U N I T E D N A T I O N S S Y S T E M P H I L I P P I N E S February 2011

The United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Manila, in partnership with the Jewish Association of the Phil-ippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Postal Corporation (Philpost), launched the Manila opening of the “Shoah in Europe” Travelling Exhibit last February 9, 2011 at the lobby of the DFA Building along Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City. The exhibit opening drew close to 200 guests from the partner or-ganizations, various civil society groups, and the Jewish community in the Philippines.

Keynote messages were delivered by UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Jacqueline Badcock; His Excellency Zvi Aviner Vapni, Ambassador of the State of Israel to the Philippines; and DFA Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio.

Dr. Badcock said that “the images portrayed in this ex-hibit recall a period in human history that is too painful, and too terrible for words. Yet, we remember the Holo-caust because it is a constant reminder of a grave and terrible injustice that an earlier generation had made and one which we, of this generation and the next, must at all costs prevent from ever being made again.”

Ambassador Vapni said that there are three reasons for remembering the Holocaust, “First of all, for the sake of those who lost their lives: entire villages, entire commu-nities, and entire families have been erased to the point that you can’t even name the people that have been killed. So our first responsibility is to these unnamed victims, to keep some kind of remnant of their existence.

“Shoah in Europe” Travelling Exhibit opens in Manila

(Above, L-R: Lee Blumenthal, boardmember of the Jewish Association of the Philippines; UNIC Manila NIO Teresa Debuque; Commission on Human Rights Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales; Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Erlinda Basilio; Ambassador Zvi Aviner Vapni, Embassy of the State of Israel; UN Resident Coordinator Dr. Jacqueline Badcock)

2

The second reason is to confront the dark side of human-ity. The people who stood guard at the extermination camps, the death camps, the people who committed those horrible atrocities were also human. We should acknowl-edge this dark side that dwells in all of us as a warning of what we are capable of. The third reason is to make sure that tragedies such as the Holocaust will never happen again. What happened in Europe during the Second World War could happen again. And for that reason, the decision made by the UN, to mark this day all around the world, and to put an effort into educating people, especially the young, about it is extremely important. And we respect and admire this decision.”

Meanwhile, DFA Undersecretary Basilio said that “through this exhibit, Shoah in Europe, we reaffirm our faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and of the equal rights of men and women. Shall it take another Holocaust before we declare that every one is entitled to all rights and freedom without distinction of any kind such as race, color, language, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth and other status? Never is our answer.”

“We all must be ready to stand in defense of human rights,” Undersecretary Basilio added. “Let us be vigilant and be reminded of the lessons of the past; human rights will always be threatened unless we put our hands and our minds together in order to make the protection and promotion of human rights prevail in all parts of the world.”

At a reception that followed the exhibit opening, Commis-sion on Human Rights Chairperson Loretta Ann Rosales said that the Holocaust is a “prime example of a ‘never again moment’ that led to the adoption of the UN Dec-laration of Human Rights. We, in the Philippines, have our own ‘never again’ moment with our experience of the atrocities committed during the Marcos dictatorship. The

Commission on Human Rights, of which I have the privilege to chair today, is the result of that experi-ence, along with the 1987 Consti-tution that gives it its mandate and sets out the whole gamut of human rights that the Philippine state is supposed to promote, protect and fulfill for the Filipino people.”

“I feel a special bond with the victims of the Holocaust,” Chair-person Rosales added, “because I was also a victim of the Marcos dictatorship. I know what it means to be at the receiving end of state repression while fighting for free-dom, justice and human rights. I was detained and tortured, along

with so many others resisting the dictatorship. The lessons from these two events, the Holocaust that the

Jewish people suffered in Europe during the war and the gross human rights violations that the Filipino people suf-fered during the dictatorship, are the two guiding inspira-tions that infuse both the institution that I now head and my life ast a human rights advocate and defender and that will continue to inspire me to my last breath.”

UNIC Manila National Information Officer (NIO) Teresa Debuque explained that “the spirit that animates the United Nations (UN)’s observance of Holocaust Remem-brance is the concept of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ which was adopted by the 2005 World Summit—the largest gath-ering of Heads of State and Government the world has seen. This concept offers new promise for concrete action by Member States. It summarizes the inherent obligation of every State to protect its populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. It also asserts the responsibility of the international com-munity to take collective action through the United Na-tions to protect populations from such serious crimes and violations when States manifestly do so. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is committed to this con-cept and has said that, ‘working together, we can deliver on the promise of the responsibility to protect. And we can transform this idea from an abstract obligation into what it truly is: one of humanity’s highest challenges.’”

A representative of the Department of Education (DepEd), Rizalino Jose Rosales, Chief Administrative Officer and concurrent Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the Assistant Regional Director for the National Capital Region (NCR), was invited to the reception to signify the DepEd’s support for UN General Assembly Resolution 60/7, which urges Member States to develop educational curricula on the Holocaust.

(Above: Ribbon cutting presided by (from left to right) Deputy Post-Master General Luis Car-los; Ambassador Vapni; DFA Undersecretary Basilio; and Dr. Badcock)

3

Scenes from the Shoah in Europe Exhibit Opening at the DFA

(Above: Logo of Memorial de la Shoah--the Paris based curator of the Shoah in Europe exhibit)

“The day is about to end and I am both pleasantly over-whelmed and in shock, in an adrenaline-rush and also exhausted. What affected me the most was when we entered little homesteads protected by raw thorn fences through low and narrow holes to experience a normal day in the lives of a tribe here”—read a text message last January 20 from KC Concepcion, World Food Programme (WFP) - Philippines National Ambassador Against Hun-ger, during her trip to Uganda for her first field mission outside the Philippines.

After more than two decades of conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Ugandan Government forces, peace has returned to the northern part of the country. As a result, over 80 percent of Internally Dis-placed Persons (IDPs) have moved back to their original homes and farms. While Uganda as a whole has enough food, hunger challenges remain countrywide due to ac-cess and utilisation challenges in many locations.

Prior to this trip, KC had gone on several missions with WFP in conflict-affected Central Mindanao. “As a Na-tional Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program, I represent the UN not only here in the Philippines but also wherever they think I should go, in this case Africa. I’ve gone to Mindanao several times and so this for me is also a learning experience never having been to Africa. Conflicts all over the world result in the same kind of suffering and pain for the affected populations. We share a common predicament as hu-man beings whether in Mindanao or Uganda. I’m just glad

that I can help out in whatever capacity.”, KC said before boarding her flight to Uganda.

KC’s five-day field mission allowed her to visit remote areas of Uganda where WFP is working towards lasting solutions to hunger while providing assistance to the most vulnerable, hungry communities. In addition to interacting with different WFP programme beneficiaries from women farmers to babies in therapeutic feeding centres, KC was also able to observe how people live.

WFP is committed to helping the Government of Uganda and the communities it serves to find lasting solutions to hunger, applying whatever tool is most effective in a par-ticular situation – whether it is food assistance, livelihood support, education and sensitisation, or support for local production and markets. In fact, more than 70 percent of the food that WFP distributes in Uganda is bought within the country. WFP is the single largest buyer of food and the largest quality-oriented purchaser of grain in Uganda, currently spending over US$50 million a year.

Being a WFP ambassador for three years now, KC has significantly helped to advocate against hunger and raise resources for the organization, gracing several events both locally and internationally. Through an online auction of her personal items, KC’s Closet Fights Child Hunger (http://stores.ebay.ph/KCs-Closet-Fights-Child-Hunger), she was able to raise half a million pesos for WFP. The online auction runs until March 2011. All proceeds will go to WFP.

KC Concepcion goes to Uganda on WFP field mission

4

4

ALBAY, Philippines, January 13, 2011—The City of Ta-baco achieved significant improvements in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on poverty, primary educa-tion enrollment and maternal health, data captured from the city’s second round of Community Based Monitoring System revealed.

The report was presented as part of an MDG Forum orga-nized by the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and supported by Platform HD2010. The Forum aimed to develop a Citizens’ Monitoring Tool (CMT) to mainstream MDGs in local planning and enhance current MDG monitoring systems.

Addressing newly elected barangay leaders, department staffs and community members, Tabaco City Mayor and MDG advocate Krisel Lagman-Luistro opened the Forum urging participants to “think global, act local” to achieve the MDGs.

PRRM President Isagani Serrano compared the country’s progress on the MDGs with others in the region, highlight-ing the MDGs as minimum goals which should be priori-tized above all others.

Participants took part in focus group discussions where they identified the current programs which addressed MDGs, debated about potential projects to address gaps,

and discussed their areas of responsibilities.

During the pre-sentation of each group’s outputs to the plenary, Mayor Lagman-Luistro promised to provide coun-terpart funds for every MDG-relat-ed project. “For every peso your barangay invests in MDG projects, the city will give you another peso,” Lagman-Luistro said.

Dulce Saret, UN Millennium Cam-paign National Coordinator, said that the impor-

tance of the MDGs goes beyond compliance with an international agreement.

According to Saret, civil society members should continue monitoring government. The government must also de-liver the MDGs because they are the entitlement of every citizen.

Further forums and discussions will be organized in Ta-baco to develop an enhanced citizens’ monitoring tool. A municipal MDG planning session is set to be conducted within the quarter.

Since 2010, PRRM and other members of the UN Civil Society Assembly (UN-CSA) have been actively imple-menting and participating in various activities of Platform HD2010. The result of a partnership among UNDP, MDG-F and the UN Millennium Campaign, Platform HD2010 is a special project that recognizes the important role of civil society in MDG processes, especially in light of the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Declaration.

The UN Country Team in the Philippines was one of the six recipient countries of this initiative last year. The UN-CSA, composed of 67 civil society networks and organi-zations, serves as its implementing partner in the country.

Platform HD2010 goes to Tabaco, Albay

UNITED NATIONS PHILIPPINESUN Cooordination Office30th Floor, RCBC PlazaYuchengco Tower, Ayala Avanue, Makati CityTel: 9010100 website: http://ph.one.un.org

Published by:United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Manila www.unicmanila.org

In an effort to work as one and share informa-tion among agencies, the UN in the Philippines is publishing this e-newsletter. Contributions may be sent to teresa.debuque@unic..org (copy furnished to charito.sanalila@unic.org) every 21st of the month.

4

Last January 12, President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III issued a proclamation, declaring the year 2011 as the 10th Anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10), and adopting the Filipino IYV+10 theme: “Volunteering for the MDGs! Build Hope, Change Lives: Volunteer!”

In the Philippines, IYV+10 activities are being spear-headed by the United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), together with the lead government agency for vol-unteer activities, the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency (PNVSCA).

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2001 as the International Year of Volunteers or “IYV” (UNGA Resolu-tion A/Res/52/17 of 1997), in order to enhance the Recog-nition, Facilitation, Networking and Promotion of volunteer service. In 2008, the UN General Assembly issued a resolution which re-affirmed the significance of volunteer-ism for the achievement of the Millennium Developments Goals and called for marking the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (A/Res/63/153). As the focal point for IYV+10, UNV together with more than 40 international volunteer organizations around the world, launched IYV+10 on December 5, 2010--the International Volunteer Day globally.

The launch of IYV+10 in the Philippines was held on December 5, 2010.

Join us for Volunteering for the MDGs in the Philippines! For further actions in 2011, please visit the website of UNV and PNVSCA at www.unv.org.ph and www.pnvsca.gov.ph

The following materials about IYV + 10 are available and more volunteer initiatives are appreciated for achieving the Millennium Development Goals in the Philippines by 2015:

1. Poster on “ IYV + 10, Volunteering for the MDGs”2. Brochure on “Volunteering for the MDGs”3. Indicative Action Plan for the Celebration of IYV + 10 and4. Monthly Theme Calendar.

President Aquino issues proclamation on IYV+10