For The Bohol Tribune
In This Our Journey
NESTOR MANIEBO PESTELOS
Putting Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) in Local Context
Localization has been an
important feature in promoting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and in formulating
the successor Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as global agenda to address poverty
and other problems which have for decades affected humankind.
While localization for the
MDGs was thought of and planned in 2005, five years after its launching, it was
the subject of intensive dialogues undertaken by the UN with key governance stakeholders
and constituencies which took place from June to October 2014.
The recommendations that emerged
from these dialogues and consultation process seem to me as genuine efforts to make
local communities, their governance and local institutions, their traditions
and culture, as key ingredients to translate global development agenda into
locally-owned aspirations embedded in local plans and programs. Indeed
localization has been recognized as strategy to lift people from poverty and other global problems such as inequality and
climate change.
Let us harvest some key
ideas from the Report from these dialogues on localization and try to put them
in our development context in Bohol:
First, on the definition
of Localization, the Report (Localizing Post-2015 Development Agenda –
Dialogues on Implementation) says:
“Localization refers to
the process of defining, implementing and monitoring strategies at the
local level for achieving
global, national and subnational sustainable development goals and targets.
This involves concrete mechanisms, tools, innovations, platforms and processes
to effectively translate the development agenda into results at the local
level.
“The concept should therefore be understood
holistically, beyond the institutions
of local governments, to include all local actors through
a territorial approach that includes civil
society, traditional leaders, religious
organizations, academia, the private sector and others. We firmly believe,
however, that a strong and capable local government provides the fundamental
leadership role to bring local stakeholders together.”
From this definition alone, we can see what can be a
major constraint to localizing the SDGs. Local leadership is key to the
emergence of multi-stakeholder governance. In Bohol, as in other provinces, we
have an abundance of structures mandated by the government at various levels or
organized by civil society organizations, such as faith-based organizations and
NGOs. Somehow local leadership is not there to bring all the people in these
structures together in pursuit of common development goals or less loftily, to
implement projects.
We are good at organizing structures at local levels
to the extent that management experts have commented that in Bohol, as in the
rest of the country, we are afflicted with a malady called “organisitis.” At
the drop of a hint, we form groups or organizations but we almost always turn
these into paper structures, something to show on the charts and they fizzle
out as easily as they are formed. They are mostly built around personalities,
mostly around those with political clout or other sources of influence.
Now how can we develop the type of leadership that
can breathe life to development councils, inter-agency committees, women’s and
youth groups, and other existing structures so that we can pursue and sustain
global and localized development goals?
We have to study the few organizations which have withstood intrigues,
divisive tendencies, political and other interventions or the usual inertia of
rest which afflicts most groups and organiations.
These are some thoughts to chew on while we ponder
on this relevant issue about localizing SDGs. This human behavior in
organizations will be an excellent field for the academe to get into and come
up with fresh insights into leadership issues and organizational behavior on
this exciting journey in localizing an externally-crafted global development
agenda.
This negative trend in human behavior in
organizations is also a reflection of erosion in values that people subscribe
to. Here is where culture and the arts, as well as religion, can play its part by initiating a Renaissance of sort to create
a pervasive counterculture of our common
humanity and enable majority of the people, including their leaders, to both
internalize and “massify” the adherence to social ethics and values.
The Report notes:
“In the last decade, the development agenda has broadened
with the emergence of a wide range of global challenges. It has also seen
growing demand for improved access to global public goods and calls for
innovative institutional arrangements and solutions. It is evident that the
local dimension of development is increasingly intertwined with global and
national issues.
“The role of cities in development will grow, as 60
percent of the world’s population will
live in cities by 2030. Issues such as peace, human security,
health, employment, climate change, and migration are now addressed mainly at
the national and international level, but long-term solutions often require
attention to local dimensions, implications and nuances, and most solutions
will require local planning, participation and governance.
“Lessons learned from the MDGs show the key role of
local government in defining and delivering the MDGs, and in communicating them
to citizens. Evidence for this includes the multiplication of decentralized
development cooperation initiatives and the use of city-to-city cooperation as
a cost effective mechanism for implementation”
I recall that in 2004 as a consultant on governance
and poverty reduction, I submitted to the late Atty. Juanito Cambangay, Bohol’s
Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator, a bare-bones concept of
creating a Metro Tagbilaran Development Authority. As proposed , the MTDA will
be composed of Tagbilaran City and the surrounding municipalities of Dauis,
Panglao, Baclayon, Albur, Cortes, Corella, and Sikatuna,
The idea was the same that led to the creation of
the Tennessee Valley Authority, Bicol River Basin Authority and the Metro
Manila Development Authority which is to bring about a predominantly technical
body to oversee and coordinate efforts to address common problems.
In the case of Bohol, it would be to achieve greater
coordination among the LGUs in solving common problems related to garbage disposal,
water and sanitation, public infrastructures and facilities, unemployment Later, the concept was expanded to having
similar structures but instead of using the existing BIAD (Bohol Integrated
Area Development), the identified rapidly-urbanizing municipalities was to be
considered the focal LGU for the surrounding municipalites in the creation of a
sub-provincial development authorities more technically and morally competent to
work alongside politically-controlled governance structures.
Nothing came out of this concept. No donor was
interested to have it developed into a full-blown proposal.
It may be a good time to revisit these rough ideas
and draw up an enchanced concept in the light of this broadened development
areas that LGUs, CSOs and the private sector have to contend with in pursuing
the localized SDGs.
Moreover, the task environment since the first
global development agenda. The fast growth in Information Technology and its
impact on making available tools, information and innovations while creating job
opportunities also helps to add complexities to the work environment of
ordinary people. Closing the digital gap will be needed in pursuing inclusive
growth and equality. It will have impact, too, in reconfiguring local
governance structures.
The Report notes further:
“All parties concurred that local stakeholders must play
an important role in the development and
implementation of the SDGs. Their needs, interests and
concerns must be clearly addressed when local and national development
strategies are defined. The prioritization of mechanisms to enhance
participation was considered critical if people are to contribute to common
development.
“The inclusion of individual and territorial stakeholders
in the definition of priorities and in
the allocation of funds was perceived as a means to
hold governments, both national and local,
accountable and committed to fighting corruption and
fraud. This was one of the main issues
expressed by participants globally …In the Philippines,
participatory budgeting was seen as
a tool to improve transparency and accountability mechanisms
and to prevent local corruption.”
The decentralization of planning to sub-national and
sub-provincial levels should necessarily be complemented with financial
autonomy. Otherwise, such decentralization will not be effective. I think I do
not have to belabor this point since this a lesson learned in more than twenty
five years of the Decentralization Law.
On Culture and Development, the Report states: “Culture-led
redevelopment of urban areas and public spaces helps preserve the social fabric,
attracts investment and improves economic returns. Cities are increasingly faced
with the challenges of diversity and inequality, and can benefit greatly from culture
to increase inclusion and promote greater social cohesion. The protection of historic
districts and cultural facilities as civic spaces for dialogue can help to
reduce violence and promote cohesion.”
These are some of the key ideas in the Report which
have formed the basis for the recommendations on how to pursue these goals with
localization as basic consideration.
To the long list of specific recommendations, the
Report adds something which is missing from the previous global development
agenda: “Underline the importance of establishing sustainable financing
mechanisms to localize the global development agenda and build responsive and
accountable local institutions. This includes the full and effective
participation of local governments in public expenditure.”
Now we await
with bated breath the announcement next month of the final Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) and the approval of the recommendations for localizing
them to ensure their successful implementation for the period 2016 to 2030. #Sustainabledevelopmentgoals
NMP/14Aug/2015/5.32 a.m.
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