The United Nations (UN) urged on Tuesday the new administration to begin crafting a feasible Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Breakthrough Plan that would ensure that the country would still be able to reach its MDG targets.

UN Resident Coordinator Jacqueline Badcock said President Aquino’s inaugural speech last week has the same targets as the UN’s MDGs. But she said that the new administration needs to work on a feasible MDG breakthrough plan at the soonest possible time in preparation for the 2010 MDG Summit in New York, USA in October.

On September 20 to 22, President Aquino, together with other world leaders, will present the country’s MDG Breakthrough Plans in New York, USA in commemoration of the 10th year anniversary of the signing of the Millennium Declaration.

“It was good to see the Filipinos hopeful and in high spirits during the inauguration, especially when the 15th President of the Philippines talked about good governance as a catalyst for improving education, poverty levels, investor relations and employment levels,” Badcock said. “These are the same targets enumerated in the Millennium Development Goals. But meeting the targets has to start with translating these principles into a feasible MDG Breakthrough Plan.”

“We are pleased to know that he is willing to take on the MDG challenges and that he will listen to the people. With commitment from the government, headed by a listening President, we are very optimistic that an MDG Breakthrough Plan will be developed in time for the 2010 Summit, and that this Plan will be based on honesty and good governance.

If this is in place, we are confident that five years is enough to make the MDGs happen in the Philippines and for the President to herald their achievements by the target date of 2015,” Badcock said.

Badcock however said there is a need to focus on MDGs that are off-target, citing MDGs 1 and 2, which pertains to eradication of poverty and hunger and achieving universal education, respectively.

She said that MDG 1 is among the goals least likely to be achieved while MDG 2 is an “endangered goal.”

“Efforts to promote primary education enrolment should be concentrated in identifiable high-priority regions such as Sulu,” said Badcock. She cited that Sulu has the lowest number of enrolled primary school children at 62 percent as compared to the national average of 81.7 percent. There is also a need to cushion the increasing dropout rate in elementary schools.

According to 2006 to 2007 statistics from the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), the dropout rate increased from 8.6 to nine percent. The 2006 target was to decrease dropout rate to 5.5 percent and to further trim it down to 4.3 percent in 2009.

Badcock said a targeted program to identify causes and solutions for high dropout rates is urgently needed to reverse this alarming trend.

“While the government aims to curb the unemployment rate, we will also advocate for other poverty alleviation measures such as livelihood projects and the continuation of some of the Philippine’s strong social protection programs” she added.

Based on the January 2010 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of the National Statistics Office (NSO), employment rate was reported at 92.7 percent while unemployment rate was at 7.3 percent or 2.8 million, with the National Capital Region (NCR) accounting to 10.8 percent of the total number of unemployed persons.