a day? • Most of income is spent on food • There is little ownership of "productive assets” • Varying access to electricity, water and sanitation • Poor health • Multiple occupations • Unpredictability and risks

4. Population of the Philippines living under $1 a day

5. 1.2 Poverty gap ratio • Mean shortfall of the total population from the poverty line (counting the non-poor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. • This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.

7. The two tables show the Poverty Gap in the Philippines for the National Poverty Line and those living at $1.25 a day. They both show a decrease in the Poverty Gap which means the people experiencing poverty lessened.

8. 1.3 Share of the poorest quintile in national consumption • Share that accrues to the bottom fifth (quintile) of the population.

9. Poorest quintiles’ share in the national consumption of the Philippines Average: 5.7% In the last 15 years, the share of the poorest quintile has been going down worldwide and can also be seen here in the Philippines. This shows how poverty has become worse all over the world because the poorest quintiles of all countries are unable to contribute to the national income or consumption.

10. Target 1.B: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people 1.4 Growth rate of GDP per person employed The growth rate of output per unit of labor input. Output is measured as “value added”, which is the total production value minus the value of intermediate inputs, such as raw materials, semi-finished products, services purchased and energy inputs. Value added, called “gross domestic product” (GDP) in the national accounts, represents the compensation for input of services from capital (including depreciation) and labor directly engaged in the production. Labor input is defined as persons employed.

12. 1.5 Employment-to-population ratio Proportion of a country's population that is employed. Ages 15-24 are generally considered the youth population.

13. Employment-to-population Ratio, 15+, Total Employment-to-population Ratio, 15+, Female Employment-to-population Ratio, 15+, Male

14. The employment-to-population ratio for females 15 and up went from 42.10 in 1991 to 45.50 in 2009. This is probably because women were more accepted to work in the corporate world rather than just leaving all the breadwinning to the men. • The employment-to-population ratio for males 15 and up went from 76.40 in 1991 to 72.70 in 2009. Because women were more accepted to work in the corporate world, there were more people looking for the limited amount of jobs. And because there were more women, then the men lost more opportunities for jobs because of the small amount of jobs and the large amount of people trying to get them. • The total employment-to-population rate went from 59.20 in 1991 to 59.10 in 2009. The ratio stayed at around the same range during this period of time. Again, this is probably because of the introduction of more women into the corporate world which caused some men to lose jobs. Since there was a gain and loss in the people working, this is probably why the ratio stayed practically the same the whole time.

15. Target 1.C: Halve the proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption and halve the proportion of underweight children (under five years old) 1.6 Prevalence of underweight children under five years of age Proportion of individuals in a population that are underweight for their age.

16. Prevalence of Underweight Children under Five-Years of Age (Across Regions, 2006)

17. However, despite the general improvement in reducing the number of malnourished children across the country, there is still a considerable difference among the nutritional statuses of Filipino children in the different regions of the Philippines. For example, the percentage of underweight preschoolers in Bicol is 37.8% while the percentage of underweight preschoolers in NCR is 20.3%, almost half of that of Bicol. These statistics show how food inadequacy greatly affects the rural areas more than the urbanized ones.

18. 1.7 Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption Proportion of individuals in a population that receive less than the sufficient amount of calories their bodies need to function.

20. Between 2003 and 2007, there was a significant 5% drop in the number of undernourished individuals nationwide. One of the possible causes of this drastic improvement could be due to the implementation of Resolution No. 1 Series 2003, Expanding the Function and Composition of the Multisectoral Committee on International Human Development Commitments. This piece of legislation designated the National Nutrition Council as the lead agency for fighting malnutrition in the country. A year after Resolution No. 1 Series 2003, the NNC developed the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) which has made many efforts to improve the nutritional status of Filipinos such as increasing investments for malnutrition intervention, etc.

21. Statistical Comparison of the Richest and Poorest Regions in the Philippines

22. History of the Poverty in NCR The National Capital Region (NCR) is what can be described as the center or heart of the Philippines as this is where its capital, Metro Manila can be found. It is also where the President of the Philippines resides and has the highest population compared to the other regions of the country. Many of the biggest businesses are found in this region and this is why the population in this region is so big. Everyone wants to work here because of all the business opportunities compared to those in the provinces. Since there are so many people who come to NCR, specifically Metro Manila, to work, then the poverty rate here is not as high because almost everyone is able to work and have enough money to sustain themselves.

24. History of the Poverty of ARMM RA 9054 provides that ARMM "shall remain an integral and inseparable part of the national territory of the Republic." The President exercises general supervision over the Regional Governor. Being separate from the rest of the Philippines, a lot of problems have risen from this. The ARMM blames “Imperial Manila” for their poverty because of lack of support from the government. The continuous fighting in these areas are also to be blamed for the people’s unproductivity. It forces them to look for short-term livelihoods due to the fact that the people need to keep moving.

28. Comparing NCR and ARMM The poverty incidence in both NCR and ARMM has slowly been rising from 2000 to 2003 to 2009 but looking at the poverty incidence between the two regions, NCR’s poverty incidence is only in the single digits while the poverty incidence in ARMM is almost 40% more. In fact, as of 2006, the province with the highest poverty rate was Tawi-Tawi which is one of the provinces in ARMM.

30. Will the Philippines Succeed in Accomplishing Goal 1?

31. Based on our assessment of the country’s progress regarding MDG 1, we think that the country has a fair chance of accomplishing, or at the very least coming close to achieving MDG 1. The country has been successful in cutting the percent of people living below the poverty line to the ideal 22.65% and all the other indicators also seem to be fairing well.

32. Analysis: Causes of Poverty

33. According to Asian Development Bank’s book Poverty in the Philippines, there are 7 direct causes to poverty in the Philippines • Macroeconomic Issues • Unemployment • Unchecked population growth • Problems in the agricultural sector • Corruption in the government • Armed conflict • Disability