Mr. Chair,

Excellencies and colleagues,

The Philippine Government welcomes the successful adoption of the UNDP Country Program Document for the Philippines (CPD) for 2024-2028.

This is another testament to the long-standing partnership between the Philippines and UNDP.  We thank Assistant Secretary-General Kanni Wignaraja and her team here in New York, as well as UNDP Resident Representative Dr Selva Ramachandran and his team back home in Manila, for the consistent positive collaboration and engagement with the Philippine Government.

We fully support the CPD, as it aligns with our country’s development priorities and strategies as set forth in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, and the UN-Philippines Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2024-2028.

The CPD is the “first of its kind” under the reformed UN Development System that seeks to provide solutions and have a far-reaching impact while yielding good models of co-ownership, transparency and accountability. 

To highlight some of the important and crosscutting elements in PH-UNDP partnership, as detailed in the CPD are:  

1. Promoting science, technology and innovation (STI) in the country, and bridging the digital divide;
2. Harnessing renewable energy power sources to support the facilitation of digital technology and knowledge transfer to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas of the country;
3. Strengthening cybersecurity and developing regulatory policies geared towards ensuring the protection of vulnerable groups, including women and youth; and
4. Continued efforts to enhance climate resilience in the country, both at the local and national levels, through provision of technical and policy advice, capacity-building and resource mobilization, in line with the country’s development goal to transition to a low-carbon economy and international commitments.

From here on, we need to ensure the effective roll-out and implementation of this CPD, including through supporting our country’s smooth transition to upper middle-income status soon and eventually high-income status.  

In this regard, we continue to regard UNDP as a trusted partner.

The work on re-evaluating metrics to measure progress needs to be sustained and advanced, alongside reforms in the international financial and development architecture.  We welcome UNDP’s support for the development and use of new data and analytics to make development policies and programs more responsive to the multidimensional and differentiated needs of poor and vulnerable people, to better capture inequalities of opportunity and outcome.

In closing, allow me to reiterate the words of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as he witnessed the signing of our Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2024-2028 on 24 October 2023: “Beyond building better from the pandemic and for resilient communities, the world needs a transformative agenda to bridge divides, address inequalities and foster growth that carries everyone forward.”

Thank you.