The Government of the Philippines and United Nations entities on 24 October signed the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) for 2024 to 2028.
UNICRI is among the 24 UN partner entities involved in the development cooperation framework, which is the joint strategic planning framework for partnership between the United Nations and the Government of the Philippines to achieve national development priorities and Sustainable Development Goals.
Enrique Manalo, Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Arsenio Balisacan, Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority, signed on behalf of the Government of the Philippines, while Gustavo Gonzales, Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator signed on behalf of the United Nations in the Philippines.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. witnessed the signing ceremony and commended the government departments and UN partners involved for developing a sustainable development framework that “deepens, expands, and elevates the partnership between the Philippines and the United Nations.”
Speaking after the event, Director of the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI), Antonia De Meo applauded cooperation between the government and UN partners in support of the Philippine development objectives.
“UNICRI is proud to support the Philippines as part of the new Development Cooperation Framework 2024-2028, sharing expertise in crime prevention, justice, and security. This will contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Philippines, particularly SDG16 related to peace, justice, and strong institutions, in line with UNICRI's Strategic Programme Framework,” she said.
By signing the framework, the Government of the Philippines and the United Nations in the Philippines reaffirmed their joint commitment to work towards its strategic priorities, outcomes and outputs in the spirit of leaving no one behind and the United Nations development system reform.
This is the fifth current development cooperation framework that includes UNICRI. The other four are Algeria 2023-2027, Georgia 2021-2025, Moldova 2023-2027 and Uzbekistan 2021-2025.