Asia/Pacific ISTR Regional Network

5th ISTR Asia Pacific Regional Conference “The Third Sector as Vital Contributors to the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”
By Dolores D. Gaffud, Philippine Nonprofit Sector Project, University of the Philippines

The Fifth International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) Asia Pacific Regional Conference was held on October 17 – 18, 2007, at the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. It adopted the theme, “The Third Sector as Vital Contributors to the Attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)” as an attempt to analyze the role and contributions of voluntary and Third Sector organizations in the Asia Pacific region in achieving each of the following millennium development goals by the year 2015:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

About 130 Third Sector scholars and practitioners as well as government representatives participated from 14 countries, 14 countries, including India, Bangladesh, Iran, Mongolia, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, Germany and the Philippines. The participants represented a total of 75 universities and colleges, organizations and agencies.

Dr. Alex B. Brillantes, Jr., Dean of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines, and Dr. Masayuki Deguchi, former President and Member of the Board of Directors of ISTR, delivered the opening remarks for the Conference. Dr. Brillantes pointed to the significance of the gathering in the overall mission of NCPAG and its current programs. He emphasized the important role of the Third Sector in governance and the increasing involvement of the academic community in voluntarism and in Third Sector research. Dr. Deguchi, on the other hand, highlighted the evolution of ISTR as an organization as well as its present thrusts and the objectives of regional and international conferences in relation to the mission of the organization.

The two-day Conference had a total of 64 presentations conducted in three plenary and four simultaneous panel sessions. It focused on various Third Sector initiatives, programs and strategies in poverty alleviation, women
empowerment, education, health, and environmental sustainability in different countries and localities. It also highlighted an appraisal of MDGs accomplishments and localization of MDGs in the Philippines, which were prepdftions conducted in three plenary and four simultaneous panel sessions. It focused on various Third Sector initiatives, programs and strategies in poverty alleviation, women empowerment, education, health, and environmental sustainability in different countries and localities. It also highlighted an appraisal of MDGs accomplishments and localization of MDGs in the Philippines, which were presented by officials of the National Economic and Development Authority and Social Watch Philippines, the Honorable
Quezon City Mayor, Sonny Belmonte, and the former Mayor of Concepcion Municipality, Raul Banias. Mr. Antonio Meloto, Founding Director of Gawad Kalinga, made a presentation on the Gawad Kalinga Program, which has become well-known nationally and even internationally, as a strategy to address poverty.

In addition, special sessions were devoted to selected research on Third Sector governance in the Asia Pacific region, volunteerism, social capital and social responsibility. Even as most of the presentations or cases were not directly tied to governments’ MDG endeavors, the Conference highlighted the Third Sector as a vital force in the attainment of the MDGs.

Insights from the Conference point to program planning, service delivery, training, community mobilization, recruitment and training of volunteers, and program monitoring as spheres for Third Sector engagement. As expected, it is in the area of poverty eradication where the Third Sector is most visible. Micro-finance, in particular, the Grameen Bank model in Bangladesh and success stories in the Philippines and India, proved to be a viable strategy for the eradication of poverty and involvement of women in the productive arena. Initiatives to increase access to education and health services and to help ensure environmental sustainability include programs for the underserved segments of the population including those in isolated areas. The crucial role of volunteers in these areas was underscored. Collaboration between government, the third sector and the private sector, especially at the local level, was cited as a necessary strategy to advance the achievement of millennium development goals.

The academic community, for its part, has long joined the ranks of the Third Sector in responding to social concerns. Examples of such efforts include the environment conservation and early childhood development programs of Miriam College, the Pahinungod Program of the University of the Philippines and the urban poverty reduction program of Adamson University and DePaul University.

Dr. Ledivina Cariño, Chair of the Conference Steering Committee, Dr. Wendy Earles, Member of the Board of Directors of ISTR, and UP-NCPAG Dean Alex Brillantes, Jr. provided the synthesis. The gathering of Third Sector scholars, researchers and practitioners through the Conference was acknowledged as significant in the sharing of knowledge on the Third Sector and the MDGs, in analyzing lessons derived from the various studies/cases, in improving knowledge on the role and contributions of the Third Sector in the global effort towards the MDGs, and in sustaining interest and support for theory and action on the MDGs and the Third Sector beyond the Conference. A concrete action taken at the end of the Conference was the creation of a network of Centers engaged in Third Sector research that will serve as venue for collaboration, discourse and sharing.

The 5th ISTR Asia Pacific Regional Conference along with the theme focusing on the contributions of the Third Sector in the Asia Pacific Region in the attainment of the MDGs was conceptualized by the ISTR MDGs Affinity Group in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2006, concurrent with the ISTR International Conference. The Group pledged to focus on research on civil society involvement in the MDGs and to develop mechanisms for monitoring these efforts in their respective countries. The recent Conference was the second major attempt of ISTR to get involved in the worldwide effort to reach the MDGs by 2015. Thus a Steering Committee was organized in January 2007 to guide the course of the Regional Conference.

The Conference was a joint undertaking of the International Society for Third Sector Research, the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines, and the United Nations Development Programme, with the Quezon City Government, the Peace and Equity Foundation, Suntory Foundation, and the Philippine National Red Cross (Quezon City Chapter) as co-sponsors.