Legislators and local chief executives of the province of Mindoro are committing full support to localize the Philippine Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (PBSAP) 2015-2028 and biodiversity financing in Mindoro Island.

Celebrating the Month of Overseas Filipinos in December of every year, in line with the International Migrants Day, is recognizing the valuable role and productive contribution of migrants both in the Philippines and their countries of destination. With remittances expected to reach USD 28 billion (P1.4 trillion) for 2016, the equivalent of 10% of GDP, the contribution of overseas Filipinos to the Philippine economy is unquestionable. About 20% of all households in the Philippines receive these remittances. Migration has brought immense benefits.

At the fifth Responsible Business Forum, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today called on business leaders to take a greater role in the new development era in order to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This Forum, opened in Singapore by UNDP and Global Initiatives, aims to address a sea change in the nature of development funding by creating a new partnership for sustainable development.

While foreign funding (Official Development Assistance) is still essential for the development system, it now accounts for 0.7 percent of total financial flows in Asia-Pacific (down from 13.5 percent in 1990), while domestic public and private finance accounts for 89 percent, according to a UNDP report launched last month.

It is one year since every country in the world signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals. They form a blueprint for addressing the most significant challenges facing our planet and its people. Challenges like climate change. This is likely to be the hottest year on record and here in Asia, climate change is a cause of the natural disasters that have claimed half a million lives in the last decade. Challenges like inequality, which has been growing for four-fifths of Asia-Pacific’s population over the last 20 years. Challenges brought on by the accelerating process of ageing, which will make it harder for many Asian states to provide basic services to their people. The 17 SDGs will address these challenges and other interlinked issues, including education, hunger and security. But governments cannot implement this blueprint on their own. Nor can the UN and other development organizations.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Initiatives will welcome over 600 global business leaders, senior government officials, UN Agencies and NGOs from across the globe for the Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development on 22nd-24th November at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. (Photo: Rod Sollesta)

The exchange between the Philippines and Cambodia was aiming to trigger the sharing of best practices, exchange of ideas for resolving practical development issues and offer valuable peer to peer experience between two southern countries. UNDP is privileged to be able to connect and facilitate roles to steering South-South cooperation initiatives.

Forty-five CEOs and representatives from 22 companies along with delegates from the government and development institutions gathered in an event organized by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Business Call to Action to discuss ways on how to make their businesses more responsive to the needs of underserved communities through Inclusive Business (IB).

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Asia-Pacific Development Effectiveness Facility (AP-DEF) opened a two-day meeting on aid ahead of the upcoming Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation. More than 100 government delegates and development experts are exploring how to design integrated national financing frameworks for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Asia-Pacific. “Domestic sources of finance are emerging as a key driving force for sustainable development in Asia-Pacific,” said Haoliang Xu, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director for Asia and the Pacific. “These new sources of finance allow us to expand the existing development cooperation and partnership.”

As Typhoon Lawin (international name Haima) ushers in, communities from Eastern Samar are now more prepared and assured of more resilient shelters and evacuation centers should another disaster threaten the province. European Union Ambassador Franz Jessen and UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra turned over in Eastern Samar three community evacuation centers (CECs) to the local government officials of Mercedes, Salcedo and Quinapondan and one cold storage facility to the municipality of Guiuan.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will be working together with Global Initiatives, as co-organizers of the 5th annual Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development, held once again at Marina Bay Sands Singapore, 22 - 24 November 2016.

The Philippine Board of Investments, the industry development and investments promotion arm of the Department of Trade and Industry, the United Nations Development Programme and business groups launched Business+ Philippines, a nationwide survey on Inclusive Business among Philippine companies.

In the Philippines, arguably, the prospects for peace following decades of conflict is perhaps closer than ever before, precisely because there is courage of conviction.

On September 24, 2016, Rappler, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme, again hosted the annual Social Good Summit with a new twist - the #HackSociety! #HackSociety is an ideathon that harnessed the new democratic space and crowdsourced “hacks” that address key issues and "chip away" at the Sustainable Development Goals. (Photo: Rappler)

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has leveraged low-cost innovations, knowledge exchanges between countries in the region, and emerging technologies, to provide new opportunities to some of the most marginalized communities in the Asia-Pacific region, says its 2015-16 Results Report.

The United Nations Development Programme and the Philippine Business for the Environment launched a partnership to recognize and document private sector contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP and PBE unveiled the SDGs online portal – http://sdgreport.thepbe.org – where Philippine companies can provide data and other information on their initiatives that contribute to the SDGs.

Ministers from countries forming the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and global thought leaders addressed the Philippine Senate as they presented new research indicating development by emerging economies would be optimized if global temperature increase was held below 1.5C degrees.

Speech delivered by Mr Ola Almgren, UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in the Philippines at the League of Corporate Foundations' Corporate Social Responsibility Expo 2016.

Fifty-five families in Ormoc City will soon move in to their disaster-resilient homes with the turnover of housing units supported by the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme.

The Department of Education (DepEd) is set to deliver information technology (IT) equipment to stand-alone Senior High Schools (SHS) nationwide to support the implementation of the K to12 Program. DepEd partnered with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to procure and deliver the IT equipment package for the schools. (Photo: DepEd)

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Franz Jessen and United Nations Development Programme Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra recently turned over two newly-built evacuation centers to Typhoon Yolanda-affected communities in Biliran province.

International Biodiversity Day offers a timely reminder of the importance of effective management of a country’s natural wealth. Few places in the world are as rich in biodiversity as the Philippines: considered as one of 18 mega-biodiverse countries, harboring more diversity of life per hectare than any other country in the world. This immense natural wealth (and it is a remarkable asset) is however at significant risk.

Deutsche Welle, the German public TV service, has released an episode for its Global Ideas program, highlighting the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) in the Philippines to raise awareness on biodiversity financing and conservation. Shot in Bais City, Dumaguete, the film features the Tanon Strait which is a resting ground for whales, dolphins and home to rare marine plants. As biodiversity comes under threat, locals are getting involved in its protection.

Demographic change in Asia and the Pacific is happening at a rate the world has never seen. If countries do not start planning for this demographic change, they will miss out on a unique opportunity to boost growth and investments for the future, says the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its latest Regional Human Development Report. They also risk a surge in youth frustration, exacerbating instability and conflict.

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a new project that aims to sustain peace efforts in Mindanao. EU Ambassador Franz Jessen and UNDP Philippines Country Director Titon Mitra presented the "Support Peace-Bangsamoro Project" that will be implemented from 2016 to mid-2017.

Corrupt judicial systems undermine reforms and are a major impediment to ensuring access to justice and human rights for ordinary citizens across the world, says a new report published by the United Nations Development Programme and U4 Anti-corruption Resource Centre.

This case study pertains to an assessment conducted by the Basel Institute on Governance, in collaboration with UNDP’s Global Anti-Corruption Initiative (GAIN), of a social accountability monitoring project in the municipality of San Miguel, Bohol in the Philippines. Called Bayaniham Undertaking Living in a Healthy and Organised Neighborhood or BULHON sa Panguma (BULHON), the project involves the monitoring of agricultural subsidies and was developed and implemented by the Government Watch (G-Watch) programme of the Ateneo School of Government in Manila.

Across Asia and the Pacific in general and in the Philippines in particular Human Development Index values are rising due to years of sustained economic growth and fast technological progress, says the latest Global Human Development Report focused on ‘Work for Human Development.’

The Philippines is one of 17 mega diverse countries, harboring more diversity of life per hectare than any other country in the world. Yet encroachment in forested areas, pollution, over fishing, poor land management practices, are leading to biodiversity loss at an alarming rate. (Photo: BIOFIN)

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Climate change action indeed should not and need not be seen as a sunk cost but rather as an investment in the future and a catalyst for a new era of innovation. Current technologies available to us will not be sufficient.

At the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on 25 September 2015, more than 150 world leaders adopted the new 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will support governments around the world in tackling the new agenda and taking it forward over the next 15 years.

The issues highlighted in recent press coverage on the statement of Professor Beyani, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, reflect a number of structural challenges that need to be addressed to expedite recovery from future disasters.